"You're next, blondy."

"I'm not really sure right now. I want to become Hokage. I like Ramen! Uh, I want to be strong, like really strong. I don't like people who glare at me. Ehh, that's it I guess..."

He was short, and loud. His outfit was bright orange. His skills were terrible. He was honest and simple-minded. His teammates hated him. His only saving grace was being the jinchuuriki of the nine-tailed fox, the strongest of the demons.

"Why are you throwing it that way?"

"What? This is the way you throw it!"

"No stupid, you're doing it all wrong! You throw it like this!"

"Whaaaaaat? But Mizuki-sensei… Oh!"

Huh. Naruto was quieter today. He was also standing a little straighter and twirling a kunai.

"Naruto, stop dawdling and catch up to Sasuke and Sakura. They're already at the Hokage Tower."

"Sorry Kakashi-sensei!"

"Jeeze Naruto, I'm glad you ditched your stupid orange jacket, but follow directions right for once."

"Naruto, stop reading! We have to shovel dirt and you're not helping!"

"Sorry, sorry! Ah crap, my place!"

"Wait, since when did you read?"

"Ehh, I started a few days ago. I'm just checking up on my handseals."

"Hah, someone like you would need to do that."

"..."

"Hey Sakura, how did that Sasuke bastard do that crazy fireball jutsu?"

"Don't call Sasuke that! It's called the Grand Fireball Technique, and it should be pretty obvious what it does."

"Yeah but how did he do it? The fire and stuff?"

"Fire is one of the five elemental affinities for Chakra. This is first year academy stuff, Naruto!"

"Naruto, I met you going to opposite direction in a hurry on my way here. How did you get here so fast?"

"I'm late on rent! I figured I would sent a clone to deliver it."

"What? Clones can't hold things."

"Shadow clones can."

"That's a secret technique! Why would you use it so carelessly?!"

"It's not really a problem for me. I never get tired using it. Plus how is anyone going to copy it?"

"Ugh, fine Naruto. Just don't start filling up this place with yourself. We have enough idiot already."

"Hey!"

"Who's this, Naruto?"

"Oh, you haven't met Issei yet? He lives in my apartment complex. He likes to read a lot."

"I want to be a ninja someday, like Naruto!"

"I don't know if Naruto is a good ninja to aspire to be…"

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Let's fight, Sasuke!"

"Ch, fine."

Sasuke watched as Naruto approached with the standard academy form. Huh, he didn't think the idiot had actually learned anything goofing off the entire time. Sasuke shifted into the first intercepting fist stance and braced himself.

"Fight me, Sasuke!"

"Ch, fine."

Sasuke concentrated as Naruto began throwing kunai and shuriken at him. Those were… odd angles. That seemed almost like an advanced technique he'd seen that man use in the past, but it was off somewhat.

Sasuke used a grand fireball to disrupt Naruto's attack and made quick work of him, tying him up with wires.

"I thought we agreed no ninjutsu!"

"Old man Sarutobi is so cool! I'm gonna be like him when I'm hokage."

"You can't be like the Sandaime, Naruto. You're a genin, and he's the Professor. He knows over a thousand techniques and has mastered all the ninja arts!"

"Wow, all of them? There's a lot a ninja arts, right? How did he do that?"

"Are those Seals, Naruto? Careful with those! You could blow us up!"

"I won't back down!"

"What, you've already done this exercise, Naruto? Let me see your taijutsu."

"Do you have someone you're trying to protect?"

How is he this good? He shouldn't be this good.

He was an idiot! The dead last! How had he surpassed him?

What is his secret? How is he advancing so quickly?

"Naruto, why are so many of your clones running around?"

"Kakashi said I could help out with the bridge! I'm learning lots and we're making good progress!"

Haku glared at the mass of clones surrounding him. They were getting increasingly hard to hit, and he was getting tired.

How had he underestimated him so much?

Twin red eyes started spinning, and Haku formed handseals.

"How did you do it? How are you so strong?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play games! You're stronger than before! Stronger than me! You never miss anymore. You use traps and techniques I've never seen you use before. You're not loud like you were. Your taijutsu is as good as mine. You draw fucking seals in your free time!"

"I guess I've grown up a lot. At one point I realized I had to stop fooling around. I've got people I want to protect. Sakura, Kakashi, Sarutobi, even you."

"What's that supposed to mean?! You can't just learn all this because you have bonds with people!"

"Maybe not, but it's because of those bonds I'll try so hard to be strong."

"...Teach me."

"What?"

"Teach me to be strong like you."

Naruto glanced at Sasuke with a sad look in his eyes.

"...You know, I used to hate you for being stronger than me. Back when you could beat me without even trying. It really pissed me off that you could just make it look easy, being better than me. Day after day, you showed me that a resolve just wasn't good enough in the world. It took me a long time to wake up from that."

"I'll do whatever you want. I need to be strong."

"For what, so you can kill your brother? So you can abandon the leaf? I don't think so."

"If you don't teach me, someone else will."

"You're right, and that someone will be able to mold you and use you, maybe even take advantage of you."

"I'm not some helpless kid."

"Have you ever really enjoyed something outside of combat?"

"No. I used to, once. Until that happened."

"You want to know what the difference between you and me is? You've seen me charge single-mindedly into a fight and get my ass handed to me. Now you're doing that for what you want. Take a long look at your life and figure out you want out of it."

"Congratulations, Team 7, for your completion of your first A ranked mission!"

Maito Guy looked on thoughtfully as a dedicated young ninja made his third lap around Konoha.

Three laps later, Guy joined in.

"Boss, did you just shunshin? That's so cool! I've been trying to learn how to do one."

Tenten looked over the new hire Dad had brought in. He was a complete novice, but he would have to do if Dad was to manage the demand the exam brought to Konoha. Plus, he seemed to be a natural, picking up the metalworking like he was born for it.

"Sasuke! Do you want to have dinner with me at 8?"

"Che, fine."

"Whaaaaat? I mean, yes!"

"Iruka-sensei? What are you doing here?"

"Naruto! Good to see you. I pick up scrolls to teach my students from time to time. This week we're going over ninja history."

"I never really got why you taught us that in the academy. What's the point of knowing the ancestors of some village if you're just going to fight people with techniques and stuff?"

"You make a good point Naruto, but knowing who the Shodai and other leaders of different times were tells you the intentions of different families and territories, which tells you who you can trust and who is a dangerous enemy outside the village. Understanding these things can determine whether you live or die on a difficult mission."

"I never thought about it like that."

"Oh fuck, sorry Naruto! ...Naruto?"

"Not another stupid clone! God, can't he be here in person?!"

"Itadakimasu!"

"Naruto, I haven't seen you in a week!"

"I've been hard at work old man! I'm getting pretty strong now."

"Haha, it's good to hear that! I don't want to lose my second biggest customer!"

"Second biggest?!"

"Hello Naruto."

"Old man Sarutobi!"

"Naruto! I've heard you've been training very hard. Are those seals? I know a thing or two about them."

"Sasuke, what are you reading?"

"Hn. 'Icha Icha Paradise'."

"Noooooooo. Not you tooooo!~"

"Haha, Sasuke, I'm already on the third chapter!"

"...I won't lose."

"Naruto Uzumaki… I'll remember you."

Kurenai stared in shock as Naruto disabled Kiba in a handful of moves.

"Do you know who I am, brat?"

"You're Jiraiya, the Toad Sage of the Leaf, one of the three Sannin, and you're going to train me."

"I see your reputation is woefully inaccurate, brat. Is that really you under there, I wonder?"

"It is. I have a certain… knack for learning things. After I while I found it more useful to understand things completely than to learn quickly."

"I can see that. I haven't seen work like this since I taught the Fourth. Very well. This won't be easy."

"I never thought it would be."

Neji twisted, expelling chakra from all points on his body.

Several slivers of light passed along his vision, slicing through his defense. He could see the wind chakra, but he couldn't move in time.

A primal roar ripped through the stadium, and a ninja withdrew seals from his jacket, leaping towards the beast in a smooth motion.

A massive toad rose to catch the ninja, unsheathing its sword to do battle.

The boundary was unpassable. Nothing his team used on it was working. The Anbu commander sent dragon after dragon crashing into it with barely a grimace from the other side.

A loud sound emanated from his right. A hundred glowing spheres approached the boundary, held by genin clones.

The spheres met the boundary and the all anyone could hear was shrill grinding.

"He'll be back, you know."

"We'll be ready."

"You can't prepare for Orochimaru."

"There's another piece on the board now."

"He's not ready."

"Then we'll make him ready."

"It's time."

"Are you sure I'm ready?"

"As sure as we'll ever be. We've taught you everything we know."

"Hello, fox."

"Hello, warden."

"I've come to claim your power."

"I know. I've watched you, you know. I've seen you grow from an idiot to something else. You resemble him more than any other mortal I've ever seen."

"That's flattering."

"I was angry at first. Enraged to be a prisoner for so long. The cycle never ends. One warden gives way to the next, and the next."

"I don't intend to die."

"No, but you will let me go, in time. I know you as well as you know yourself. Better, even."

"We could do this more easily, you know."

"No, I think I'd like to see for myself how much you've grown. It's been quite some time since I've really stretched these limbs."

"It's time, fox."

"I had a name once. Kurama. No one has used my name in a long time."

"Very well, Kurama, come at me."

"You wanted to see me, Sandaime-sama?"

"Sasuke, it's time for you to know the truth."

"So you've come."

"I can't just wait for you to bomb my village like you did the Sand."

"Much must be sacrificed, for peace."

"Peace? What's peaceful about a bomb?"

"That's an interesting approach. I'm sure you've got time. Would you like to hear my take?"

"By all means."

"That's impossible. No village would agree to such a truce and if they did they would never honor it."

"That's where things get interesting."

"You're insane."

"I like to think of myself as the sanest one around. You know it will work."

"I never thought it would be an option. The world has never changed before."

"And you intended to change it. Give me a chance."

"Too true, Jinchuuriki. You will have your chance."

Obito laughed as white masses spilled forth from the ground and a giant statue roared in anger.

A huge three-headed dog with purple eyes barreled into the statue, ripping into it with its jaws.

Huge bright orbs blossomed into being below, sucking convulsing plant matter into themselves.

Obito was no longer laughing. A screeching sound caught his attention and he looked over to see a ninja with crosses in his eyes lift a glowing shuriken above his head.

"It took a long time to find you."

"I didn't want to be found."

"Well now you have been. Any last words?"

"I spent more time than anyone, in pursuit of the truth. Why is it you, a mere boy, is able to succeed where I failed? Why did they accept you, and spurn me?"

"I've asked myself that a few times as well. I never wanted the truth in the first place. I needed it to change the world. Also, not experimenting on babies probably helped."

"Perhaps my methods were a bit… extreme."

"It's too late now."

"I won't go down easily."

Twin crosses stared back.

The crowds cheered as Hiruzen lowered his hat onto the head of the Fifth.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I've called you here."

"Do you think we're stupid, Hokage? We've seen the numbers. Konoha is stronger than ever before. You intend to declare war."

"War? You misjudge me, Tsuchikage. I do not wish for war."

"Your ninja are increasing. Your business is booming. People from surrounding villages are moving to Konoha. 'Konoha!', they say, 'The land of opportunity!' Don't play games me with me, Hokage!"

"What can I say? We've had some success recently and some inventions with interesting applications. Please don't take Konoha's success as an insult."

"But you are an insult, Hokage. You're the spawn of the worst insult in the elemental nations to my village. Why should we sit and watch you succeed?"

"Because it's time we stopped messing around and started fixing things around here. We can't let old grudges get in the way of peace and prosperity. Would you see your men die in battle for a memory?"

"No."

"I have more strength than all of your entire ninja forces combined. Were any of you to challenge me, it would be quite one-sided. Do not take this as a threat. I do not wish for ninja to die needlessly."

"What are you here for, then, if not to tell us how weak we are to you?"

"The truces in place are weak at best. They will not last. Five years, maybe ten, and we'll see people crying out for war. None of us wants to see another war. We need to do something now, before it's too late."

"You seem to have something in mind."

"I may have a solution."

"It's been a while, brother."

"Not long enough."

"Has your hate made you strong?"

"I've moved on. I understand why you did it. I know all the secrets."

"I had to, brother."

"I know."

"I'm going to die soon."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"I leave you my eyes."

"I never unlocked the Mangekyu. I'd gain power, at what cost? Blind, with a constant reminder of the past."

"You could still obtain it. You have bonds now."

"Oh no. Trading my wellbeing and family for some flashy techniques? I don't think so. I have no need for power now, Itachi."

"You've grown."

"You haven't."

"Goodbye, Sasuke."

The citizens of Konoha went about their lives. Some still hated their Hokage, but in time they would forget their anger.

The Hyuuga clan watched as new citizens immigrated, many bearing the coils of one man. A few would try to rebel, only to be quickly and decisively put down.

A man in the surrounding villages developed a new plow.

Another in the northern district found a new way to make steel.

A third near the outskirts of Konoha created a machine that could fly.

The rain surrounding Amekagure became lighter with every year. Renovations started all over the world, and with them came those seeking work.

80% of ninja retired over the next ten years, and the world changed.