Summary: After the successful Sasuke Retrieval Mission, Naruto left for 3 years on a training trip with Jiraiya. Now, when he comes back, totally changed, questions arise. Do they even know Naruto? Just who is Naruto?

This is the rewrite

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN Naruto, or else Sasuke would be dead along with Kakashi and Sakura and Naruto wouldn't be so stupid.

Dawn.

The two chuunin on guard straightened up as they caught sight of two figures walking towards the gates they were charged with protecting.

An old, white haired man dressed in kabuki clothes and a younger black-haired male in dark shinobi clothes gradually came into sight, and as they did so, the white haired man paused, and cleared his throat before pulling out two fans and striking humorous poses, exclaiming,"We're back! Watch out Konoha, because I, the legendary Gama-Sennin, super pervert have returned with my wayward pupil, Naru-"

"Shut up." The younger man cuffed his elderly companion, knocking him onto the ground.

"Awww, Naruto, come on! You're back! Aren't you excited? Say something!" The white haired, self-proclaimed super pervert demanded.

Naruto sighed in disgust. "Leave me alone, you old pervert."

In the Hokage Tower

"I can't wait! It's been far too quiet without Naruto around! He's supposed to come back today, isn't he?"

The speaker, a young kunoichi with the trademark platinum blonde hair and pale blue eyes of the Yamanaka clan turned to glance at her friend where she sat next to her, both of them eating lunch on break from the hospital.

"Aren't you excited to see him again, Sakura? I mean, he did get Sasuke back for you! Your team's been 3 quarter's complete for the last two and a half years, and now the last part is coming back!"

Sakura sighed, and carefully replaced her finished lunch back into her empty bento box, before responding.

"I am, I guess. It's just that he hurt Sasuke-kun so much! He's such a dobe! He should've been more careful with Sasuke-kun! I asked him to bring back Sasuke-kun, not try to kill him!"

Ino gaped at her best friend, that she'd only just realized had grown so distant in the last couple of years.

"What do you mean more careful?!?! Sasuke was on the run, trying to join Orochimaru! He only got a few wounds anyways! He was up on his feet within two days, whereas Naruto-"

"Hellloooooo, ladies! How are you today?" Kiba ran up to the two of them, his loyal nin-dog, Akamaru, who'd recently grown to the size of a small horse following him, before politely greeting the duo.

"Go away, Kiba. I won't go out with you," Sakura declared, her nose held high in the air.

Ino and Kiba stared at the pink-haired girl in shock.

"He hasn't even said anything yet, Sakura! How could you be so rude?!?! How are you even sure that he would want to ask you out?" Ino asked, shocked that her friend had become so arrogant.

"Why would I want to ask you out?!? The whole village knows that you're Sasuke's whore!" Kiba exclaimed, his wounded pride speaking for him.

Ino stared at Kiba, shocked by his accusation. "Kiba! That's out of line!"

Kiba snorted. "Not for her. Her scent is all over Sasuke, and vice versa. Of course, Sasuke smells of more girls, but Sakura's scent is the most prominent on him."

"Hey! It's Jiraiya-sama! Let's go!" Ino exclaimed, quickly changing the topic.

Hokage's Office

Kiba, Ino, Sakura, and Tsunade waited expectantly for Jiraiya and Naruto.

SLAM

The door was flung open and Jiraiya jumped in , and started to dance, all the while yelling," Konoha, I the Great Jiraya, Toad Sennin –"

BAM. The unfortunate toad sage was cutoff by the sudden but expected punch to the jaw delivered by his other teammate.

Tsunade pulled back her fist. "Damn it, Jiraiya! Where's Naruto?"

"I'm over here."

Those three words startled all of the people present. What had happened to the happy-go-lucky blonde idiot who'd always been so eager to introduce himself and make himself noticed to have him so, lackluster, and quiet?

Tsunade turned to look at her surrogate brother where he stood behind her.

The black-haired boy----no, that word was no longer appropriate, Tsunade reminded herself. The black-haired man standing in the corner in no way resembled the hyperactive blonde who'd left Konoha so long ago.

Sure, he had his trademark whiskers, and his eyes were still blue, but even then, the shade of his eyes had changed.

"What happened, Naruto?" Ino asked, startled by the change in her friend.

"Humph. The first thing you do when I get back is ask why I changed when the first thing you wanted when I left was for me to change. Typical." Naruto snorted derisively.

"No, she doesn't mean it that way, Naruto. She's asking about your hair color. What happened to that?" Kiba asked, playing the peacemaker for once in his life.

"This?" Naruto asked, tugging at a lock of black hair. "Blonde hair is very conspicuous. Didn't anyone ever tell you that?" He asked Ino, moving over to lean against the windowsill.

She shifted uncomfortably, blushing.

"Pink is as well, Sakura. You should consider getting a bandana or some hair dye." He lectured the pink-haired kunoichi.

She flushed an angry red, fuming at her teammates impudence. "How dare you, Naruto-baka! I'm the smartest kunoichi of our year! You're nothing but the deadlast! The class dobe! Know your place! Of course I know that trivial fact, but Sasuke-kun likes it, and if he likes it, I keep it." She finished, her nose held high in the air.

"Whatever. Seeya later!" Naruto leaned back a bit more more, and flipped out of the window backwards, leaving them gaping at the window where they'd last seen him.

Ino and Kiba left to follow him and spread the good news to the rest of their friends, while Sakura left to go see her Sasuke-kun, leaving the Sannin alone in the office.

"I'll ask you one more time, Jiraiya. What did you teach him?" The Godaime was practically growling out the words into Jiraiya's face, she was so inscensed at the change in her surrogate little brother.

"Hey! Watch it! The girls actually like my face the way it is!" Jiraiya exclaimed, as he carefully backed away from his spitting teammate.

"Anyways,"Jiraiya explained,"He learned all of the jutsu his father left for him, and the stuff I had to teach him! He even further developed the Hiraishin and the rasengan! We split up after the first six months, and we just met up again last month! I don't know anything!"

"You actually let him go off on his own?" Tsunade asked incredulously. "What the hell's wrong with you?!?! You don't just let a genin that you're in charge of wander off on his own for two years, especially not Naruto! What if Akatsuki had found him? Huh? What then?"

Jiraiya sighed. "Put some more faith in Naruto, Tsunade. If he learned all of the jutsu already, don't you think he could handle himself?"

Tsunade visibly wilted at that. "It's not that, but It's just hard. He's like a little brother to me in so many ways, just like Nawaki. I can't lose him. Not like Nawaki and Dan." She tried to explain to her teammate.

Jiraiya walked over to Tsunade and wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her. "Naruto won't leave you like that. Just trust him. He's a lot stronger than you think. Just trust him."

Neither of them noticed the figuure hanging under the windowsill listening to their conversation.

'Thanks, Jiraiya.'

The figure flipped off the windowsill, and fell to the ground, before speeding away. A flash of reflected moonlight lit up his face for a moment, just a moment. Just long enough to show a set of whisker marks.

Sorry this is so late! I've been really busy! Be reassured! I'm going to work hard at updating! It's just that I've been doing a lot of volunteer work at a camp, and then I just started violin lessons!

Again, Sorry!