Prologue: Taking the Helm
It was the peak of the night. The darkness had encompassed every inch of what the moon's reflected light left untouched.
Much of the Hidden Village had already turned in. The main streets all laid vacant of life save for the brief almost nonexistent movements in the shadows- the only visible traces of the leaf's trusted shinobi returning from their short or long term missions.
The lights were all out, but there was peace in the silence.
The only building still apparent with life was the Hokage tower. The office lights were on and bright to any who looked in its direction. However, instead of the seeming ire it would be presumed to bring due to the citizen's disrupted sleep, those lights were considered a beacon to the war ridden village. There was protection in that light. For they knew that as long as that light shined, the Rokudaime would be standing tall, and their village would never again suffer as it once had.
Just as their was peace in the silence, there was peace in the light.
The Rokudaime sat at his desk, his writing utensil in hand and his eyes focused solely on the prioritized scroll unfastened before him. His shadow clones sat to the left and right side of his office- each at their own workspaces and performing their own appointed duties.
Towers of paperwork and still sealed scrolls were arranged on all of the desks in not only a semblance but an actuality of organized mess.
They were all well articulated with their jobs and had full knowledge on just what was placed where, even if it appeared contrary to any other that entered the room.
A shadow clone on the left side of the office halted in his action after an exaggerated motion of his arm and a resulting slam of a paper being placed harshly on the top of a stacked pile.
He grunted and looked over to the Rokudaime whose eyes hadn't budged even an inch from the coded scroll. There was a slight frown on his face.
"All papers sorted on my end, Boss. Information in one."
The leader looked up and nodded in acknowledgment to the words.
"Good job. You may rest now."
There was a snort in response.
"You owe me ramen."
The Rokudaime smiled, his eyes filled with mirth, and the clone poofed leaving a cloud of smoke in his place and a rush of information on the academy and hospital's recent activities and proposals. Naruto gave himself a minute to sort out and mull on all the information before nodding in agreement with his clone's responses and the thoroughly calculated thoughts on the presumed feedback for the few projects the clone had signed and permitted.
"He deserves at least five bowls of ramen for that." He spoke aloud but quietly to himself.
If he noticed that his statement had a positive effect on the last three clones, a sudden speed in their actions and an enthusiasm previously not there, he didn't say anything.
He continued with his own work.
A few minutes into a reading, a well known chakra signature spiked, and Naruto looked up just as Sai appeared before him his anbu mask properly in place.
"Captain Nue." He acknowledged.
"Hokage-sama." Sai bent slightly forward into a bow. Four others appeared behind him in kneeling positions, each wearing anbu masks of their own.
"Reporting in. Permission to relay."
"Granted."
Sai took off his mask and placed it onto his belt. He flicked two fingers across his shoulder in a sign to be at ease. The four behind him relaxed and straightened up into standing positions.
"Missing-nin licensed 432145, labeled capture upon contact, has been sighted. Report was filed by a normal civilian; upon receiving the tip, the following members, Tori, Nezumi, Sakana, and Buta headed towards the alleged area. The missing-nin's chakra was found in a presumed to be camping spot near the border of the Land of Wind and Land of Rivers. The chakra was conjectured to have been at least two days of age."
The Rokudaime sat quietly, a frown on his face. He pulled out the scroll he had been previously looking over, the seal of the Kazekage marked on the bottom right corner.
"His apparent destination?" He asked, an idea obviously already in mind.
Sai affirmed his belief.
"The ancient ruins of Roran, sir."
The Ryuumyaku was left unsaid.
Naruto nodded his head and looked over to the four anbu members standing at attention behind their captain.
"You four are dismissed. Rest and then report to the main gate in two hours." The four members bowed ninety degrees before flickering away.
He looked over to his ex-teammate, and in return was stared at back. All kinds of information passed back and forth between them with practiced ease. Naruto's look turned stubborn. Sai's eyes narrowed. Naruto lifted his eyebrow. Sai grimaced. Naruto smiled smugly.
You can't stop me from going.
An old grin, sunny, bright, and reminiscent of his child self appeared on Naruto's face, and Sai couldn't help but smile gently back.
And, with that, all the tension in the room disappeared.
One of his shadow clones snorted.
"Why do you even try? You know the boss is stubborn as hell."
Naruto blew a raspberry at him. He got three raspberries in return.
"Besides," Naruto turned back towards Sai, his face falling into a more serious expression, his Rokudaime persona returning.
"You will need me for this mission. I'm the only one in this village that knows enough about seals to repair the Yondaime's work." Sai could only sigh in acceptance.
Naruto leaned back.
"Go on, you have an hour and a half. Spend some time with Ino. Get some loving in. I have a feeling that this mission will extend at least a week."
Sai blushed slightly in response, and Naruto could only marvel at the sight. He would never get used to all the emotions Sai was able to express now. It was like his unfeeling self never existed.
His ex-teammate cheeks returned to their natural paleness, and his gaze moved to meet Naruto's own.
"See you later..." He paused.
"Dickless." And he abruptly flickered away.
There was a brief silence before it was pierced by three shouts of outrage.
"Oh, I'm so not treating him to any more ramen."
The outraged voices hurrahed in agreement. It didn't matter much that the one in question wouldn't care about the punishment. The thought of there being no ramen was horrid enough for the four of them.
It was a worthy punishment no matter how the victim felt about it.
The clones returned to their work, and Naruto rolled up the scroll and sealed it into another scroll meant for storage. He placed it into his side pack and stood up from his desk.
"I'm going to inform Kakashi-sensei of the change in plan." He got grunts in response.
He flickered to his destination.
o-o-o-o
Kakashi agreed to stand-in as Hokage should his clones suddenly disappear.
Instead of flickering to his home, he decided to race across the rooftops and observe the village, capturing images of it to stow away and review should he become homesick in his short term mission. Ever since his ascension to Hokage two years ago, he hadn't left the village save for peace missions.
They were in a time of peace.
There hadn't yet been any real need for him to leave.
Following the alliances formed in the Fourth Shinobi War, there probably would never be a necessary reason.
He smiled to himself.
He was happy about that fact, and he would maintain that ideal with every inch of his power.
Arriving at the Hokage residence, he walked up the wall and opened the window to his room. The seals glowed slightly before recognizing him and allowing him passage.
Instantly upon entering, Hinata roused from her sleep. It was slow and drowsily as she knew who had entered. Recognizing his chakra was but second nature to her. Noticing that he had yet to enter the bed with her, she looked up questionably at him.
He smiled a bit sadly and apologized for waking her.
"There's a mission I must attend to." She sat up slowly but nodded while smiling with understanding.
"It shouldn't be more than a week." He proclaimed as he opened up his closet and pulled out his white haori with decorated blue flames sprouting from the bottom hem. Slipping it on, he took off his Hokage hat and placed it on the back of his belt, safely protected by a seal and carefully hidden by the white and blue cloak.
He walked over towards the bed and bent forward to give Hinata a chaste kiss.
"I'll miss you." He whispered before sliding his hand to her stomach and smiling widely.
"I promise to return safely for you and," he kissed her stomach lightly, "the little one in here." She pulled him from his hunched position and curved her hands along his cheeks in a soft caress.
"You better."
He nodded with a determined glint in his eyes before pulling away.
He walked back over to the closet and pulled out a mask.
It was the mask he used to use whenever he would go undercover as an anbu agent before becoming Hokage.
He turned to the window and donned the phoenix mask.
"See you soon." And he flickered away.
o-o-o-o
p. 1 The Lost Tower
In the midst of the raging storm composed of intertwining dust and sand was a lone kingdom. It still stood tall and somehow ostentated a semblance of its formerly magnificent state despite its long endurance against the merciless passage of time. Ruins lay scattered. Vegetation was scarce, and the humans that once resided within the kingdom were thought to be extinct.
A clash of metal could be heard.
To be continued.
o-o-o-o-o
A/N:
This is a Naruto time travel fiction. Some elements have been changed as you can read above. Naruto is the Rokudaime instead of the seventh. The first few chapters will be a rendition of the Naruto Movie: The Lost Tower. It's what if Minato's team had never been there in the first place (say Naruto arrrived a week before their planned mission), and once Mukade was defeated and the chakra sealed, Naruto never returned to his time line. That's the basis of this story. This is one of those generic Naruto returns to the past, meets his will be parents, and changes everything fics. I hope you enjoy.
Feel free to ask any questions. I love feedback.
I will return later to fix any mistakes.