Prelude: Inevitable Return

The old scent of the leaves danced around Naruto's nostrils as he scanned the forest that surrounded the place he once called home. The overgrown blonde hair covered his old genin head protector, faintly showing the worn Hidden Leaf Village insignia. He couldn't believe how much the area had stayed the same over the years. It had been five years, five years since he left to better himself. That day changed everything, the day he realized he wasn't able to face the truths that the world gave him, the day when his whole world crashed around him, the day he brought Sasuke back to the village.

"I'm taking you back Sasuke, even if I have to break you," Naruto yelled as his demonic energies formed into his Rasengan attack.

"Teh, Naruto you can't beat me. You have nothing pushing you to obtain that ultimate power, you only having unrealistic dreams! I have revenge!"

Sasuke grabbed his pulsating arm as a surge of chakra formed around his hand. Electric energies usually formed from for the Chidori attack took in the evil, black chakra that was leaked from the Cursed Seal. The black and red chakras from both sides of the waterfall threatened to consume the other.

Without another word the two lunged across the deep pool of water caused from the years of waterfall pressure. The evil of the bat-like form flew to meet the rage of the one-tailed fox. As the spheres of energies collided, a field consisting of both chakras formed around the two ninjas. Soon the entire area was weighed down by the fierce power from the continuously struggling ninjutsus.

Naruto clenched his teeth as he struggled from losing the battle. Moments that defined his rivalry with Sasuke flashed in his mind. With a greatness obtained from within himself, far removed from the influence of the Kyuubi, Naruto pulled all his strength passed the dark fizzling of the Chidori.

"What, this is impossible!" Sasuke proclaimed as the two attacks skidded off each other.

Naruto's Rasengan reached the Sasuke's midsection, producing a tremendous amount of pain in Sasuke, both physically and mentally. Sasuke tried reaching Naruto with the Chidori, but his chakra dwindled, causing him to merely scratch the metal plating of Naruto's head protector.

Sasuke was forced back into the cliffside, crashing through water and rock. Naruto fell down to the water as his chakra faded. He landed on the surface, too weak to land with his legs he belly flopped onto the waving waters.

That was five years ago, and not a day passed during those five years did Naruto think about what may have been if it was Sasuke who surpassed his Rasengan, if Sasuke did go to Orochimaru that day. He wondered if the atrocities that followed after Sasuke's return could have been avoided.

"No," Naruto said into the wind, "that is how it happened; there is no 'what ifs' about it."

In a flash Naruto disappeared from the treetop. His body moved like a flash of lightning through the forest. Naruto passed a small pond through his path to the village. He looked down onto the water where he took just small glimpse at his reflection. He couldn't help but wonder why he almost completely looked like the Fourth Hokage. It was something mk becoming a Hokage.

The thoughts buzzing throughout Naruto's head distracted him from the explosive notes laced around the trees he had just passed. A flash of light surrounded Naruto as he continued on.

"What the….."

Within seconds the scrolls ignited, sending fire and debris everywhere within fifty meters. Shadows leapt from the many hiding places of the forest to intercept the fallen Naruto.

"We got him," one of the attackers said as they threw shurikens and kunais for the final blow.

The projectiles ripped into all the vital points of the shinobi. The attackers smirked as their prey landed dead on the ground.

"Tsk, another fool has……what!"

Naruto puffed into a cloud of smoke; the attackers watched as their weapons landed on the ground, without anything to stab.

"Are you really shinobis?"

The man who appeared to be the leader of the ambush quickly turned to face the speedy ninja.

"RASENGAN!"

The swirling sphere of chakra contacted completely with its target. The bandit leader screamed in pain as he was sent spinning around like a top into a giant nearby tree. His followers recoiled from Naruto and gathered around their fallen leader.

"Now, who are you!" Naruto demanded.

Two of the men lifted their leader onto his feet, he could barely keep one eye open.

"How, uh, how dare you attack me, I……..I am Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village!"

Naruto's eyes shot wide open with shock. Hokage, what is he talking about.

Naruto smiled half a smile and turned away from the rabble. "Hokage? Heh, you couldn't be anything above an Academy student."

Naruto turned back to the group and happen to notice the symbol on their head protectors.

"I didn't know Hidden Grass ninjas could become Hokages of the Leaf Village," he taunted.

He smiled at them once again, suddenly with a force of a tsunami anger exploded onto his surface.

"How dare you mock the Hokage name by claiming it!"

Naruto began performing hand seals. The Grass nins readied themselves and began to make their own seals.

"GRASS STORM JUTSU!"

The nins sent a power wind of cutting grass at Naruto, who was still preoccupied with his own jutsu attempt.

"SHADOW SPEED JUTSU!"

Before the Grass nins could even hear the words Naruto had already knocked them all unconscious. The nins fell to the ground in perfect unison as Naruto stood in the center. The Grass nins were easy enough for him to defeat, but just their presence in the Fire Country gnawed away at his skull. He knew there was a possibility they were on a secret mission, of that they were missing nins. Still, it was improbable that the Grass Village would send such weak nins on a secret mission that involved infiltrating the Leaf village, and if they were missing nins Grass Hunter-nins would have definitely captured them by now. There was a possibility that the Leaf and Grass villages were at war, but such conflict would've reached his ears when he went to villages for supplies.

"Why did he call himself Hokage?" Naruto shook off the displeasing thought and continued on to the village.

Naruto walked along a path he hadn't seen in years. It was the path that led to the entrance of the Hidden Leaf village. There was something strange about the dirt road, it was broken and in upheaval, as if numerous battles had taken place. He reached the gate, and what he saw caused a deep echo that hollowed his stomach.

"What, is this?"

Shattered bodies laid in pools of blood around the broken entrance gate. Shurikens and kunais were stuck in almost every object around what appeared to be the point of battle. Rage erupted inside of Naruto as he saw the head protectors of his Leaf nins broken and drenched with blood along the battlefield. He raced into the village to find anyone that could tell him what happened. As he went from building to building, he could only find the dead and not a single living soul. He finally stopped at a small warehouse where some families kept their stores of rice. Naruto's eyes frantically moved across the landscape, hoping to find a Leaf nin or a Leaf resident.

"Yah!" From behind Naruto an army of kunai flew through the air, directly coming towards him.

"SHADOW SPEED JUTSU!"

The array of kunai harmlessly pierced into the ground. Naruto waited patiently behind the warehouse in order to see his opponents. Two figures landed near where he had stood. Naruto looked closely at the two. One was a female with blonde hair which was tied into a single knot, while the other was a robust male with pineapple-like brown hair.

"Damnit Choji, if you hadn't been eating we would've gotten that bastard!" the blonde yelled at her gluttonous comrade.

"Calm down Ino," Choji said as he sat down with a freshly opened bag of potato chips, "it doesn't matter now. Who ever it was he's gone now, that's all that matters, the emergency supply is safe."

Naruto had no doubt in his mind that those two were Choji and Ino, old comrades of his youth. He ran out from the shadows to greet the two.

"Choji, Ino…."

"Choji watch out!" Ino yelled as they both jumped away from Naruto, with Choji almost spilling the contents of his bag.

Ino reached into her ninja bag and took out a kunai, with Choji doing the same shortly after.

"Who are you!" Ino demanded as they readied for their assault.

"Guys, it's me, Naruto!" Naruto answered.

"Don't play with us!" Choji yelled, spitting out small chunks of moist chip. "Naruto disappeared a long time ago, stop messing with us you Leaf nin wannabe!"

"It is me! Choji, Ino, can't you tell…."

"Enough of the lies!" Ino yelled.

She placed her hands together and began forming hand seals. Naurto remembered what Ino's specialty was and began his own jutsu.

"Hmm," Choji mocked as he devoured the chips, "there's no way you can perform a jutsu that will block Ino's special ability."

Ino smiled as her seals were finally complete, "NINPO SHINTENSHIN NO JUTSU!"

"MIND WALL JUTSU!"

Ino and Choji staggered at the jutsu Naruto had just performed; the jutsu seemed specifically designed to negate her jutsu.

"How?" Ino asked quietly, and angrily.

Choji just smiled. "Teh, that's a high level jutsu, it just proves even more that you aren't the Naruto I used to know."

Choji held the last potato chip in his hand and dropped the greasy bag on the ground. It rustled past Choji and Naruto, like tumbleweed during a stare down. Naruto and Choji began their seals in sync with one another.

"MULTI-STRENTH JUTSU!"

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

Choji hesitated to attack; the jutsu the fake Naruto just completed had been the real Naruto's favorite technique.

"Hmm, you even managed to copy his favorite technique impressive, but no half-grade wannabe is going to beat me!"

Choji launched his powerful fist into Naruto, who quickly became a puff of smoke. Three Narutos appeared behind Choji. Choji quickly spun around, hitting the three Narutos into the ground, in which they disappeared. Choji looked around the area, but didn't see anymore. His eyes suddenly fell upon his comrade. Naruto was behind her, with a Kunai near her neck.

"Ino watch out!" he yelled, darting towards her.

Ino began to turn her head, but she was stopped by the cold sensation of metal on the back of her neck.

"Stop Choji!"

Choji stopped his charge, seeing the kunai dangerously near his teammate.

"Now, I guess telling you I'm Naruto isn't going to convince you I am him," Naruto said, taking the kunai away from Ino's flesh. Quickly she jumped to Choji's side, readying another jutsu.

"You should've kept that vantage point you fake……..what!"

Red chakra appeared around Naruto. It swirled around him like a dancing, ruby ribbon. Memories of the Chunnin exam came flashing into Ino and Choji's minds. What seemed like so long ago was before their very eyes, the red chakra. The power Naruto used to combat Neji's absolute defense, it was right there.

"Na…ru….to?" Ino managed to bring out of her mouth.

The chakra resided, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Yeah, it's me."

Author: I didn't feel like writing 15 pages right now, but you can expect me to have chapters with equal or more amounts of text :).