Chapter 1: Morning's End

[notes]

This story starts right when Naruto comes back from the time skip and instantly diverges from there. The only differences before this point are some events that take place during the time skip, and they'll be explained in the story.

Also, no, before anyone asks, there are no pairings planned for this story.

I hope you enjoy reading! And I hope you pay attention to all the details too. They will matter later on

Naruto hadn't seen his hometown in two and a half years.

Or approximately thirty months.

Or one hundred and thirty weeks.

Or nine hundred and ten days.

If you broke it down even further into minutes, you would realize that that amount of time would have been enough to consecutively make four hundred thirty six thousand eight hundred cups of instant ramen. It sounds like a long time. And it is.

For the blonde Naruto, the day that marked his return could not have been more perfect. The early afternoon sun was shining brightly high above, bathing the green forests of Fire Country in a vivid hue. The expansive sky mirrored the soft blue color of crystal clear water, without a single hint of clouds. Within Konoha itself, birds were alive with song, and the air was filled with a vast assortment of aromas, as restaurants and food vendors were serving the last of the lunch rush. Citizens of the proud ninja village crowded the streets, the hustle and bustle of everyday life taking them this way and that. Despite being a decently sized and fairly densely populated town, the Leaf village has a very happy and polite civilian population. Even in the crowded marketplace, people don't push or shove or bump into others or make rude comments.

It was to this scene that the student-teacher duo of Uzumaki Naruto and Jiraiya stepped foot within the massive gates of Konoha for the first time in four hundred thirty six thousand eight hundred cups of ramen.

The two Chunin guards, Izumo and Kotetsu, looked on with smiles at the sound of a familiar voice.

"I'm home!" Naruto shouted with glee. He paused in his step to take a sweeping view over the village that he was born and raised in. "This place sure looks a lot better! Even better than it was before the invasion!"

At the time Naruto left, the village had just fended off a two-pronged attack by the Sound and Sand villages, and parts of the city were in ruin.

"Yeah, two and a half years will do that to a place," Jiraiya remarked with a smirk. "Though I wouldn't have been surprised if the city was still half filled with rubble, what with that legendary drunkard teammate of mine in charge," he finished with a hearty laugh.

"I can't wait to see baa-chan! And Sakura-chan!" As he said the name of his pink-haired teammate, Naruto's face visibly brightened. "I bet she's gotten so much stronger!"

"And I bet that's not the only place where she improved," Jiraiya let out suggestively with a lecherous grin.

"Pervert!" Naruto pointed an accusing finger at his sensei while failing to hide the blush that was slowly creeping onto his own face. It only made the old man laugh that much harder.

"You go find that teammate of yours first. I'll go have a chat with the old lady. You can come join us later," the toad hermit offered as he began walking towards the central tower.

Naruto waved his sensei goodbye and watched as the man's retreating back disappeared into the crowd.

"Well then, onto the first order of business!" Naruto jumped onto a close-by telephone pole to get a better view of the village. 'I wonder how everyone's doing,' he thought to himself. The blonde was getting nostalgic, seeing all the old places he used to frequent. There was the ninja academy off in the distance, where he was first introduced to the shinobi arts. There was the high rise apartment complex in which he lived. And most importantly, he couldn't see it because of the much taller surrounding buildings, but he knew exactly where his favorite ramen stand was. Each place held so many memories and was so dear to his heart; Naruto became lost in his own reminiscence.

"Naruto!"

He blinked. 'That sounded like…'

Indeed, when he looked down, Naruto saw that the one who called his name really was his Sakura-chan, standing at the foot of the pole looking up at him with her left hand raised to shield her eyes. The first thing he saw of her was her brilliant, deep green eyes; the same ones that he saw regularly in his dreams. Even as the years went by, the blonde could still never quite let go of the childhood crush that he's had on his teammate since…well, forever really. Without even looking at the rest of her face, he could already tell that she had a smile on. The mirth in her eyes gave it all away.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto leaped down to the ground, smoothly landing in a crouch, and stood up to look at the object of his affection. "How have you been?" he asked with his typical wide smile.

Her smile was still there. No matter the amount of time that's elapsed, that smile still has the very same effect on him. Whenever Naruto sees Sakura smile, his stomach flutters with the wings of many butterflies. That simple movement of her facial muscles makes the rest of the world suddenly becomes a shade duller in contrast. Her bright smile was the sun, beaming at him, and Naruto's body felt like a cloud: weightless and floating in the air.

"Great!" she replied excitedly. "I've been waiting so long to see you," she continued in a somewhat more subdued tone.

"How did you know I was back so quick—"

Without warning, Sakura quickly closed the gap between them and wrapped her arms around the now taller than her blonde boy for a deep hug.

Naruto was taken aback by the gesture. It wasn't a quick, fleeting hug that you typically give a friend as a hello or a goodbye. It was drawn out for a couple of seconds, and the boy could really tell that the pink-haired kunoichi meant it and genuinely missed him.

"Wow, you've really gotten a lot taller, Naruto," Sakura remarked as she pulled away. Naruto frowned inside at the loss of physical contact.

"Hehe, thanks!" he replied sheepishly while rubbing his nose. "You've changed a lot too, Sakura-chan!"

"Do I look more womanly now?" the girl asked mock suggestively.

"Yup!"

"Pervert!"

Naruto's eyes widened in confusion. 'Was that a trick question?'

Sakura giggled at her teammate's cluelessness about her teasing. "Now you'll have to make it up to me by having some ramen with me. My treat!"

Naruto resisted the urge to pinch himself. 'This has to be a dream,' he thought to himself. First Sakura gives him a great hug and now not only is she asking him out to what seemed like a date, but it also happens to be ramen, the greatest food known to mankind, and to top it all off, she's paying. 'Yup. This can't be really happening,' Naruto concluded in his head. His face took on a sagely expression complete with closed eyes and a slow nodding motion as his body unconsciously reflected his internal thoughts.

He was broken out of his stupor by a light slap to his head.

"Ow! Sakura-chaaaan! What'd you hit me for?" Naruto asked with a pout while rubbing the place he was hit. It was only a love tap and didn't hurt at all, but he was just going through the motions out of a force of habit.

"You don't just stand there nodding to yourself when we're about to go to lunch. That's no way to treat a lady!" Sakura finished with fake indignity. As Naruto's pout deepened, Sakura couldn't help but smile on the inside. 'Heh, same old Naruto,' she thought to herself. She was really happy that two and a half years didn't cause him to lose his innocence. He still had those child-like qualities that made him an idiot, but endearing at the same time.

As Naruto and Sakura walked towards Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto couldn't help but again smile at his good fortune. His first date with Sakura-chan! He glanced over at his teammate. The girl had a serene smile on her face, and looked to be enjoying the warm sun and the pleasant murmur of the joyful street chatter around them.

Beyond Sakura, one of the things that Naruto noticed was that he was getting a lot of looks—he was used to it—but these looks were different. He used to get dirty looks of hatred from most of the civilian population of Konoha as a child. It got progressively better, especially after his great showing at the Chunin Exams. However, now the looks have all pretty much been replaced with…indifference? 'Meh, it's still a step up.' Naruto just didn't want any negative thoughts to ruin this great day.

The pair had walked for only a couple of minutes before they ran into a familiar sight.

And what a dazzling sight it was.

There, standing by a stall and looking over the earrings on display, was Yamanaka Ino. Blonde and beautiful. Naruto would never admit it with Sakura so close by, but the blonde girl filled out a LOT more than his teammate did. Being only fifteen, Ino wasn't quit in her prime yet in terms of her looks, but she was rapidly getting there. Her ninja outfit showed off her long, shapely legs, and the tight clothing she wore did nothing to hide the curves that had come in. The lush, long blonde hair was the icing on the cake that made Ino irresistible to countless guys. So you'll have to forgive Naruto if he stared a little, as he wasn't the only guy doing so.

"Ino!" Sakura shouted to her best friend as she caught sight of the girl as well.

As Ino turned to look at her friend, her face lighted up with surprise in seeing the blonde boy.

"Sakura! And Naruto! When did you get back? I haven't seen you in soooo long!" she cried.

"Uh, just now actually," Naruto stammered out. He was distracted by a certain someone's amazing legs as said someone walked up to him. Sakura elbowed him in the side. "Ow!"

"My, are you two on a date?" Ino asked teasingly with a suggestive undertone.

"If you must know, yes, Ino," Sakura replied matter-of-factly with a hint of pride.

"Well it's about time," Ino said with a smirk, "Though it's too bad. Naruto's grown up well, and if you're not careful, Forehead, I might just take a shot at him," she said with a wink as she playfully latched onto Naruto's left arm and tried to give him her best cutesy/innocent seductive look.

Naruto was a loss for words and could only stare with his jaw hanging. On one hand, he was ecstatic about a girl as beautiful as Ino showing interest in him, but on the other, he could feel Sakura getting upset on the other side of him. What a dilemma! Thankfully, he was saved by the appearance of another member of Team 10.

"Easy there, Ino," a lazy voice called out, "the guy hasn't been back ten minutes yet and you're already trying to add him to your trophy case."

"Shikamaru!" Naruto called out happily as the Nara appeared seemingly out of nowhere from within the crowd.

"Yo," the other boy replied simply, raising his hand in greeting.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Shikamaru?" Ino questioned loudly.

"Exactly what it sounded like, Pig," Sakura responded with a satisfied smirk.

Being caught in the middle of the two females, Naruto was getting nervous.

"Women. So troublesome," Shikamaru said with a sigh. Naruto forced a chuckle in response. Before the girls could get too heated, Shikamaru walked up to Ino and took her arm. "Come on Ino, lets leave the lovebirds be."

"Not you too!" Naruto whined as Shikamaru half dragged Ino away, again raising up a hand in farewell.

Sakura stuck her tongue out at Ino.

Naruto laughed.

Almost a full two hours had passed as Naruto recounted his adventures during his time away from the Leaf village to Sakura. The two were seated on the worn wooden stools of the Ichiraku Ramen Stand with the remnants of their meal still in front of them on the counter. The whole time, Naruto was very enthusiastic about telling his tale and used exaggerated gestures with arms and hands flying everywhere to make his points. Sakura listened attentively, laughing frequently at the boy's energetic tale.

For his part, Naruto was just glad Sakura seemed to enjoy his story telling so much. Sure, he exaggerated some things here and there to try and impress her: the evil army of countless giant bandits he defeated was more like a hapless motley crew of ten upstart amateur thieves, the luxurious mansion he single handedly built for a homeless family of six was more of a small wooden cabin, and the beautiful princess of Bird Country he saved from kidnappers was more of a little six year old daughter of a tiny shop owner. They weren't lies though. 'Evil' and 'countless' are subjective terms, a homeless family probably would find even a wooden cabin luxurious, and the little girl's father would certainly call her a princess.

"…and then we decided to come back to Konoha!" Naruto finished excitedly.

"Wow, it sounds like you learned a lot with Jiraiya-sama, Naruto!" Sakura said with a hint of pride in her voice. "And I'm glad you were able to help so many people along the way. Especially a princess of Bird Country…I'm sure that'll have great benefits in the future!"

"Eh heh heh…right!" Naruto replied nervously. Deciding to quickly change the subject, the blonde decided to ask about the Leaf. "So how about you? I want to hear everything you've done! And the village too!"

Sakura smiled at Naruto's devotion to Konoha. "The village is doing great! Rebuilding happened really fast, our ninja force is stronger than ever, and the mood around here is generally very positive! It's just that…" At this, Sakura looked down at her nearly empty bowl of ramen with a somewhat regretful smile on her face. There was a somewhat long pause where Sakura seemed to get lost in her own thoughts. As the seconds ticked away, the smile slowly started to slip from Naruto's face as he was getting impatient and the tiny feeling of something being wrong was slowly worming its way into his brain.

"What, Sakura-chan?" he prompted the girl. His voice seemed to have shaken her out of her thoughts as she jumped a little in surprise. She turned her attention back to the blonde and tried to widen her smile a bit, but Naruto could still see the hint of sadness behind it.

"A lot has changed, Naruto." The simple sentence wasn't by itself positive or negative, but the way she smiled and the soft voice in which she said it only helped that feeling in the pit of Naruto's stomach to fester.

"What do you mean?" he asked, silently willing her to elaborate.

"Well…for one, Tsunade-sama…is no longer Hokage," Sakura said slowly, as if she wasn't sure how Naruto would take the news and was trying to break it to him easy.

And she was right.

Naruto could only stare at her with an unreadable expression.

'What?'

'What did she just say?'

'That can't be right…'

Naruto's head was spinning at increasingly faster speeds as he had trouble comprehending the simple words his teammate just uttered. He went over ever every single syllable in his head, trying to understand the meaning of the sentence that certainly had a different meaning than what it was on the surface. Because the idea that it actually meant what it did…it's lunacy! The Fifth Hokage had only been instated for a couple of months before Naruto left on his training trip. There's no way something could have happened in less than three years, unless it was big or catastrophic like the Kyuubi attack was, but then Naruto would have heard about it, or at least seen it when he came back to the village. But everything looked so…normal. There was just no way.

"Uh…what do you mean?" he finally managed to ask.

Sakura's face now adopted a much more melancholic look as she began to explain the events that occurred in his absence. "Well, very soon after you left, this group called Akatsuki started appearing around Fire Country. I know you've heard of them. And yes…we were all told of your…status," at these last words, Sakura's expression dramatically changed, from sad to worried. "Naruto…I can't believe this entire time, you—"

"Not now." At the mention of his status as a Jinchuuriki, Naruto winced slightly. However, there were more important things to talk about right now. It seems like Sakura at least doesn't hate him for it, and well, he can be pitied later. "We can talk about that later. I want to know what happed to baa-chan." Naruto's voice wasn't harsh, but it was firm and commanding, and left no room for argument.

Sakura was taken aback by Naruto's resolve. When she and the other rookies found out about the bijuu inside Naruto, she was shocked to say the least. The prankster, dead-last, hyperactive, happy-go-lucky Naruto held the most powerful demon in the world within him? The thought was ludicrous. It soon started making sense to her though. It explained a lot, like how he managed to beat that boy Haku in Wave Country, how he can make hundreds of Kage Bunshin when even the Hokage can't come close to matching those numbers, and how he was able to stand up to Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. Still, there was a lot that Sakura wanted to talk to Naruto about, and she was sure he would want to talk about it with her too. But now, hearing him brush the topic aside…

"Okay…um, well yeah, so they started appearing in Fire Country, tearing through villages and even the Fire Temple, looking for…well, you." Sakura paused to make sure Naruto was still okay. He was attentive as ever, so she continued. "Eventually, Tsunade-sama created the Nijū Shōtai to track them down. They eventually did, but not without losses. Asuma-sensei…he was killed."

Naruto looked away. He can't bear the idea; that others died because of him. Rage was boiling deep within him, threatening to break the dams of his restraint and flood his body with anger. But no, this is what he had been working on during his training. To control his emotions. The beast within feeds on hatred, and he'll be damned before he gives it what it wants.

"Keep going," he managed to let out between his ground teeth. Sakura was starting to look more and more unsure.

"Well, eventually Team 10 and Kakashi-sensei and a bunch of other Jonin killed the pair of them that were giving us trouble, but it wasn't the end of it. A couple days afterwards, as Tsunade-sama and her guards were traveling to Suna for the Chunin Exams, they ran into another pair of Akatsuki."

A feeling of dread was starting to take hold of Naruto, as he could guess where this was going. His fists were clenched so tightly that his nails were digging into his palms, and his breath and heartbeat were rapidly quickening.

"Those guys…they didn't want to fight. They…they just wanted to know where…where you were…but Tsunade-sama would have none of it. She engaged them. And well…she was…" Sakura was having some trouble continuing.

"…killed?" Naruto supplied. He was already on the edge of his seat, ready to explode. So when Sakura said,

"No."

Naruto let out what seemed like the biggest breath he had ever held. He could feel his entire body deflate and the adrenaline slowly giving way. His entire body was washed with the relief that the one simple word provided.

"She was badly hurt…but alive," Sakura continued, "She's physically okay…but she's been in coma ever since…" she finished weakly.

'Well, at least she's alive,' Naruto thought. His mind quickly took a darker turn. 'Those Akatsuki bastards…I'm going to kill them all.' The murderous declaration had no pride or eagerness or boastfulness behind it. It was just a statement of stone cold fact. Like it was already pre-determined to happen, and it was only a matter of time before it came to pass.

There was a gloomy silence as both teens were feeling the weight of the events. Naruto was the first to break it.

"So who's Hokage now?"

"A man named Shimura Danzo," Sakura answered.

Naruto blinked. "Never heard of him."

"I'm not surprised. Not many in our generation had before he was given the title. But apparently he was a really important guy. And really strong. And very serious," Sakura listed off.

"So, he's only in charge temporarily right? Until baa-chan wakes up," Naruto stated more than asked.

"Well," Sakura hesitated, "it's actually gotten…very complicated."

Naruto's expression went from surprised to confused to angry. "Complicated? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked heatedly.

"Well Danzo-sama is rightfully the Rokudaime Hokage. He was appointed by the Fire Daimyo and everything," Sakura started hesitantly, "As for what happens if and when Tsunade-same wakes up…" she trailed off.

"What? She's just gonna be thrown aside? After all she's done for the village?"

"No, of course not!" Sakura shot back, angry that Naruto would even suggest such a thing. "But like I said, it's a complicated situation."

"Sakura-chan, I'm not stupid. I know there's something going on here that you're not telling me!"

Sakura deflated at his words. "Naruto, we're teammates. I know I wasn't the best teammate or friend when we first met, but after everything we've been through…you're one of the closest people I have in the whole world," she said softly as she looked straight into his eyes.

Naruto was shocked. That Sakura would feel that strongly about him…it's something he had wanted to hear since they were young. Words could not describe how happy, how grateful, Naruto felt right now. He wanted to cry. He couldn't say anything, but his thoughts must have been conveyed by his expressive eyes, as it looked like Sakura got the idea.

"I trust you with all my heart Naruto."

Now he was confused. "Erm, I'm really glad to hear you say that Sakura-chan, and I feel the same about you. But…what does trust have to do with anything here? All I was asking is if—"

"We'll talk about it later, Naruto." Now it was Sakura's turn to be stern. Naruto, for his part, couldn't figure out why she was refusing to talk about this. Before he could ask, however, the pair were interrupted by a masked ANBU that just entered the ramen stand.

"Uzumaki Naruto. The Hokage requests your audience," the ANU said curtly in a monotone voice. He then promptly turned and exited, disappearing from sight.

"Uh, okay. Guess I'm meeting this Danzo guy now," Naruto said to no one in particular.

Sakura, on the other hand, adopted a worried look, but quickly smoothed out her face. "Just watch what you say, Naruto. Danzo-sama is not like Tsunade-sama. Like I said, he's very serious, and he won't tolerate your normal behavior."

"Sakura-chan, you worry too much!" Naruto said brightly as he jumped off the stool, "And thanks for the ramen! It was really great seeing you after so long! I'll come find you later!" With that the blonde left the girl alone in the ramen stand.

"No, Naruto. You don't worry enough," Sakura said softly to herself with a sad look.

Naruto had a lot on his mind as he walked towards the Hokage tower at a brisk pace. By now the streets were much more empty, as it was mid afternoon and everyone was back at work, trying to finish for the day. He had a lot to chew on. With the threat of Akatsuki apparently more severe than he thought and Tsunade still in a coma, meeting the new Hokage really wasn't that high of a priority on Naruto's list. Though he supposed it does make sense that the new guy would want to see him.

The blonde boy had just walked past a shoe shop when he heard his named being called by a somewhat familiar voice. He turned to his left, where he saw a hooded figure leaning against the wall in the shadows in a narrow alleyway between the shoe shop and the next door building.

Once he got out of the initial alarm of being caught off guard, he realized that he recognized the figure.

"Shino?" Naruto asked unsurely.

The figure stood up and turned to face him. "It's good to see you again, Naruto. I've been waiting for you."

Naruto already went through many surprises that day, but this one was probably right up there with the most unexpected of them. Shino? Waiting for him? They've probably never said more than a couple of sentences to each other, ever!

"Uh, good to see you too? What do you mean you've been waiting for me? And how the hell does everyone know I'm back already?"

As a response, Shino silently extended his hand, as if for a handshake.

He wasn't really sure exactly sure what the bug user's intention was, but Naruto didn't want to be rude. He stepped into the alleyway and gripped Shino's hand in a handshake.

"No need to be so formal," Naruto said with some humor, trying to keep the situation light. As he tried to pull his hand away, he felt Shino's grip tighten. The other boy wouldn't let go. Instead, he pulled him even closer so that they were inches away. Naruto's surprise prevented him from saying anything before Shino spoke up in a voice that was barely louder than a whisper.

"Everyone knows you're back because there are eyes and ears everywhere. Watch what you say when you're with the Hokage, Naruto. Don't reveal all your cards. Not everything is as it seems."

With that, the hooded boy let go of Naruto's hand and slowly started backing away.

"What the hell…what are you talking about?" Naruto managed to stutter out.

"I'll find you soon. We need to talk in private," were the last words Shino said before he melted into a swarm of bugs that collapsed and dispersed and all scurried away into the alley.