Praise be! And yeah, I won't even justify this. But Woot! New story! What's it about? Read it. Because I already summarized it in the summary. So, yeah. Me excited! Hope you all like this one.

***This shouldn't need to be said, but word to ThatReallyWeirdDude. Believe they're the originator of the doctrine governing the Almighty Log. Thank you***

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This story is my ode to the Holy Log. Praise be to the Log. And to the Log be praise. Amen.

Chapter 1: Prologue

A valley near a flowing waterfall was fraught with cracks, craters, and small wisps of flames. Signs of conflict were easily detected and at first glance, two armies were the reason for the scene. Armies? No. Two boys with equally strong wills? Yes.

Uzumaki Naruto. Jinchuriki of the Kyubi. Village outcast with dreams to ironically protect the village that shuns him. And Uchiha Sasuke. Wielder of the Sharingan. A prodigy among even a clan full of geniuses.

It'd been a real struggle between the two shinobi but in the end, Sasuke emerged victorious once more. He'd never lost to Naruto and that fact hadn't changed here. Sasuke stood over the unconscious and defeated Naruto and merely looked down upon him.

Sasuke stared at Naruto for the longest time as rain eventually began to fall. It would be so easy. Sasuke could kill his best friend and achieve the power to face off against his brother. His brother was the one who told him of such power.

"I don't need help from you..." thought Sasuke scoffing at the idea of doing such a thing to gain the power to beat his brother. While his ambition was his priority, he wouldn't stoop to such a level. "When I beat you, I want you to know I did it through my own means. Not because I killed my best friend to unlock the same eyes as you did."

And with that thought, Sasuke made a move to leave and continue his journey only for a sharp pain to run through his body. The battle with Naruto had taken a lot out of him. Sasuke fell forward and landed on his knees with his face but a few inches from Naruto's own.

The raven-haired boy stared at Naruto inadvertently and in doing so, he noticed something weird. As close as he was, he should be feeling Naruto's breath. He hadn't been which meant-

"Naruto..." said Sasuke weakly not noticing Naruto was moving slowly also. By the time he did notice, Naruto was picking up speed from the muddy ground that'd grown slick from the downpour. "Naruto!"

Sasuke wanted to give chase but his body wasn't responding due to exhaustion. He could only watch Naruto slide into the river and get carried away by the current. Sasuke's black eyes were wide as he watched his rival disappear through the waters.

Sitting stock still, Sasuke stared for a bit longer until he realized he was technically still on the run. Finding the strength to get up finally, Sasuke made haste to leave the area. The Uchiha never noticed his Sharingan had turned back on and shifted into a new design.

Time passed before a lone man found himself standing in the middle of what had once been a battlefield. He had silver hair and a headband identical to the one Naruto wore that covered one of his eyes while the other eye looked down solemnly. He let out a sigh from his facemask covered mouth as he kneeled down and looked at the easily noticeable skid in the mud.

"Pakkun, can you smell anything?"

A small pug at his side sniffed the air before shaking his head and speaking.

"I can't smell either one Kakashi, not Naruto or Sasuke. Sasuke's trail goes on a little further before dying off and Naruto's ends right here..." Pakkun looked up at his owner before coming to the same conclusion Kakashi had. "You don't think Naruto-?"

"-We have to keep looking," said Kakashi cutting off Pakkun from finishing that thought. For a moment, Kakashi thought he saw an orange silhouette of a fox shooting to the sky but waved it off. "Naruto wouldn't die that easily. He has a dream to accomplish. So, we'll find him."

Pakkun just nodded his head as the two took off in the same direction they assumed Naruto went. They would find him. They had to.

(With Naruto)

It was dark, really dark. Naruto looked around eerily at the darkness surrounding him until he spotted a campfire in the distance. Seeing how that was the only thing around, Naruto walked to it. As he did, he could make out one person sitting at the campfire. A redheaded woman now that Naruto could see as he cautiously walked up to her.

The woman was humming a very beautiful tune before she blanched and turned to see Naruto right behind her.

"Aaahh!" yelped the woman loudly getting Naruto to cover his ears at the loud noise. The woman then shook her fist and glared at him. "What gives you the idea to sneak up on someone dattebane?! Did your mother not raise you right?!"

"...geez, you scream really loud lady," said Naruto making sure his hearing wasn't affected from the high pitched scream. "And I never met my mother. So no...she didn't raise me right because she wasn't there. I am sorry for sneaking up on you though, I didn't mean to." continued Naruto getting silence. Naruto peered an eye to the woman to see her looking absolutely shocked. "What's wrong? Is it something-"

"-What's your name?"

"Huh? Oh, right. Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage dattebayo," said Naruto with a bright smile as he extended a hand. Instead of a handshake, Naruto was engulfed in a hug by the woman. Naruto was confused by the firm hug as he looked up. "Uhh lady...why are you hugging me?"

"Because my name is Uzumaki Kushina and I'm your mother."

Naruto's blue eyes widened slowly as he sat frozen in the hug.

"You're my...my..."

"Yes, I'm your mother."

Naruto's eyes began to well up with tears as he slowly wrapped both arms around the woman. The mother and son sat in each other's embrace. He was hugging his mom! Naruto thought he had died and went to heaven.

Sad thing was, he did die. He simply didn't know it yet.

(Konoha)

Biting her manicured nail, the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade, stood patiently waiting for news about Naruto. He was the last unaccounted for Genin, other than Sasuke, that'd left on that retrieval mission. Time wise, Kakashi should have been back an hour ago which raised the beautiful woman's anxiety further.

Tsunade had the other Genin to occupy her mind beforehand due to their injuries upon their return. But she'd stabilized the three critically hurt ones already and was waiting patiently for the last one out of the five.

"Hime...where's Naruto?"

Tsunade blanched at the voice and turned to see her teammate, Jiraiya, standing behind her. He had an out of breath and disheveled look about him and looked to be pleading with her to know Naruto's whereabouts. Jiraiya saw nothing but confused eyes back and his heart sank. Pulling the scroll from his back, Jiraiya opened it and showed Tsunade three names.

Jiraiya's own, Namikaze Minato, and Uzumaki Naruto. The toad summoners contract and in red sat Jiraiya's name while Minato's and Naruto's were both in black. It didn't take long for Tsunade to put it together as her eyes widened.

"Naruto..." thought the Kage as a tear rolled down her cheek. "You can't be..."

(Parts Unknown)

"The Kyubi and Uchiha's fight has concluded," spoke a man that was split down the middle, white on one side and black on the other.

"Is it? Tell me who won?" said a second man who had on an intriguing spiral mask.

"The Uchiha boy prevailed and has left to Orochimaru. The Jinchuriki is..." said the first man before stopping.

"What? What is it Zetsu?"

"The Kyubi boy died in the aftermath of their final clash. The Kyubi's Chakra has dispersed."

"Hmm, so he perished did he..." pondered the man for a moment.

"What are your plans for the Kyubi?" questioned Zetsu clearly not caring about the boy's death.

"We capture it once it resurfaces in a few years," spoke the man casually. "We just don't have to worry about extracting it from a person first. It'll make a good aid in my plans under my control once more."

Zetsu merely nodded before appearing to meld with the floor and vanishing. Nothing had changed. Perhaps a small delay but the plan was still the same.

(Three years later - Konoha)

"Yes, I am up to the task Godaime-sama," spoke a brown-haired teen with white eyes.

"I'm glad you are Neji. I approve of your suggested team also. You all should be more than capable," said Tsunade, hands crossed in front of her. She looked to the three others standing with Neji and addressed them. "Rock Lee, Haruno Sakura, and Inuzaka Kiba. You all, along with your captain, Hyūga Neji, will be providing protection and travel for our VIP. Ensure she arrives safely."

"Hai shishou!" responded Sakura with a nod and adjustment of her gloves.

"Of course Tsunade-sama!" responded Rock Lee with a thumbs up and a smile that somehow sparkled.

"Don't you worry, me and Akamaru got it in the bag!" responded Kiba as his dog partner, Akamaru, gave an affirming bark.

"Agreed. Let us head out then," said Neji as the four of them left.

Tsunade watched the four leave as she turned to her assistant who stood behind her.

"Shizune, do you know what today is?" questioned Tsunade getting Shizune to nod her head. Tsunade then stood and nodded back. "Right then. See you tomorrow. Alert me if anything happens."

"Hai shishou," said Shizune watching the blonde Kage walk out of her office. The black haired woman gave a concerned look at her master's disappearance. "Today is the three year anniversary of Naruto-kun's death. And it still affects her this hard."

Which made sense because everyone was affected by his death. Uzumaki Naruto meant a lot to a lot of people, practically everyone, in Konoha. Most importantly, he was Konoha's war deterrent as its Jinchuriki and left them mightily vulnerable with his passing. That was the most glaring loss and that didn't even account for Naruto the person. And each year, on this day, Tsunade went reclusive.

"Just like many of his close ones do." thought Shizune feeling like doing the same. But she had a duty. She was a ninja. And a ninja is someone who endures. "...I really do miss you Naruto-kun."

Shizune thought of the blonde-haired boy a little longer before returning to work. She didn't want to get sad again.

(Several days later)

"You're going to die! Stop trying to protect me!" shouted a pale blonde-haired girl. "Mōryō and his followers are going to kill you all if you-"

"-Shut. Up!" came the agitated voice of Sakura dodging a potent blast of water. The pink-haired girl was focused on her opponent but the annoying voice of their VIP was getting to her. "We're not going to die. Now let me concentrate."

"Hehehehe, you should listen to the priestess pinky," spoke Sakura's opponent as the medic-nin bristled at the nickname. Sakura's opponent was an orange-haired girl with white skin and blue markings across her face. "Because you and your friends are all going to die. Suishu Gorugon (Water Attacking Gorgon)."

A massive water serpent spawned around the woman before launching out at Sakura. Sakura was surprised by the attack but dodged it with no real worry. Until it didn't just continue forward and actually swerved to catch her in midair. Sakura's eyes widened and she braced for impact.

She waited but, the impact never came. Instead, she was settled comfortably within the arms of a masked man. He was wearing a hooded cloak that covered his body and his mask was white with red markings across it. The most interesting of the markings being the circle resembling a third eye on his forehead.

"Hey! What the hell! I had her!" shouted the girl opposing Sakura at watching her being saved.

"She'd have survived and still kicked your ass. I'm just going to do the latter, faster," said the masked man getting the girl to blanch. He then looked down at Sakura, who sat confused in his arms. "Sorry for taking your fight. I was hired to protect the priestess too. Actually for much longer than you all have." Sakura was placed down with that said but only stared at the enigma who saved her. She hadn't even heard what he said because she was admiring him. Especially the golden eyes behind his mask because they were looking at her with a warmth that was indescribable. "Right then. Gudodama (Truth-Seeking Ball)."

The orange-haired girl grinned haughtily. Her water dragon had swerved a second time and aimed to take out the mysterious man and medic. That was until 10 black orbs appeared behind the masked man's back with one of the orbs expanding to cover himself and Sakura. And when her water dragon made contact with the black dome, the jutsu simply ceased to exist.

"What? What the hell was that?"

"What it was doesn't matter," said the Masked Man appearing in a shunshin. The girl was shocked at his speed because she didn't even notice him until he spoke. And for some reason, the ground was getting really hot with him standing there. "Kakazan (Flower-Fruit Mountain)"

A volcanic eruption exploded from beneath the masked man's feet. The orange-haired girl screamed in horror getting burned alive by the lava pouring from the ground. Despite the technique's widespread area of effect and potency, not one tree in the area was affected.

Sakura admired the control the man had to keep his jutsu from harming the area before seeing him vanish again. She turned her head to the priestess and saw the Masked Man there. And she was already in his arms bridal style.

"It took you long enough," said an irate priestess from what Sakura could hear. Sakura was confused because it sounded like the priestess knew who this masked man was? "I had to hire misfits to do your job at its utmost importance and it has nearly gotten me killed."

"Apologies, I had something to do," spoke the masked man before looking up. Sakura thought he was looking at her until he spoke again. "Did you protect the others?"

Just as the man asked, another masked person landed right next to Sakura. Their mask matched the Masked Man's own perfectly. Their outfit did too. Almost everything matched between them. The only difference was rather than golden eyes, this person's eyes were pupilless and glowing a vibrant orange.

"Yeppers! They should be here soon!" exclaimed the newcomer brightly before noticing Sakura's eyes. The masked person extended a hand in greeting. "Hi pretty lady, I'm Chomei! Nice to meet you."

"Uh...hi," replied Sakura shaking their hand while blushing at the compliment.

"Chōmei-Chan, what did I say about names?" Asked the original masked man.

"Oops, wait, you just used one too though."

"...because you said it already."

"Oh, well, it's not like they know mine," replied Chomei with its eyes never leaving Sakura. Sakura was getting more flustered at the intense gaze as Chomei continued speaking. "They only know yours, Kamen no Otoko (The Masked Man)." Seeing no reaction from Sakura, Chomei deflated a bit. "Maybe they don't. I thought you were more famous Hoo-sama (Pope)?"

"I will be eventually. Just most who have seen me are dead or apart of Shion's little country. News doesn't much travel out of there," said the Masked Man before shaking his head. "And I'm off topic. Coming back or meeting me?"

"Definitely meeting. I'd like to see this," said Chomei never ceasing eye contact with Sakura. Her face reddened further at the next line. "I'd like to see her a little longer. I'm sure she'll meet us there."

Chomei then fluttered off with wings that Sakura saw sprout from its back as the Masked Man shook his head. He grumbled something under his breath and prepped to leave too. Sakura shook her head to snap out of it before looking at the enigma.

"Wait!" shouted Sakura getting the man to stop in his departing. "Who are you?"

"You'll find out soon."

"Why do you keep saving me?" questioned Sakura again getting the man to peer back at her. "This is the second time."

"I saved you because you looked like you needed saving, Sakura-chan."

The man smiled behind his mask before vanishing in a poof of smoke. Only two logs remained, taking his and Shion's place. Sakura's green eyes widened as she stood shocked hearing what the Masked Man called her. Her three team members soon arrived minutes later and saw her frozen state.

"Sakura-chan! Are you alright?" questioned Rock Lee as Kiba sniffed around.

"The person that decimated our opponents was here. With the priestess and some other person. Their scent is so familiar..." said Kiba as Neji looked to Sakura.

"What happened to the priestess?"

"Sakura-chan...he knew my name. And the only other person besides Rock Lee who called me that was...there's no way." thought Sakura hyperventilating before noticing Neji attempting to calm her down. But she couldn't calm down because she needed to confirm what she was feeling. "We have to follow them...now."

The other three heard the urgent tone from the Hokage's apprentice and all of them just nodded. They were technically still on an escort mission and who they were escorting was currently with two unknown commodities. That wasn't good. So they all took off to give chase.

(With the Priestess)

"Hmm, so the sealing jutsu you knew all your life actually helped to release him? How quaint," spoke the masked man looking at the massive upheaval going about.

Shion was deceived mightily by Mōryō into activating her jutsu. She believed it would seal the demon of a man and in turn actually released him given the faux body he'd been possessing. Now, there were swirling black dragons of the demon's chakra chasing them as the Masked Man held Shion again. He was dodging the dragons with ridiculous ease despite the speed they were moving.

"I'm sorry, I thought...I mean, it should have..." started Shion before she was hushed.

"Don't worry. Now, let's end this," said the Masked man turning to see the team of four led by Neji had arrived. The man's mask hid his grin as he built up chakra. "I believe it's finally time. Kairiki Muso (Unrivalled Strength)."

A huge burst of steam erupted from the Masked Man as he tossed Shion into the air. Shion screamed at the helpless situation she was currently in as the Masked Man disregarded her entirely. Instead, he launched down right into the mass of black chakra dragons. He'd moved too fast for any of them to intercept as he punched the core of the chakra creating the dragons. It was powerful enough to get them all to scream in pure agony.

"Sangosho (Coral Palm)," said the Masked Man as coral began to grow and spread across the black chakra. Moryo began to howl in pain too as it was his essence being practically fossiled in a matter of moments. Once the coral spread entirely, the Masked Man placed a hand atop it. "And just to be on the safe side, I'll seal you myself."

A pulse rippled out from the man's hand. From the pulse, an enormous seal spread rapidly over Moryo's frozen body. Sakura couldn't help but notice how similar those seal markings were in comparison to the ones found on Gaara in his initial Jinchuriki state. Sakura, and everyone else seemed to all remember the priestess as her scream reached their ears.

"I'm going to kill him if I survive this!" shouted Shion in the middle of her screaming.

"And there's that. Another easy one," said the Masked Man catching Shion before she went splat.

"...and fast," commented Shion after slowing down her heart. She was about to thank the Masked Man for catching her until remembering he'd been the one to throw her. "Did you really just throw me into the air?! Over an active volcano?! Are you crazy?!"

"Yes, yes, and no...at least I think on the last one," said the enigma in thought. He felt Shion's grip tighten and turned to see her glaring at him. "Wait, are you mad?"

"Yes! You threw me in the air dozens of feet above lava!"

"...but I caught you." The Masked Man was confused as Shion narrowed her eyes even further. "It doesn't matter. Because it's not important. What is important is-"

"Naruto."

"-that I'm finally ready to..." continued the masked man before turning his head sharply to Sakura. She'd been the one to speak and it stunned him. He set the priestess down before turning fully to Sakura. "What?! You've got to be kidding me, right?" questioned the man before slapping a hand to his mask. "I had this whole thing planned to surprise everyone and you had to ruin it, huh Sakura-chan?"

"Naruto..." repeated Sakura lower while walking closer to the masked shinobi. He reached a hand up to take off his mask as several tears formed immediately in Sakura's eyes. A gasp came from Kiba, Rock Lee, and Shion as Sakura shook her head in disbelief. "It really is you..."

Standing a head taller than her now, the spiky yellow hair and six whisker mark-like scars upon his cheeks confirmed it. The years had done well to Naruto and right now, he looked distinctly like the Yondaime Hokage with the two bangs framing his face. Only thing is, he had golden eyes rather than blue. And the closer Sakura got to him, the more unbridled power she could feel radiating off him.

So focused on Naruto's face, Sakura was surprised when his arms enveloped her in a hug. It was a warm and firm hug that Sakura eventually melted into and returned. Standing there for a few moments contently, Sakura felt Naruto lean his head back to look at her which got her to mirror him.

"How did you know it was me?" questioned Naruto giving Sakura quite the perturbed look. "You really messed up my groove."

"Still a dunce Naruto," said Sakura giving him a smile as she sniffled some to keep herself from crying. "One, you may be wearing a mask but your hood fell down so your yellow mop of hair has been out for some time. Two, Neji's a Hyūga." continued Sakura getting Naruto to look at Neji. His Byakugan was on and Naruto resisted the urge to smack his face again. Naruto looked back as Sakura continued. "And thirdly, you called me Sakura-Chan. You're the only one who does besides Rock Lee and he's right there."

"Huh...well...hmm..." Naruto couldn't fault those points before hearing a fluttering next to him.

"Told you it wouldn't work Naruto-sama," spoke Chomei in a singsong voice as it floated around Naruto and Sakura.

"Meh, it would have if Neji wasn't here. And I didn't talk. And I...yeah, it was a bad plan. Anyone could see this coming," said Naruto before Sakura got his attention.

"How..."

"How?"

"How are you alive? We thought you were dead! There was no body! And it's been three years! What have you-"

"Sakura-chan." Naruto cut off the pink-haired girl getting her to stop speaking. "Please stop crying."

Sakura hadn't even realized tears had been streaming down her cheeks during her tirade. She didn't mean to cry but she couldn't help it anymore. She'd thought Naruto had died. And yet here she was hugging him!

"I have a story to tell. It'll explain all of this. Do you want to hear it?" questioned Naruto getting a nod from the medic. Naruto could feel everyone else did too as he smiled. Gently wiping the tears from Sakura's face, Naruto gave her a smile. "Now, allow me to begin. In the beginning, there was nothing. And from nothing, the first Log grew."

"Log?"

"Yes Sakura-Chan, the Holy Log. It was my savior," spoke Naruto getting Sakura's and everyone's devout attention as he regaled them the tale of his salvation.

And that's another Prologue. This Naruto will be OP and full of badassery. Reasons why are because it's how this fanfic will go and he is a follower of the Log.

Praise be the Log. I'll drop the next chapter soon once I get blessings from its Holiness. Until then to my fellow worshippers.

-Hamp

Side Note: Yes, I posted this story on Earth Day. To all who read it, may you protect the holy log by protecting the Earth we live on. We only got one.