Hi guys. Just a few notes. I want to apologize, but my first few chapters in this story will be rather short, as it was hard for me to create the plot line until I got the ball rolling, when I started giving the story much more content and development. During the initial stages, posting this story anywhere was not part of the plan. It wasn't until after, when I was coerced into it, that I decided to post it. That being said, I hope you enjoy, and I hope to hear back from you soon!

The Stranger

A storm raged violently throughout the night sky. It seemed to linger over Konoha all night, loud, black, and cold as it was. Violent though this storm seemed, the citizens of the village took no notice of it, as at this hour, in this weather, almost everyone was asleep in their comfortable beds. Konoha was dead at this hour, just a collection of buildings standing against the weather.

The storm, however, served a purpose this night. There was a boy who was not asleep at this late hour, but then again, he was not from Konoha. He stood atop the monument of the past Hokages, his feet planted on Minato Namikaze's head. He blended in with the night air, and in this weather was nearly invisible to those who might be looking up at him. He wore black leather for protection, and a sword hung from his waist. His black hair was the same shade as his clothing, and he had piercing dark blue eyes that showed an advanced intellect. Those eyes showed that he looked for every possible answer to any problem that presented itself to him, and usually found the right answer. The eyes were now scanning the village, looking intently for something hidden in the false safety of the buildings.

"Konoha," he said aloud to himself, "The Village Hidden in the Leaves, and home to the Hokage. I can't believe my luck; this storm is the perfect cover for me. I can just blend in the dark; I don't even need to use my chakra to hide. This will be a piece of cake; all I need to do is find where the Hokage would put important documents."

Suddenly, he sensed an interesting presence that he was surprised he overlooked before then. Below him, a single ninja dressed in an orange and black jump suit was walking in the streets. The stranger atop the Hokage's head froze instinctively, surprised that he hadn't been discovered. He had gotten cocky, and he thought no one would be awake at this hour. He neglected to disguise his chakra, and was shocked this boy down there didn't sense him. The stranger's chakra was not by any means unnoticeable, and he sensed this boy down below had nearly as much chakra at his disposal as the stranger did. There was something else about the boy as well, but the stranger couldn't place his finger on it.

Then the stranger made his second mistake of the night, and he let his gaze wander from the boy, lost in his thoughts. He was so worried that he had almost been discovered, that he let his guard down even further, and was totally unprepared when he felt the tip of a kunai press up against his neck. The boy had snuck up behind him while he was thinking, and now had the upper hand. He must have sensed the stranger's chakra when he passed under the statues and climbed up to investigate the foreign presence. The stranger had blended in for a while when the boy climbed up, but he didn't see the boy either due to his distraction.

"So," The boy said, anger evident in his voice, "you wanna tell me who you are and why you're hiding on top of the Forth Hokage's head in the middle of the night?"

The stranger thought a curse to himself, and did a jutsu. He dove into the earth leading into the Hokage's head, and reappeared behind the boy, his own blade drawn. The boy wheeled around instantly and swung his kunai at this stranger, who easily blocked with his long sword. As he blocked, the stranger turned his blade downward, and swung upward at this boy, who flipped out of the way just in time.

"Perhaps," the stranger began, "you would be so kind as to tell me your name first, so I can have an idea of the mighty ninja who defeated me this night." The sarcasm and anger in his voice was obvious. This stranger did not fail, he did not lose, and he most certainly did not get discovered by leaf chunin, which is what he assumed this boy was.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to beat your sorry ass! Believe it!"

"Well Naruto, I'm afraid I have no time to play around with a leaf chunin like yourself, so if you could just forget you saw me, we can both get back to enjoying this beautiful night."

"Beautiful? It's a massive storm! Why would I forget that I saw you? What are you trying to do?"

"You don't understand sarcasm do you? If you want to fight me, we will fight. Why would I tell you what I'm doing? How stupid do you think I am? Well, I suppose it is a fine night for a duel."

"It's raining!"

"Behind the clouds, fool! Look deeper into things than they seem, else you'll miss their full potential. The moon is full tonight, and once this storm passes, the scene will be beautiful and peaceful, like night should be."

Naruto burst out laughing at that, and the stranger frowned. He couldn't understand why Naruto was laughing when they were about to fight. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Naruto said as he was laughing.

Frowning, the stranger looked at this laughing boy before him, and though he was the same age as him, he had a hard time seeing Naruto as a worthy opponent. He had let his guard down just because of a simple comment, and the stranger could easily get at least one hit in on him right now.

"Are we going to stand here socializing all night? I am pressed for time, so let's fight so I can get on with my business."

"Hmph, you're not gonna be able to do anything when I'm finished with you."

"Well why don't you prove it instead of saying it?" As the stranger said these words, Naruto charged. He launched at the stranger with an odd ball of chakra in his hand, screaming "Rasengan" as he ran.

The stranger then did something unexpected, as was his style. He ran toward Naruto rather than away from him, and slide on his side along the ground to knock Naruto's feet out from under him. The darkness of the night and the stranger's black attire made it hard for Naruto to see, and he fell on his face while dispersing the Rasengan, only to get right back up. The stranger wasted no time and launched a fire ball at him as he was recovering. The flame hit the ground, and when the smoke cleared, Naruto was no longer on the ground. He looked up, and saw two Narutos falling toward him in the air, both with Rasengans in their hand. The stranger was grabbed by a third Naruto behind him, and was helpless to do anything but take the attack.

At least, that was the plan. The stranger reached behind him and, using the strength of his arms, flipped the Naruto grabbing him to the ground. Then, he sliced the shadow clone with his sword, and wheeled around with great speed toward the other two. He dispatched the one on his right, and dodged the one coming from his left. The final Naruto landed on empty ground, and looked up from the small crater his Rasengan had made to look for his opponent, who was now gone. Suddenly, two fire balls came hurtling toward him, from two strangers. Naruto turned around, expecting the stranger to use the same tactic he just tried to do, but instead found two more strangers with swords.

"What's wrong?" The four said in unison, completely hiding any chance of finding the real one. "Can you not tell us apart? You're not the only one who knows your Clone Jutsu you know." Naruto threw shuriken at the two behind him, but they dodged away. The other two closed the distance, and engaged him with their swords. Naruto fought with kunai against them, and tried to get distance away so he could use a jutsu, to no avail. This stranger was fast, and his shadow clones were perfect copies of him. He knew to keep Naruto in a position where he couldn't use any jutsu, making him unable to do anything. The two clones hammered on Naruto in such a way that he couldn't hit them in return. When one left himself open for an attack, the other swung from the side or behind, forcing Naruto to block instead of attacking.

"This isn't fair!" He screamed at the stranger, filling with rage. "You're fighting with your clones, and not doing anything for yourself. You can't get anymore cowardly than that! You want a real challenge, call off your clones and let me do a jutsu."

Suddenly, just as Naruto was about to turn into the one tailed cloak of the Kyuubi to destroy the clones and attack this stranger with more chakra, the real stranger appeared seemingly out of nowhere and dismissed his clones. Before Naruto could react, he put one finger up to Naruto's head and released some chakra in an odd jutsu. The chakra blocked the flow of oxygen to his brain, and the stranger watched as Naruto fell unconscious before him.

"Well, I have a feeling that would've been a lot more interesting if I had more time and was willing to let him fight back. I probably should've used more jutsu as well. No matter, hasty as I was, I'm still out of time. I will have to come back at a later date, and hopefully not screw it up next time. Next time, I might not release the chakra block at unconsciousness." Then the stranger turned and headed silently out of Konoha. The storm had gone, and now the stranger walked with a full moon behind him, illuminating his path and shining off his steel blade.