For longer than a week the two friends hung around the Fire Nation, deciding what to do with their lives from that point.

"Ideas?" Shikamaru would ask.

"Why are you looking at me? You're the one with the brains."

"Because it'd be too troublesome to think about it. So you'll have to."

Naruto sighed, glancing up at the stars. While his best friend liked to watch the clouds, Naruto always was at ease most during the night.

One star in particular that night was glistening in North-East, almost invitingly.

"Well, since we have no idea where to go, we might as well follow." He pointed to the star. Shikamaru looked at it for a few moments before shrugging.

"Eh, works for me."

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The Country of Whirlpool was one of the last monarchies left among the Elemental Nations. Hailed as one greatest, and wealthiest, countries; the crown jewel, so to speak.

But wealth begets envy, of course.

So whirlpool country was destroyed, its ruling family eradicate. All but a single little girl, on her way to Konoha at the time.

Sadly, the once great island was now a dark and desolate place. The remaining Councilors tried to form a makeshift government, which failed to properly handle to people so used to living and prospering under a single king. Even the nature on the island itself seemed to lose all hope. The trees and grass withered, the lakes dried up, and the whirlpools that once guarded the land disappeared.

Shikamaru and Naruto disembarked at the small port of the capitol. They walked around a little, trying to find a place to resupply, saddened by the state of the place.

Having no luck, they decided to travel inland. Walking next to the guarded gates of the castle, they overheard the two guards talking.

"So how long has it been, now?"

"Too long to count. Ever since the last Great War, where our king was felled in battle… Our beautiful country is such a sad place now. The next ruler, when he comes, will be very disappointed."

"Yeah, you mean if he comes."

"Don't talk that way."

"And why not? Seems to me that family is all but done for."

"We have to have faith. Faith that the kings of old will return, and that the Uzumaki family will bring our country to greatness again."

Naruto froze in his tracks, turning to the great caste in wonder. His family was there. Shikamaru, who was a little ahead of him, called Naruto back, but the blonde ignored him, taking off in a run towards the castle. In one jump he cleared the gate and the two startled guards, landing on the hard ground on the inside of the grounds. Without stopping or looking back he ran towards the large doors.

"Hey! Hey, you can't be there!" one of the guards yelled, getting ready to go after him.

"Wait." The other stopped him. "Look." He motioned to the spot on the ground where Naruto landed. The earth on the castle grounds was dry and cracked. Everywhere but each spot on the ground where Naruto's foot touched it. From there, lush, green grass. "You there." The guard turned to Shikamaru. "What is your friend's name?"

"Naruto." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"No, no, his last name."

"Uzumaki." The teen frowned at the excited and joyous faces the two guards were sporting.

"Quickly, we have to tell everyone. They've returned." They ran off towards the town, leaving the gate unguarded behind them.

Shikamaru stood there for a moment, looking between the castle and the direction the two guards ran, before shrugging and following them.

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The door to the castle wasn't barred. It wasn't even locked, so Naruto had no trouble whatsoever getting in.

The main hall was long and tall, with a black marble walkway flanked by columns carrying golden bowls on the top filled with a strange liquid that, as Naruto passed each one, lit up in a bright blue flame. St the end of the walkway there was a raised oval podium in front of large windows decorated with various scenes of heroics. On the podium were two large thrones made from marble, white in color with purple velvet cushions.

Along the hall, close to the wall, statues were lined up, donned in expensive looking armor or clothes, holding various weapons or scepters.

Naruto tore his eyes from the thrones and walked to the smallest statue, the last one in line. It was of a young girl, a few yeqars younger than he was now, dressed in a very expensive kimono, with both hands clasped in front of her, holding a single lily flower. The plaque on the stand read…

"Kushina." Naruto muttered lightly, putting his hand in her stony ones. "Mom." He stood there for a few moments, holding the hand of the statue of his mother's teenage years, head lowered in sadness, before turning and walking to the white marble throne on the right. It was the bigger one, decorated with black veins, and on it sat a golden crown, engraved with vines and decorated with only two gems, one a sapphire and the other an emerald.

He took the crown in his hands nervously and, taking a deep breath, put it on his head. It slid down over his eyes, hanging barely by his bent ears. He chuckled and readjusted it, the metal shrinking to wrap snuggly around his head. The thing had to weigh at least a few pounds, but Naruto couldn't feel it on his head at all. He touched the crown once, just to make sure it was still really there, and sat down on the throne.

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The two guards were surprisingly fast, as Shikamaru soon found out, and by the time he slowly trotted to the village square, they had already gathered what looked to be most of the villagers. Two men and one woman stood at the front, looking regal, even in their torn clothes.

The first man was tall and slim, dressed like the others in simple clothes. His grey hair was cut in a short ponytail and he had a well-kept goatee. His green eyes were fixated on the two guards, listening to their words with rapt attention.

The other one was shorter than the first, and had the look of a once-fat man. He had brown hair that fell neatly around his head, brown eyes, and a trimmed mustache.

The only woman was the tallest there, passing her colleague by a few inches. She had long black hair tied in a braid with an icy-blue ribbon, matching perfectly with the color of her piercing eyes.

The three were the first ones to the guards, standing in front of the other villagers, eyes fixated on the excited guards, keeping perfectly still before, as one, turning towards the castle and taking off, sparing Shikamaru a momentary glance.

The Nara sighed, muttering to himself about walking all the way back.

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The moment Naruto sat on the throne, previously-invisible runes cared onto the raised podium lit up in a soft green glow, running towards the door, leaving trails at the edge of the walkway. When the light hit the door the entire room lit up in a mixture of green and white, shooting upwards and into the sky, scattering the dark clouds that were blocking the sun's rays from reaching the ground. Then both Naruto and the land itself started to change.

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Outside, the once barren lands began to grow soft, green grass, first around the castle, then outwards, blanketing the whole island. Once-dead trees regained their strength and color, the lakes and ponds cleared.

Animals and insects could once again be heard from all around, and even the village itself began to change, fixing the brick houses and cobble paths up.

The sea surrounding the island started stirring, first slowly, then faster and faster, finally making the multiple whirlpools the country had gotten its name from, barring entry to all travelers.

In a few moments the whole island, and everything on it, looked like the famed paradise it was supposed to be.

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As for Naruto, his changes were fewer, but no less significant. He grew in stature, going from shortest in his old class to most certainly the tallest. His eyes kept changing color, switching from blue to green before settling on the latter, and gaining an ethereal glow, seeming to shift and twirl around, seeming like the sea that surrounded the island.

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The people stopped in their tracks, in the garden in front of the castle, looking at the green glow in wonder. The three regal people were at the front, flanked by Shikamaru and the two guards. After a moment of silence the door to the balcony had opened up and his old friend stepped inside, changed but still recognizable.

The people looked at the young man and bowed, foreheads to the ground, leaving Shikamaru to stand to the side awkwardly.

Their King had returned.