Five Years Later…

Ashiya Kana had finally returned to Konoha. But even so, he was still regretting his decision. After Yondaime no Konohagakure's death, he had wanted to avoid the place. Arashi was the only family he had really had, and when that bond was broken, he drifted away. He hadn't even stayed for little Naruto. He knew that the boy would be fine. He was left the Uzumaki Manor, and all the loyal servants that kept the house together. He had felt it more important to leave Konoha to strengthen his resolve after his best friend's death. Now that he was satisfied that his self-searching was complete, he had returned to Konoha.

Just that morning he had caught sight of the great wall that surrounded and protected Konoha from most threats. Besides the Hokage Tower, it was one of the oldest buildings still in Konoha. Ordered by the Shodaime Hokage of Konoha, the founder of the powerful village. It had weathered countless wars, as well as the ultimate test; the passing of time. Many parts were replaced from the original design, as damage was caused, but it still kept pure to the design on the whole. Back in the days before electricity was a common use in villages, it took twenty fully-grown men to open and close each one of the gates every day.

But he was not here to take in the exquisite sights of Konoha. He had some very important business that he needed to take care of, and even though it had waited for five years, he was determined that it would not wait another day. He was on an important mission. This mission was his last mission that he had had from Konohagakure.

(Flashback)

Please don't, Arashi! Think of me and Kaida" Kana said, "We're your teammates! Let us do it for you! You don't have to die now!"

"I have to do this, Kana. No one else can do it. It's the Hokage's responsibility, and the Hokage's alone to take care of things like this." Arashi smiled at his friends determination "I'm sorry, Kana. Please take care of Naruto for me."

(End Flashback)

He had tried to stop his best friend from getting himself killed, but his old Uzumaki friend was too headstrong. Kana had offered his own life in place of Yondaime Hokage's, but Arashi was determined that self-sacrifice was the only option he had to save the village. When the smoke from the battle cleared, there wasn't even a body left for the village to mourn for. With this, Kana and Kaida left. There was no reason for them to stay. They never had any real attachments with the village beyond Arashi. All that was left for them were bad memories.

Kana and Kaida had gone their separate ways, not even bothering to say goodbye to each other. They had drifted around the world, attempting to forget about their lives in Konoha, and move on from the bad memories. Kana had lasted five years, trying to drink away his time in Konoha in the famous breweries of Rock Country, the home of some very potent alcoholic drinks. He honed his skills by taking mercenary missions whenever he needed money to pay for more of the powerful booze. His hair, once reddish black, was grey, streaked with white from all the stress he had put himself through. He was only thirty, but he looked forty at the very least.

But even the massive physical abuse he put his body through would not stop him from remembering his friend's last words to him… "Please take care of Naruto for me." He and Kaida had been witnesses for the secret wedding, as well as the knowledge of the conception of the child, which he asked them to keep quiet about. Arashi had not wanted people to know about his wife, especially after she died in childbirth. Respecting their friend's wishes, they had kept silent. But he knew what Arashi's words meant. They had stuck with him, and he was never able to shake them. He held off his guilt with alcohol for five years before finally caving in to his friend's wish. He sobered up, and headed back to the village of his bad past, worrying about what he would find that would remind him of that day, five years ago.

Ashia Kana had made violent changes in his appearance in the five years away from Konoha. His hear, once reddish black, was streaked with white. A Katana now replaced his Kodachi. Still wearing his black and orange and black striped shirt, he now wore an almost crimson purple overcoat. His gloves, once smooth and free of damage, were worn and frayed, and even missing the metal backing in some parts. Where once the energetic grin of a dreaming and youthful man was pasted on, was a blank face with eyes that showed how much pain and sorrow he had experienced. He might have been only five years older, but his mind had aged much more with all the adversity in his life.

He approached the guard that was manned at the gate for arrivals and departures into and out of Konoha. He was an old, bearded man, obviously taken off active combat mission duty rather than retiring, spending the rest of his days at a desk job. Nonetheless, he wore a pale green Jounin jacket vest, and was probably a pretty good fighter, even in his old age. Kana knew that Konoha was in a peacetime situation, so there would be no threat from the village yet. But one didn't become a kage-level ninja by not being careful. Sensing no malicious intent from the other man, Kana approached the booth. The old man looked up from his reports on entries and exits for the day to work with this newcomer. He made eye contact with Kana, beaming.

"Welcome to Konohagakure, sir." He said, his voice scratchy and wheezy, yet still pleasant overall. "Before I can let you in, I will need to get some information from you. It's for security, and making sure that your stay in Konoha will be peaceful, and to protect you from any possibility of danger here."

"Very well," Kana said, addressing the man in a calm and even tone, showing no outward emotion. "I have nothing I wish to hide" 'Except from myself' he thought.

"Okay, then let's get this over with!" The old man said. Even though the old man had barely spoken to him, he liked this man. He was direct and honest. Most other people were upset that they had to go through this. Deep down, he knew that this man was a good person. He pulled out another entry sheet from the desk drawer. "What is your name, along with all hidden village affiliation through your personal experience?"

"My name is Ashia Kana. For the past five years, I have been working as a mercenary for clients in Hidden Rock." Kana paused a second to let the old man catch up on the information "Before then, I was a Konoha ninja."

The man frowned, apparently not happy with the answer he had gotten. In an instant, the man disappeared. Holding still, Kana waited patiently. It was not long before the old man reappeared behind him, a kunai to his throat. "Five years means a deserter.

Kana had known about this little trouble. Konoha had been hunting down all the deserters for abandoning the Yondaime. The public didn't know that the Yondaime's life was given, rather than taken by force, so they blamed the deserters for the death of their leader. Many missions were funded personally by the Konoha Commoner Council, the group of civilian merchant and service elite that put funding behind Konoha by sponsoring missions that they believed in. They had ordered over a hundred missions to capture deserters they had discovered. Sandaime was angry with these deserters, but didn't go after them like the Konoha Commoner Council, and only incarcerated any inside the village, or brought to him by the Council.

The man looked at Kana with disgust. "How could you desert the Yondaime when he needed you the most? In the battle with the…" The old man paused.

Taking this pause for forgetfulness, Kana decided to finish the man's sentence for him "The Kyuubi no Kitsune?" The old man pressed the kunai deeper into Kana's throat, apparently agitated at the words.

"Yes." The man replied. He loosened slightly from Kana, but never removing the kunai from his throat. "As per protocol, I am to take you to the Hokage, who will decide your fate. Please do not resist. That will only make your sentence worse."

"I have no intention of resisting." Kana replied calmly "I have business here, and I believe that I need to take care of this problem here before I will be allowed to continue on my way. Please lead, sir. You will have no trouble from me."

Even though he was cooperating fully, the old man could not trust him. He was a deserter after all. After binding him with chakra-enforced rope, and placing a chakra seal on Kana's neck, the old man felt satisfied enough to proceed, making their way to the Hokage's tower. Built almost right after the completion of the Hokage's Tower, gate had a direct pathway to the Hokage's tower, leading down the main street in Konoha towards the massive building. As Kana looked at the shops to his left and right, he was relieved that he recognized none of them. Apparently, to him, in the last few years, the property has changed hands enough that the whole street would be unrecognizable from what it was when he had last been here.

He was glad that all the old shops were gone. He wanted to make a fresh start here, if he was going to stay, and having a constant reminder of his past life here would only bring him trouble. But even so, he still felt a little sad that those parts were gone. To him, they were little pieces of a great mural created in homage of Arashi. Still, he knew that it was more important to keep the present in focus rather than dwelling in the past. Dwelling in the past only caused pain and damage. If one did not move forward, they would surely die.

As they made their way towards the tower, people noticed that Kana was bound and sealed, as well as led by a gate guard. Many in the streets knew what that meant; to them it meant that he was considered a criminal against Konoha. Knowing this, they gave him dirty looks, and got out of the way of the criminal and his escort to the Hokage's tower. Kana got very uncomfortable from all the malicious energy that the crowd was exuding, directed at him and him alone. He tensed up; he was worried that one of the people would try to jump him. It seemed to him that Konoha residents had gotten a lot less friendly since he had left, and a lot less empathetic as well.

Finally, they made it to the grounds of the Hokage's tower. The hurting intent from the population stopped as they saw that he was to be put on trial. They saw that he was to be punished, and their angry attitude was satiated. A small wall, no more than ten feet high was placed around the tower, which had a gate built in to the front. This was a new addition from after he had left Konoha. With his fear of memories returning from visiting all these places, Kana noticed all the differences, being very sensitive to the changes that helped hide his memories of the past.

Once inside the wall, two ANBU seemed to appear out of nowhere in front of Kana and the old man. One wore a dog mask; the other one wore the squirrel design mask with spirals on the cheeks. "Atsuma-san, we can take it from here." The one on the left said. This one was the one that had a dog mask, and had long, silver hair. "Hokage saw Kana-san coming. He wishes to have a word with him."

Bowing, Atsuma replied "Hai, ANBU-sama. I'll return to the gate. I have work to take care of." With that, the old man turned around, and headed down the road, back to his post at the gate.

Kana grinned. He noticed who the dog-masked ANBU was. "Hey. Long time no see…" Kana said almost casually. The young ANBU member froze for less than a second, but it was more than enough to confirm it.

"Kana-san" the ANBU Captain said. "We are to take you to Sandaime Hokage. He wishes to have a few words with you."

"Yeah…" Kana replied, "I'd bet that he would. I'd like to have a little catch-up session, anyways."

It was eerily silent as the ANBU member and the captain through the dimly lit winding halls that constituted the Hokage's tower led Kana. When it was originally built, it was designed during wartime, so they made the tower as convoluted and mysterious as possible, attempting to slow down the would be assassin until some ninja came along to deal with the threat. Anyone who had spent much time in the building easily made their way through, having memorized all the true paths to the archival records, the Hokage's office, and the guard stations. Kana knew his way through this building well. His best friend was the Hokage before he died, and spent much room in the long and winding halls.

Memories flooded his mind of all the missions he had take during Arashi's rule. The Yellow Flash was often gone, dealing with an invasion from another country, and he would leave him his instructions in a red scroll at the head of the desk. He had to take multiple missions in a trip, sometimes taking on multiple S-rank or higher missions. He remembered when he was ordered to eliminate the opposing village's elite Jounin squads, units similar to ANBU. That was four triple S-rank missions in a row, and had taken him almost three years to complete. Kana was surprised that the memories were slowly hurting less and less as he remembered more and more about his previous stay in Konoha.

After making their way through the halls and once-secret passages that used to constitute the defense of Hokage Tower, they made it to the waiting room just outside of the Hokage's personal office. Two more ANBU, both wearing raven masks, and hooded cloaks guarded the grand, leaf green doors that separated the office from the outer room. The ANBU at the doors nodded at Kana's escorts. The one to the right of the door seemed to vanish, moving so quickly that Kana could barely see that the ANBU had entered the Hokage's room. Knowing that there was nothing more he could do for now, he waited.

Soon after the ANBU had entered the room, the massive doors creaked open, revealing the interior. Inside, the room was littered with scrolls, covering the furniture, the shelves, and even some on the floor. A wafting smell of tobacco smoke hit Kana's nose, and it was all he could do not to break down into a coughing fit. It seemed to him that there wasn't enough ventilation in the room to meet the Sandaime's requirements due to his smoking. Behind the desk was the man himself, the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure.

The Hokage beckoned Kana forth, and dismissed the ANBU. Without a word, they disappeared, and the door shut behind Kana. There was enough natural lighting in the room for Kana to see easily.

Sarutobi was even more aged than Kana had remembered. His body was gaunt, but that served to show his muscles even more, albeit grotesquely. His hair had receded further back, past the forehead towards the pack. His pepper gray hair had turned white, and there were liver spots on his body. Apparently, time had not been good to the Sandaime Hokage.

"So, Kana." Sarutobi said to Kana, showing virtually no emotion in his aged face "You have decided to return."

"Yes, Sarutobi-sama" In his years working with his best friend as the Hokage, he had called Sandaime Hokage by his name, rather than confuse people about who he was talking about.

"That is Hokage-sama now." Sarutobi said. It didn't seem that he was very happy with Kana. Five years of abandonment can rankle people, especially in such an honor bound place. In fact, Sarutobi was disappointed with Kana. He was one of the most promising ninja of his time, and even he turned his back on the village.

"Sorry, Hokage-sama." Kana replied "I'm sorry for forgetting to address you by your title, but I'm not sorry for leaving."

"Why do you say that, Kana?" The Hokage questioned. He was interested in Kana's answer, because he knew Kana. Kana always had a good reason to justify what he did.

"Because I needed to heal." Kana started "Besides Kaida, Arashi was the only friend I had. He was the only family I had. I cared about him more than anyone. I would do anything for him, for he truly was my brother.

When he died, I just couldn't handle it. Everything reminded me of him. All the buildings, the restaurants, everything! It was maddening, having all these memories, and knowing that he wasn't coming back. He gave his body to the earth, and his soul to a Shinigami, all for Konoha.

I felt like there was nothing left here. The only reason I stayed so long was because of Kaida. When she left, there was more pain in my mind than responsibility. So I left."

"Then why did you return?" Sarutobi asked, thinking that he knew the answer, but wanted to hear it from the troubled man.

Kana sighed, showing the weight on his shoulders placed by his best friend. "Arashi told me to take care of his son. Naruto. It took me five years to realize that. But I'm here, and I will take on the Yondaime Hokage's last mission given to me."

"So, you came for Naruto? Are you going to take him away?" Sarutobi asked, trying to get Kana to say what he meant by that.

"No, Hokage-sama." Kana replied, "I will stay here, taking care of Naruto. Arashi would have wanted it that way. He loved Konoha more than anything else. You should have known that."

"Very well, Kana." Sandaime Hokage replied, "I just wanted to know your intentions before I released you." Standing up from behind the desk, Sarutobi walked around the table, and removed the bindings from Kana. Kana stood up straight and stretched, finally free from his bonds after all that time.

"I presume Naruto is living in Uzumaki Manor?" Kana asked the aged Hokage.

"Yes," Sandaime replied haltingly "But all but the most loyal attendants have left. They all feared the Kyuubi too much to continue. The villagers have taken to calling it Akudejiro. Naruto spends most of his time isolated inside the manor, reading scrolls, and learning."

"What is his motivation in this?" Kana asked, confused. He didn't understand how such a young child could have such a voracious appetite for reading.

"He wants power." Sandaime replied, "He wants to prove that the Uzumaki clan is the strongest that resides in Konoha. But with only one clan member left, he can't do much."

"Well, Naruto seems to be just like his father," Kana said "Headstrong, and constantly searching for power to prove his worth. I just hope that he doesn't go off and kill himself trying to do something drastic."

"Now that you're here, I doubt he'll hurt himself." Sarutobi assured Kana. "Teach him what it means to be a ninja, and keep him out of trouble, and he'll grow up to be a fine ninja."

"I'd better be off, Hokage-sama" Kana said, smiling at the old man's confidence in him "I still need to meet him." Kana turned to leave.

"One last thing, Kana" Sarutobi said, halting Kana in his tracks.

"What?" Kana asked.

"Don't tell him about his mother… it might upset him." Sarutobi said.

"Very well, Sarutobi-sama." In a final act of defiance, Kana disappeared. Muttering to himself, he said, "On to Uzumaki Manor."

A.N.: Well, that was a good chapter. I'm probably going to go back and edit this when I have a writer's block, though. I'm a bit of a kinda sorta perfectionist. I don't like what I write, for some reason, and it takes a lot of perseverance just to keep going. Feed me with reviews, and I'll feed you with chapters! This might be a fast pace, but I can keep this up if I get enough reviews.

No one has put down any pairings that they want to see, but I think that's a good idea. Even though this is Naruto-centric, we haven't met him yet, and he won't show up until next chapter. He will have the same attitude as earlier, but instead of being a prankster idiot who grows a lot of stamina from his misadventures, he will be a studious and energetic person who gets bogged down in maintaining his Ninja career as well as building his clan.

Akudejiro means Evil Manor, or something to that extent.

Also, the first jutsu that Arashi uses in his battle with the Kyuubi means Technique of the Eight Gates. Basically, it is just opening all eight gates in a rapid succession. Also, it might seem that he is overpowered, almost overwhelming the Kyuubi with pure taijutsu, but they say that an ordinary ninja that opens all eight gates can surpass the Hokage. So, if the Hokage uses it, doesn't it have a much larger effect? In my personal opinion, the eight gates are exponential, so working with a larger starting amount of power brings out a greater effect.

Later, and as before, please review! It makes me post chapters more often!

Edits: Well, I went back, and removed the encounter between Kakashi and Kana. If you haven't finished reading yet, it was crucial to later chapters. I apologize for any confusion that this may have caused, but I have to remind you that this is merely a rough draft piece. I sit down for about an hour and churn out a chapter. If I went back and edited, I would take forever. I had someone edit on another one of my pieces, and that ended badly. I had to wait a ridiculously long time before I got the chapter from them, and I got barely any input back from them. So, I gave out on editing altogether. However, I have found the quality of my writing lacking, so I'm going to go back and edit before I make any more chapters. This shouldn't take more than a couple of days, so expect a chapter sometime this week. If you aren't sure whether a chapter has been edited, just go to the bottom of the chapter, and if there is this section, it has been edited.

For this chapter, as well as removing the Kakashi-Kana encounter, and replaced him with a faceless Konoha ANBU, I cleaned it up. Also, for those who don't get why, even after seeing chapter 6, I realized that Kakashi wasn't ANBU at that time, he was just your run of the mill, average, perverted Jounin. His ANBU career was over at this point in the timeline.