"Acchhooo"
Someone must be talking about me right now, lets hope its Sakura Nee-chan hehe, thought a certain yellow haired shinobi as he jumped from branch to branch in the forest that neighbored the nearby village of Konoha. The shinobi moved very swiftly almost as though he was at one with the wind, cutting through the breeze as though he had the ability to fly. The yellow hair that had once been short and spiky, not was long and reached past his shoulders, though it was still rather unkempt, at this moment he was dressed in a cloak, and basic other ninja wear, I can't wait to try on my new clothes, he had thought.
Shortly behind him the old perverted sage followed at his own pace, or rather a pace he could travel comfortably and still be able to write notes for his well… "novels". This man hadn't changed much since his last visit to the village of Konoha, well other than his perverted nature being amplified after being with a boy for nearly three years. I wonder if I can use Tsunade as inspiration for my next novel, he thought with a bit of drool slightly coming out of the right side of his mouth.
"Hey Ero!" shouted the yellow haired ninja.
"What do you want brat?", replied the perverted Sannin.
"Once we get to the gate, I'm going to change into my new equipment, that way I can surprised everyone" he said while laughing, "No one is going to recognize me anymore."
"Yeah cus that mug of yours has already gotten ten times uglier"
Three years ago one would expect a shout coming from this particular ninja, but it never, only a smirk came to his mouth, something had changed about this ninja. His movements were precise, his gestures seemed planned, his voice matured with wisdom and experience, and overall more quiet then the loud mouthed delinquent that once filled the streets of Konoha with pranks, and anger, he once was.
The two ninja then began to converse on their plans on their arrival in their home village, and as this began it seemed that the buildings of the Shinobi village came closer into view.
"Research is the first thing I will do upon my return boy"
"By research you mean taking your regular visit to the bath houses to peep, don't ya"
"DO NOT DEMEAN MY WORK!"
"The work of an ero, is always at the end of the day, the work of an ero. Ero Sannin."
"ITOLD YOU TO NOT CALL ME THAT"
"Jiraiya, if you yell like that again you're going to scare the villagers"
The Sannin turned his head to see that amidst his anger he failed to notice that they arrived in the village and were already inside the market. One must forgive him though, the market had grown quite different in the past three years, many new shops, displaying new products, some only available once before in the big cities, such as video games, and television sets, a rarity among ninja villages. To no ones surprise though since the incumbent Hokages term the amount of gambling facilities had grown ten fold, though the main patron was the Hokage herself.
"Wow this place sure has grown eh Naruto" said Jiraiya. As he looked around he waited for a response, some time passed and he finally turned around to see that Naruto had disappeared. "That boy will never be tied down" said Jiraiya with a smirk. "NOW TO THE BATHHOUSES!"
As Naruto passed all the familiar corners he knew oh so well, he began to think of all the training he had undergone through the past few years, and the fact that he hadn't seen himself in a mirror in quite sometime, he knew his hair had well past his eyes and was now resting at his shoulders, and that he was now slightly taller than Jiraiya, quite a leap from what that boy had once been. When he turned to the street his old apartment lied on he saw that instead of the large building he knew so well, there was Ichirakus, which now was a full restaurant instead of the meager stand it had once been. Man, thought Naruto, This is awesome, but sucks at the same time, and with that he walked into the door.
No one paid much attention to the once loudmouthed blonde haired ninja, as if they had not known him, but with this case it was more like they didn't recognize him. He took one look into the mirror that was placed near the entrance of the new Ichiraku building and was quite surprised at what he saw himself. The first thing that he noticed was that the lines that were once so visible on his face were gone, something Jiraiya said would happen eventually, but for reasons he did not specify. He also had developed a more athletic build, probably due to their treks through the mountains, and Jiraiya leaving Naruto to carry his boxes filled with unmentionable materials, some doujinshi featuring a short, black haired, flat chested soul reaper. Damn porn addict Naruto had thought at the time. The last thing Naruto noticed was that his face had matured quite a bit, somewhat resembling a particular carved face in a certain well known mountain.
Just as soon as Naruto had turned his head away from the mirror he saw many faces gaping at him, though not with the usual cringe, disgust or disdain they usually had, but of surprise and admiration. The old man Ichiraku has ruined this moment though, because even though his favorite customer has changed so much, he could recognize him from the beginning.
"Ah Naruto, here to eat me out of business again?" came from the kind shop owner. "And home" replied Naruto with a slightly smaller smile than normal, but the smile still shone through his eyes, as much as it had his wide grin had when he was younger. "Miso with an egg please." "Always straight to the business eh Naruto?" As the man turned into the kitchen, Naruto turned around to see that much of the customers had left, and the few left had returned to their facial expressions of scorn that they held for him once before.
Naruto proceeded to take his seat at the bar in front of the kitchen. "So business looks good old man". "Well, sadly after you left people were more keen on coming here", replied Ichiraku, as he placed the ramen in front of Naruto. The ramen this time seemed a step up from the last bowl he had before his departure, obviously a result of using more expensive ingredients. "Naruto, you've seemed to change quite a bit, more than just your appearance, did something happen while you were gone". "Nothing…" Naruto said with hesitation. The familiar old man paused for a moment, despite the changes in his young friend, he knew when something was wrong, "Well if it ever turns our to be otherwise come here for a bowl, and we'll talk over it". "Thanks", Naruto said finishing his Ramen, "Well old man, I've got to get out of here for now, till later". With that the blonde hair ninja disappeared out of the shop.
You know maybe I should have asked him if I could have stayed at his place, thought Naruto as he roamed the streets. Maybe I'll just sleep on the fourths head again like I used to. Before he knew it, he found himself laying down on the mountain looking at his familiar home once again, and the compound that had tested his curiosity as a child.
Notes: Kinda shorter than I had hoped, the plot is taking a while to unfold, though in the next chapter I'll get to what I believe will be interesting. Oh yeah, and if anyone is interested in being an editor it would help me out greatly.
Additional: Yes, there are cameos.
