Author's Note: I'm a first time dedicated writer for a Fan Fiction and I know my grammar... sucks (?). I'm sorry for it and I'll try to improve my grammar the next time.

I do not own Naruto and all rights are reserved to Masashi Kishimoto.

Changing Motives

Chapter 2 – Son of the Village Hidden in Rocks

It was an odd fact that most of the people in Iwagakure would wake up in a certain time, as if someone poked them whenever it was time.

It was also hard to keep up with that fact, since it seemed taboo for the people there not to wake up in a specified time. The questioning part was that no one dared to inquire with that matter, but the point was that the citizens of Iwa had almost never minded that phenomenon in their lives. Yes, it wasn't a complex thing to be really thought about, but most of the people had begun to build it inside their system, time becoming the foundation of their works. In Iwa, it seemed that specificity in time was one of the most important things to be noted. Once you neglected time, you would be meeting eyes that glared at you until you die.

The hardest part was that they go up at 2 hours before the usual sunrise – at 04:00am in the morning.

A teenager opened his eyes for almost no reason, staring at the stony ceiling that first met his eyes. His mind was urging him to return into his deep sleep, telling him that he needed more rest for the time being. But in Iwa, people couldn't just deny the call of time, and so his body obeyed the trail of time and pushed him off the bed. Putting himself in a sitting position, he slowly turned his head at the alarm clock placed on the top of the side table near the bed, looking at the time shown by the thing.

He was narrowing his eyes, the orbs of sight still unaccustomed to the dim light upon waking up. Three… Three… He yawned, stretching his arms up. Three-fifty-nine… He closed his eyes for a while, reflecting about the simple knowledge he learned from the clock. His eyes suddenly widened in surprise, staring again at the clock. 03:59am?! What the…?! Suddenly, annoyance filled him.

He finally stood up from bed, letting himself a full body stretch for the morning. He sneered at the present dimness looming outside the window, looking disdainfully at the stillness from the still dark morning. He was already cursing the village for imposing him some time regiments that he wasn't accustomed to, and he knew for sure that the village's peculiar habits were going deep inside him. He wasn't just a morning person – and outside it was very morning. Even though he had lived in Iwa for more than a year now – almost two years in fact –, he still hated the fact that he needed to go early in the morning. Really, I didn't expect that there is a village that wakes up earlier than the sun… He yawned and finally decided to do his morning rituals.

Throwing himself into the bathroom, the man quickly removed his clothes and threw it into nowhere, noting to himself that he must remember to wash his clothes if he had the time. As he let the cold water of the morning – yes, he didn't mind the temperature anymore – to run into his skin, the man started to think of the missions that would be handed to him. Even though he had the ideas, he was still oblivious if his guesses would be correct. Their current Tsuchikage wasn't just as predictable as most Kages were.

He sighed, defeated that his mind couldn't still show him an image of a mission that would soon be available. Upon sighing and his mouth opening, he was able catch water into his mouth. When the water touched his gums and teeth, a sharp pain caused him to wince and suddenly held his face in pain. He smiled, and thought, I really have forgotten how cold the water is in the morning. He continued to splash himself. But I'm glad that my teeth and gums are still sensitive enough – hell, it is like ice!

Of course, almost two years there and the village encouraging the Iwa citizens to endure the coldness every morning, the man had grown comfortable with the regiment.

Finishing his shower, the man took a towel and put it around his waist, going out of the bathroom and taking a walk back to his room. He was glad that the apartment he was staying at was just enough for him. Even though the receiving area and the kitchen were almost in the same room already, he liked it that way – it didn't bother him to walk some short distances. He looked first on his bed, checking if he had prepared his clothes. Realizing that he had been too excited to take the morning shower, he forgot to prepare those. He sighed, going to the closet just on the right side of his bed.

What will Tsuchikage-sama give me for now? He was asking himself as he sorted the clothes that were available for him to wear. Last time, he had sent me to Iwagakure borders to finish some Jounin-ranking missing nins that threaten our citizens there. He sighed again. I wish he give me an A-rank mission for now… Deciding that he would indeed begin to wash the clothes that he started to dump a week ago, he was left no choice but to wear the standard Iwa ninja uniform, although what he had was the one with long sleeves in both arms, than the sleeveless ones, that he wore under his vest.

He took the dangling forehead protector on the side table beside the clock, putting it around his left arm and tying it tightly. He breathed in deep and mentally prepared himself for another day. As he stepped out of his room and approached his living-kitchen room, he knew that breakfast would come later and he continued walking out of his apartment.

It was now 04:30AM in the dark morning, and the man inhaled the inhuman cold that his environment released. Looking at the rocks spires that were turned into towers that could be lived at, the man smiled at the small wonder that Iwa citizens had did from the past. Being tied with the earth element, Iwagakure had prided itself in transforming their rocky, mountainous, and desolate place into their homes, carving large stones into houses and buildings.

It was indeed another day.

Before really setting out to go and meet the Tsuchikage, the Iwa ninja thought of how he would go the place.

Was he going to walk or jump on the roofs of the stone buildings?

It was an irritating question for most shinobi because it was a silly question. Almost everyone who had their lives tied into doing business in the ninja world knew that stupidity wasn't a good thing in the field. And even in the field, no ninja would want to dare comprehend with stupidity. If he was together with another Iwa ninja and unfortunately heard him, the ninja would rather enjoy being crushed into two large rocks. The man was glad that there weren't just available rocks to be used for the jutsu in that particular part of the village.

It wasn't a stupid question, the shinobi reminded to himself. I just wanted to visit Iwa once again. I guess I'm talking a walk.

He took his point into acceptance since no one was available to argue with him. The Iwa shinobi himself knew that he had been always away from the village, since the Tsuchikage seemed to want to challenge the capabilities he had on the field. So when Iwagakure's Kage decided that the man was accepting more missions that weren't healthy for a regular ninja, the former had barraged him a stack of mission scrolls, an amount almost similar to a heap of paperworks a Kage would receive for a day. From that point on – almost thirteen months ago – the Iwa shinobi was seeing less and less of Iwa from the day he had stepped foot out for his missions. That was why he decided to walk instead of moving at a faster rate.

The Iwa shinobi had no qualms in walking through the not-yet busy streets of Iwagakure. Dawn was just about to show, although he discerned that most people were already up inside the homes. Even though the cold winds were still relentless since the sun was yet to be seen, the man gladly walked through the street, enjoying the silence that the setting provided. As he reached the portion of the market, he had seen some people already setting up their places. When the people noticed the ninja walking there, they had an emotionless face staring at the latter. The man wasn't surprised by this; it was sarcasm that brought into the minds of the people living in the ninja world that had compared the personality of Iwa citizens to stone – thus, the blank faces.

"Good morning, Naruto-san." One of the market people took the time to greet him. The blond shinobi smiled to his fullest, scratching the back of his head as he felt some pressure building in the place.

"Good morning." He answered, still smiling, feeling awkward since he couldn't remember the man's name. "Haven't seen you for a while."

"I should be the one telling you that, Naruto-san." The man said. "Doing so many missions, I guess?"

"Yeah. I was unaware of it, but I've almost not been going through here for almost thirteen months now." Naruto answered, looking at how the other people prepared their stalls for that particular day.

"Thirteen months?" The man sounded in doubt. He then smiled weakly at Naruto. "It seemed that market really makes me feel unaware of the time too."

"I know." Naruto said and then taking note of the time. "Well, it's time for me to go; I need to meet the Tsuchikage. See you soon!" He waved goodbye as he proceeded into walking to the direction of where the Kage's office was located.

As he walked off, he still continued to smile. Man, he was able to strike a conversation without even remembering the other man's name! Even though with that, Naruto still was able to enjoy taking walks into the streets of Iwa. Even though the people would not seem to smile often, Naruto knew that they were trying to be accommodating as much as they could.

That was the reason why Naruto was glad to take a walk there. People noticed and greeted him there as a normal shinobi citizen… not like the one he had in the past.

He then shook his head vigorously, imagining that it could take out the memory of the past. He needed to shift his attention to the present and the future. And that would be Iwagakure.

Iwagakure was famed for having ninjas with an attitude similar to a rock – unyielding when it comes to an order and would do everything for it to be done. Iwa ninja was indeed fearless, only until someone from the higher-ups would want them retreating. According to history, there was a person that had been branded, so that the Iwa shinobis knew that if they encountered that person, they should run away.

It was the Yondaime Hokage. The Fourth Hokage of Konoha. A man that was able to destroy a ninja squad without being scathed even a little bit.

But then, that was history. Iwagakure could just always choose to be stronger than to be depressed into a man who had already died. It was widely known that in defeat could be found a greater lesson than five successes combined. It was in failure that one could find the flaws.

"Naruto-senpai!" A female voice quickly greeted the blond shinobi as soon as he was seen walking at the road to the building where the office of the Tsuchikage was. Naruto grinned sheepishly when he heard the energetic voice from the kunoichi. He smiled because even though how much loud and how many times he had been hearing his name in a similar fashion for more than a year, Naruto couldn't bring himself to be irritated with that. Inside him, it felt that there was some people who would really be waiting for him and shout out his name without fail every day. It always warmed him on the inside. Then he chuckled afterwards, since he knew what words would come after his name was called. "You're late!"

Surprised that his musings had brought him quicker to the place, Naruto looked up to see the woman who had called her from above. "Hey!" He replied. "How would I suppose to live in a village whose meeting time is an hour even before the set time?" He gathered some chakra into his feet, and jumped towards the second floor roof that jutted out from the tower, and then proceeded to the top floor of the five storey building.

"Is that how you should greet the people you haven't seen for seven months?" It was a male voice that interrupted in the talk.

"I'm sorry, Moko-niichan. It's just that I'm still not yet familiar with how you people take time here." Naruto looked at the male who looked at him. "Oh-yeah, there are people that I haven't seen in thirteen months, so stop whining, niichan." He then faced three people who he met on top of that tower. Naruto started talking, "Sumi-chan, Moko-niichan, Nebi-kun," Naruto gave each one a curt nod. "Ohayou! How are you all doing now?"

"I never thought having an A-rank mission would be that hard, Naruto-senpai!" Sumi said in an energetic tone, swishing her hands in random directions, as if her hands could tell the whole story for her. "But I was glad that the enemies were water-natured!" She flashed a smile to Naruto.

"Water will be defeated by Earth, I guess." Naruto said. Of course, it wasn't a guess; it was a shinobi's knowledge about Chakra natures.

"Yep!" Sumi answered. Sumi was a kunoichi of chuunin rank, a sixteen year old woman of boisterous and loud nature just like Naruto. She was younger by some months than Naruto. She had a straight dark brown hair, typical of the Iwa brown to black spectrum of hair color that she left untied, letting its length reach her shoulders. Good thing about her hair was that it was silky smooth, which gave her no problem in movement at all. In contrast with her hair, Sumi's eyes were natural light brown, a color that could clearly show the emotion that she held at simple glance. Her lips were subtle, although it appeared beautifully against her slightly-rounded jaw. That made her look… cuter for her age.

"You should have seen her expression before she knew that she could defeat the enemy due to her nature." Moko talked, snickering as Sumi turned red in embarrassment. "Her face almost shouted that she wanted to be back with her mommy…" He continued to tease her even though Sumi was already throwing kunais to him.

"Moko-niichan, stop teasing Sumi-chan before she kills you." Naruto said, chuckling as Moko used Nebi as a human shield against Sumi's attack.

Moko was a nineteen year old male. When Naruto first met him, he had called him 'Moko-san', which slightly irritated Moko. He seemed not to like it when people called him as if he was already an adult. That was why he allowed Naruto to call him his 'niichan' instead of treating him as a more adult person. Moko was an example of how Iwa ninja was supposed to be; even though not yet in his twenty's, Moko was of muscular build, his face retaining the figures of an Iwa – brown hair, brown eyes and angular jaw. Even though he indeed looked old with the features, many girls actually considered him appealing, since it was his smile that carried most of his looks.

"No, senpai!" Nebi started to talk. "You should tell him to stop teasing Sumi so that she will not kill me!" He told Naruto, as he dodged a very sharp and pointed kunai being pierced towards Moko at his back.

Naruto went nearer to the group that aimed to hide and kill. He just pulled Nebi out of the killing equation and threw an arm round his shoulder and continued to watch the murderous scene that Sumi and Moko was playing. "Hey, why do you always bring Nebi-kun into a deadly situation?" He chuckled. "You know, we should always protect our precious one from harm…" When he said that, Nebi turned irritated and got away from Naruto's side. Sumi and Moko just laughed at Nebi's antics.

Nebi was the most different among the three. He had a silvery-brown eyes and silver hair, which reminded Naruto of someone he wished did not survived in his memories. He was different from Moko, even though he was just a year younger. Instead, Nebi seemed to retain most of his teen image – a rounded face and eyes that were oddly wide and more circular. But his young face didn't put him down when put into a certain situation when most of his enemies taunted him for looking like a kid; among the three, Nebi was the strongest and most intelligent. Although he still subject himself to the plans and ideas of Moko.

"I'm starting to doubt now why I was able to call you 'senpai'." Nebi said to Naruto. "Moko and I are even older than you!"

"Let's just say that you call me your 'senpai' out of respect and experience." Naruto answered.

"That is what I doubt, senpai; you seem not the type of respectable people." Nebi put up his point.

"Is Nebi-kun being grumpy again?" Naruto didn't mind the insult just thrown to him by Nebi. He just knew too much how to turn the situation always against Nebi, and Naruto would always enjoy the look of defeat on the teen's face.

Nebi just ignored Naruto's statement and turned his face away, which earned him the laughter of his two teammates.

"By the way, about your recent mission…" Naruto sounded curious and was unaware that his voice had an odd tone in it. "Have you been briefed why ninjas that specialized in water-jutsus appeared in our borders?" He asked them, his curiosity taking a higher step by asking the information from his fellow shinobi.

"Why do you ask, Naruto-senpai?" Moko asked the other chuunin. "It's not uncommon to find ninjas who specialized in water jutsu walking around Earth Country's borders."

"Moko-niichan, I know about that." Naruto answered. Reflecting briefly, he knew he mustn't tell the trio about the things that had been bogging his mind. That was the part that he needed to meet with the Tsuchikage.

Naruto sighed as Sumi, Nebi and Moko noticed that there was something different with their senpai that very early morning.

"Good morning, Ōnoki-sama." Moko, Nebi, and Sumi bowed simultaneously at Iwagakure's current Tsuchikage. The latter gave the trio a tired gaze before putting them at ease. With one old look at Moko, the already young adult knew what his Kage wanted, and hurriedly gave the mission report that he made when they returned to Iwa. He said to him, "This is the brief of what happened. A second report scroll will follow."

The Tsuchikage made some grunts of approval and nods of satisfaction as he read the scroll that Moko handed. After finishing the whole thing, Ōnoki looked at them and gave them a small smile. "As expected of you, Team Obsidian; you've had another mission success." As he hovered his gaze to the three members of the team, he was slightly surprised to see Naruto standing just behind Nebi. "Naruto, you're here already." He said in a serious tone.

"Yes, old man. I was expecting that you could have at least felt my presence." Naruto answered in his nonchalant voice and smiled at the Tsuchikage.

"Naruto-senpai!" Sumi hissed to the blond shinobi. "How many times will I tell you to respect Tsuchikage-sama?!"

"It's all right, Sumi-san. Naruto is right; I am indeed old." Ōnoki admitted it and smiled fully, not minding if the smile went bad in mixed of his old facial features.

"See?" Naruto said in a comical tone. "Tsuchikage-jiji is already wise enough to admit the truth!"

Three kunais were suddenly thrown to where Naruto was standing. Ōnoki just laughed at the sight that was happening in front of him.

"Tsuchikage-sama," the three member of Team Obsidian chorused, and looked at each other, feeling that all of them had the same thoughts. A curt nod from each one and it was Moko who spoke for the group. "Tsuchikage-sama, even though it is against our feelings, we thought that it must also be better if Naruto-senpai is taught of respect."

"Moko-niichan!" Naruto had an outburst.

"It's alright, Moko-kun; I'm fine with Naruto's disrespectful behavior." Ōnoki said, smiling gently as he looked at Team Obsidian and Naruto exchanging murderous glances and killing glares.

"Tsuchikage-sama, don't spoil him!"

"Isn't it that you are here just to hand me your reports?" Ōnoki said, finally silencing the noises that began just because of Naruto's behavior in front of him. Really, he couldn't understand why Team Obsidian was treating their senpai's behavior as a grave matter than needed an active solution. There was nothing wrong with what Naruto was doing; in fact, he enjoyed the fact that there was someone in Iwagakure that was lively and loud – he'd been so serious in the past since the village was so dull. Wasn't it time for something to change?

He hated youngsters at first – until Naruto changed his perceptions.

Well, that was almost two years ago, and he was now enjoying the company of the blond shinobi.

"Hai, Tsuchikage-sama. This conatins the more technical parts of the report, the explanation and words from some Jounins of Iwa." Team Obsidian answered. Sumi handed Ōnoki the scroll containing their reports. She looked at Moko, silently asking if they were going to brief their superior while he read it from the scroll. While Moko stared at her, Ōnoki rose his head up from the scroll and looked at both of them, answering the question that was so discretely asked.

"The mission parameters slightly changed from what we have been brief of. According to the mission brief, the rogue ninjas that we're supposed to finish were only composed of twelve people – four groups, since they follow a three-man group. When we arrived there, we were ambushed by another group of the same number, until we found out that most of them were Chuunin level. That made us able to finish them easily.

"When we faced the targets, after them being alerted by the ambush group, we also found out that three them were Jounin-level." Sumi paused for a while, looking at her superior if there were some changes at Ōnoki's facial expression.

"But since, there were Jounin mostly water-nature, you were able to defeat them." Ōnoki told it for them, finally closing the scroll given to him. "I suppose you have something that they have to show me."

"Sorry, Tsuchikage-sama, but like our earlier missions, the groups seems not to carry any scrolls or orders for us to know what their real goal is." Moko answered back.

"That was partly expected." Ōnoki said.

Team Obsidian cringed at the statement, feeling somehow defeated since they weren't able to meet the real mission objective, which was to obtain the information regarding the goals of the rouge ninjas that started to populate the Earth Country's borders some months ago.

"Team Obsidian, thank you for wiping out another group of threats that looms just beyond the country." Ōnoki told the group. "You're dismissed for now. Take your rest and be prepared to have another mission. Expect messages requiring your immediate presence."

Team Obsidian bowed in front of the Tsuchikage and vanished in thin air in seconds, the famous 'poof-ing' sound heard and the swirl of clouds seen. When Naruto felt that the team's presence were beyond their capabilities to hear the two of them, the blond shinobi finally grimaced, alerting the attention of Ōnoki.

"Ōnoki-sama," Naruto called. It triggered the Tsuchikage to go to his serious tone, complementing Naruto's sudden earnestness. "I'm worried for Team Obsidian's safety if you are to send them for another mission involving the rogue ninjas that inhabits the borders."

"Why is it, Naruto?"

"The last mission you gave me was able to give me some information. I didn't write a report as you ordered. Like them, my mission was to clear the borders of those ninja and discover their real objective. I discovered a camp, which I do not expect from rogues. I don't have a choice but to destroy it. But, even though it contained some rogues that were competent enough to take down unknowing patrol ninjas of Iwa and some low-class missing-nins in our Bingo Book, they seemed not to posses any information regarding their presence in the borders." Naruto told Ōnoki, who was nodding at some points in Naruto's words.

"You told me that you got something."

"I discovered this." Naruto said, getting something in his pocket and handing it over to Ōnoki.

When Ōnoki saw the item, his eyes widened in surprise, shooting a dubious gaze to Naruto, as he waited for some explanations. "Is this real?"

"The source was alive before I took it from him." Naruto answered.

Ōnoki nodded, making some mental notes in his mind. "Alright," he said, clearing some space in his brain for him to be able to talk some other matters to Naruto. "I consider your concern over Team Obsidian – their just chuunin, after all. I'll not assign them to the rogues anymore." He looked at the time and returned his attention to Naruto. "Call Team Obsidian tomorrow; I'm giving them another mission."

- End of Chapter -

For those who have the idea, yes, I returned some time back to the past before the event in the prologue part ensued.

Another chapter done. I'm wishing that I can write more than what I can think; I've got some ideas but I feel lazy whenever I start writing them.

Sorry for the wrong grammars and thank you for the time reading this fic.