Hey guys, here's the first official chapter of "My Life for Hire." Next update will be after I post the new chapter for "Savior" up.

Kingkakashi- I was just asking for your general opinion on the set-up for the story, such as it taking place in the modern era and what not. I'll be sure to separate the dialogue from the normal text. I know prologues do what you list, but sometimes it's better to leave the reader with very general details and then work from there. Thank you for your comment.

Now, on with the story.

'Thoughts'

"Speaking"

Chapter 1: Welcome Home

Those who are seeing Konoha for the first time would be completely awestruck. The tall buildings were eye-popping and when displayed under the night, they would be orchestrated in a mass display of lights. Now was no different as Naruto drove through the city he once called home.

'Seems like nothing has changed.' He thought, looking from left to right, seeing people littered on the streets. A soft beeping noise brought him out of his thoughts as he looked down near the car's speedometer. The vehicle was running low on gas and only a few more feet did the car drive before it completely turned off. 'Well crap, looks like I'm walking from here.' Reluctantly, he got out of the car with his bag in hand and began walking to his destination.

As he walked, he was receiving looks from the people of his surroundings; ones that were out of confusion, as if they were trying to remember who he was. He released a short sigh and continued to walk; the faster he got to the tower, the better.

Only after a few minutes (to his slight surprise) did he finally reach the main doors of the colossal structure. The glass doors slid open automatically and he walked over to the elevators, which were situated to the right of the front desk. Just as he was about to press the button to call one, a voice caught his attention, "Wait! You can't go up without checking in first!" It was the receptionist.

"Don't worry, I'm already expected." Naruto pushed the button and the elevator doors opened automatically. Giving a quick a wave the doors closed and he pressed the button for the top floor. The elevator complimented the doors of the building as the material behind the blue-eyed male was made of glass, giving the occupant a clear and beautiful view of the city. The mechanism reached the top floor with no problem and with a mild "ding" the doors opened, revealing a room with yet another receptionist sitting at a desk. Upon closer inspection Naruto smiled and walked up to greet the person.

The receptionist kept her head down, in which the blonde figured she was looking at a document. Catching the workers attention, he cleared his throat and began to talk, "I'm here to see the Hokage." The employee looked up from her work and her eyes visibly widened.

"N-Naruto?"

"Hey Shizune, long time no see." The now known Shizune shot up from her seat and engulfed the blonde in an uncomfortably tight embrace. "Shizune…air…please." He weezed out.

With a blush of embarrassment on her face she released him, causing him to drop to the ground with his hands on his knees and intake a large breath of air. "Naruto, I can't believe it's you!"

"Yea, it has been a while hasn't it?" Getting the necessary air back in his lungs, the teen stood up straight and began to examine his friend. Her attire consisted of a white collared shirt along with a dress skirt that was midnight blue. On her feet was a pair of high heels that complimented her outfit.

"Are you done staring?" it was Naruto's turn to blush as he shot his vision away from her. Shizune chose to chuckle at his situation, "Naruto-kun, I'm just kidding. You can enter her office when you're ready." She smiled at him and went back to her desk to continue her work.

With slight anticipation, Naruto walked up to the office doors, opened them, and stepped in. The Hokage, just like Shizune, was situated at her desk signing some documents that she deemed important. She didn't hear the blonde come in due to her focus being on those for-mentioned documents. Her concentration was broken when the sound of the doors closing hit her ears and she swiftly shot her head up. When the image of the blonde reached her sight, she didn't know how to react. All these emotions were welled up inside her waiting to break free, but she suppressed them. Now wasn't the time to sit down and chat with her gaki, she needed to brief him on his mission. She was about to speak but Naruto beat her to the punch.

"So I hear that you need my help with some problems you're having." He smiled tauntingly. He didn't say that out of ignorance or disrespect, it was a statement that was meant to tease her.

'Smartass…' was the first thought that came to the Hokage's mind. She should have expected him to say something like that. Whenever…he was a part of Konoha, he would always come visit her when he had the chance and they would shoot comments such as that back and forth to each other. Usually, the little battle ended with the gaki getting pummeled. So instead of engaging in such an off topic argument, she decided to keep her cool.

"We do. I hope Kakashi gave you the synopsis of what the problem is and why we requested you." The Hokage laced her fingers together and placed them under her chin while her elbows rested on the desk.

Naruto's whole expression changed to one of focus and concentration, "He did." He crossed his arms below his chest and leaned on a near-by wall. "I just need to know the details." He said sternly.

"Danzo has been planning something as of late and we need you to infiltrate a warehouse at the edge of town. He owns the place and from my recent reports, it's well guarded."

"What do you think could be in the warehouse?"

"I don't know… that's what I need you to find out."

Naruto nodded his head, showing that he understood the situation. "Are there any other warnings I should be aware of?"

"Besides it being heavily guarded, no."

"Ok, any secondary objectives?"

The Hokage released a sigh, "Make sure not to kill anyone; I think you'll know what will happen if you do."

The blonde's expression turned into one of annoyance, "Yea, yea. Political instability, then war, blah blah blah. You know it's no fun when killing isn't involved, Tsunade-baachan."

A vein appeared on said person's forehead and her mouth twitched a couple times. 'Smartass gaki…' She leaned back in her seat and pinched the bridge of her nose, "I'm serious Naruto."

The male just proceeded to chuckle lightly, "Yea, I know." He then pushed himself off the wall and grabbed his bag that he unceremoniously dropped on the floor when he first entered. "Till next time baa-chan." With a wave of his hand as a temporary farewell, he opened the doors to the office and made his way to the elevator.

'He's changed…' Tsunade thought as she allowed her repressed emotions to take over. Ever since his departure she had missed him and that feeling grew each day he was gone. 'He belongs here and I'd be damned if I let him leave us again.'

The sun had disappeared under the horizon and the moon now dominated the sky. The city of Konoha was shroud in darkness with only the lights from buildings and homes to keep it illuminated. Naruto found himself atop a roof that was across the street from his objective. He was scoping the area out, looking for the shift rotations and patrol patterns of the guards that occupied the vicinity. 'Baa-chan was right; this place is heavily guarded.' The warehouse was surrounded by a concrete wall that was accessorized with barbwire. 'That's real original…' He thought sarcastically. The entrance was composed of a large gate that had two guard towers flanking both sides and a patrol of guards on the ground.

Sighing heavily, Naruto stood up from his crouched position and reached for his duffle bag that lay across from him. Opening it, he pulled out a jet black ballistic vest and slipped it on over his torso, completely covering his upper attire except for the sleeves of his black Kevlar shirt. Next he pulled out a pair of arm pads and knee pads and strapped them to the appropriate appendages. Both pairs of protection were made of a malleable fiberglass, which protects the wearer from any kind of shrapnel and most bullets. Finally, he pulled out his weapon of choice, one being a sharpened combat knife made of lightweight titanium. 'It's no fun when I can't kill anybody…now I have to leave all these weapons in the bag.' He zipped up his mobile 'weapons locker' and jumped down from the roof. Performing a quick roll when he made contact with ground, he stealthily ran to the right side of the concrete wall and edged around the corner. 'The front gate is too heavily guarded for me to break in, so might as well check the back door.' To his dismay, there was a heavy patrol guarding the back entrance, which wasn't a gigantic gate. Two guards were stationed on both sides of the small metal door while another two began to walk in opposite directions. Again to his dismay, the one of the two guards was heading his way.

'So much for not harming anybody…' Naruto thought dryly. The footsteps grew louder and louder until the unaware guard turned the corner. The blonde sprang into action and jabbed the unfortunate man in throat which prevented him from yelling. He followed through with a forceful punch to the face which rendered the man unconscious. Hitching his breath, Naruto caught the man by the arm before he hit the ground and carefully placed the body up against the wall. 'Phew…' he unceremoniously wiped his forehead of imaginable sweat and thanked Kami for his reflexes. It only took seconds for him to regain his focus and he once again looked around the corner. 'Those guards have to go…' As if his demand was heard, both guards began to walk in the opposite direction of where he was. 'Must be a shift rotation…lucky me."

Seizing the opportunity, Naruto made his way around the corner and opened the door to allow him entrance into the inner sanctum of the area. To his upmost annoyance, more guards littered the area; some were talking with each other and others were walking around, obviously patrolling. The warehouse was only a couple hundred meters away and to his relief there was much provided cover to get there. Keeping an eye on the guard's movements, Naruto ran from cover to cover until he made it to the entrance of the warehouse and allowed himself inside.

"Woah…there are a lot of weapons in here…" The teen quietly whispered to himself. Rows upon rows of weapon crates were stacked on top of each other, making the warehouse seem like a maze that was never-ending. Walking up to one of the crates he began to analyze it, looking for any information on the production of the boxed weapons and/or who they would be commissioned to. Only after a few seconds did he find the desired information, only for surprise and confusion to be written all over his face, 'These are weapons from Iwa…and they're being shipped to… Amegakure? What the hell are they doing here?' Shaking his head of his mind's delusions, the blonde opened a supply pouch on his vest and pulled out a small, compact camera. Turning it on, he set the frame so that the whole crate was in its sight and snapped a shot, then he zoomed in on the newly discovered information and repeated the action. Turning off and putting the camera away he continued to walk down the row of crates, examining each of them to see if the information on all of them mimicked that of the first one. His suspicions were satisfied as it was proven to be correct, 'All of these weapons are from the same place and are being shipped to the same place…what is Danzo planning?'

His thoughts were interrupted by an ear-piercing noise that rang throughout the whole area, 'Dammit! Shouldn't have left that body lying there in plain sight…' The blonde ran to the warehouse entrance as fast as he could and upon opening it he swore to the heavens. Right there in front of him were about four patrolmen ready to open the door. Thinking fast, Naruto swept one of them off their feet with a kick; afterwards he swiftly rammed his opposing foot into another guards face, knocking him unconscious. One of the two remaining guards reached for his gun, which was sitting right in his holster, and attempted to pull it out but unfortunately for him, Naruto had grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. During that little moment, the remaining guard successfully pulled the gun from his holster out and brought it up in an attempt to shoot the blonde. With well-trained reflexes, the teen quickly pulled out his knife and threw it…hitting the man in the head. '….Whoops.' Letting the thought pass Naruto finished is onslaught by slamming his elbow into his captive's trapped arm. The attack hit spot on the joint of his elbow, causing the bone to shatter and penetrate the skin. The guard screamed in agony as he fell to the ground holding his now useless arm.

Naruto left the severely injured man on the ground and retrieved his knife from the head of the dead guard before sprinting to the door he first entered from. He readied his shoulder and plowed straight through the door, causing it to swing open ferociously. Quickly, turning on his heel, he ran back across the street to the rooftop of the building he was on prior to entering the area of the warehouse. Not once looking back at the place, he grabbed his duffle bag and began his journey back to the Hokage tower.

The moon was still high in the sky and Tsunade was seated at her desk. Like any other night, she would have a glass of Sake by her side to help relieve some of the stress she had obtained throughout the day, but tonight wasn't one of those nights. She was planning; as soon as her gaki got back with the information she needed, she would convince him to stay longer. This would hopefully give her enough time to talk to the old geezers that made up Konoha's council.

As soon as Naruto left the city without permission he became a marked man and every marked man was hunted down until they were either captured or killed.

"You know baa-chan, I never expected you to be a deep thinker." The familiar voice proceeded to chuckle and that person to which the voice belonged to was leaning against the wall in the far corner of the room.

Tsunade immediately fired back with her own remark, obviously not surprised by the blonde's unexpected presence. "And I didn't know brats like you could be so annoying…" She shot her gaze toward him with a smirk on her face.

"Ouch baa-chan, that hurt." Naruto began to pout and hung his head low to feign sadness.

The Hokage waved him off, "You'll get over it. Now tell me, what have you found?"

Upon hearing the question, Naruto immediately dug through his duffle bag and pulled the compact camera he used not too long ago. "The warehouse was one big weapons cache." His tone was serious and mature. He tossed the camera in Tsunade's direction, which she caught. "I took a photo of a crate as well as the text that was on it."

As the big-breasted woman turned on the camera and displayed the picture, her face lit up in surprise. "These weapons are from Iwagakure? And…they're being shipped to Amegakure!"

"Trust me; I was just as surprised as you are now, but I think I know why they're being shipped there." Naruto got off the wall and walked up to a chair that was parallel to the Hokage's position only to take a seat in it. He leaned back in the chair and put his hands behind his head before he continued, "You see, I was in Amegakure not too long ago due to some contracts I received. Many people in that city wanted other people dead and it just so happens that I killed a member of a certain organization."

"You mean the Akatsuki." Tsunade's sentence was more of an answer than a question. "Who was it that you killed?"

"His name was Zetsu, the bastard put up one hell of a fight…anyway he was talking to someone prior to our encounter. They were conversing about weapons and money but I didn't really pay any mind to the details."

Tsunade laced her fingers together and placed them under her chin, "So you think Akatsuki has some connection with the weapons and Danzo."

"Exactly." He said with a smile.

"Well then I have another contract for you." The blonde gave her a curious albeit skeptical look. "I want you to infiltrate Iwagakure and retrieve any information about their part in this scheme."

"But-"

Tsunade interrupted him, "I also want you to lead a team in case things don't go as planned."

Naruto's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before narrowing, "No, I'd rather go in alone; I'll have an easier time getting in without being caught."

"And what if you do get caught?"

"I have my ways of escaping difficult situations…"

"Naruto, I insist you-"

"Tsunade-sama…" Anger was clear in his voice, "I know what you're trying to do and I won't allow it to happen. I don't want deal with them and plus they'll bring up to many memories that I'd rather forget." He stood up abruptly from the chair and grabbed his belongings, "I'll accept the contract with the condition that I do the assignment alone." His voice held no room for argument.

The chocolate-eyed woman released a sigh, "Fine, you'll be briefed tomorrow so report as soon as possible. Other than that you're dismissed." With that said Naruto left the office, intent on finding a place to rest for the night.

Elsewhere in Konoha…

"Who would've thought that training to become a combat medic could be so hard…" Sakura said to herself as she plopped down on her bed. She had been undergoing training in the field ever since the departure of… 'Naruto.' If it wasn't for her stupidity then maybe he wouldn't have left in the first place; the only excuse she had for her actions was that she was young and Kami knows that excuse is used too often. Ever since the day he left she couldn't stop thinking about him. He was her strength, her light, and her resolve and she would do anything to take back what she did. But now, like all times, was not the time to think about the past; she has a whole other day ahead of her tomorrow and Kami was it going to suck.

Knock, Knock…

'Ah who the hell is it!' Obviously angered by the person knocking on her door late at night, the pinkette got up from her bed and stomped her way to the door. With a violent twist of the knob she swung the door open, "What!"

Too her slight surprise she found Kakashi on her doorstep with his hands up in mock defence, "Jeez Sakura calm down, I'm just here to deliver a message from Hokage-sama." The scarecrow of a man put his hands down before continuing, "She wants you to report to her office ASAP; she has a mission for you." He finished his explanation with an eye smile.

There was single thought that ran through Sakura's mind as soon as she heard the word 'mission,'

'Shishou better have a good explanation for this!'

End of Chapter 1

Well folks, here's the next installment of 'My Life for Hire.' I hope you enjoyed it and stayed tuned for the next chapter, which should be coming relatively soon. Also, please review and what not; your feedback is always appreciated!

Till next time, this is KotovSyndrome signing off.