Chapter 3:

Izumo and Kotetsu were bored as hell. They were put on gate duty again. It was one of the most hated job's. Almost as bad as catching Tora, the cat owned by the wife of the fire Daimyo. It was the whole day sitting behind a desk and occasionally they got to check a person's papers.

Kotetsu was laying with his head on the table deep asleep while Izumo was thinking about, why they always got this stupid job while the others got to go on missions. His train of thoughts was broken when he saw two persons approach the gates. "Hey lazy ass get up we got company". He said to his friend while nudging him in the side.

Kotetsu shot up. "I am awake" while looking frantically around. "What's the problem, are we under attack?"

Izumo slapped the back of Kotetsu's head. "No you idiot, we need to do our job. Get ready"

Kotetsu was rubbing the back of his head while glaring at Izumo when he saw the two figures approaching. "Isn't that Yamato," He said recognising one of them. "But, who is the kid."

Naruto and Yamato had finally arrived at the gates of Konoha. "Hey Yamato, long time no see," said Kotetsu with a smile. "Who is the kid."

"This is my apprentice Naruto," Yamato said while pointing at Naruto. "I have been training him outside of the village."

"Nice to meet you guys," Naruto said.

"Nice to meet you, kid, my name is Izumo," Izumo said. "And this lazy ass here is Kotetsu," He said while pointing at Kotetsu.

"Don't listen to him. He's just too proud to acknowledge that I am the brains of us two." Kotetsu said while grinning at a glaring Izumo.

"I think we better go inside, the Hokage is expecting us," Yamato said while giving a letter, that the clone had written before they left, to Izumo.

Izumo read the letter. "Everything looks in order, you can go inside," Izumo said while giving the letter back to Yamato. "Hope you enjoy Konoha."

With that Yamato and Naruto left for the for the Hokage's office. They were stopped by the Hokage's secretary. "Can I help you two?"

"The Hokage is expecting us. You can say that Yamato has returned from his mission." Yamato said giving a smile to the lady.

She went inside and immediately came back. "The Hokage will see you now."

When they entered they saw the same person they spent the last four years with the only difference that he was wearing his kage robes and had a couple more wrinkles.

When the old man saw them there came a smile on his face. "My boy it's good to see you."

He said while getting from behind his desk and giving Naruto a hug. "I have heard a lot of good things from my student and clone."

"You can say that," said a smiling Naruto "I have learned a lot from you. I can say it were the best four years of my life."

He had heard Naruto had calmed down and was no longer the prankster he used to be. But it surprised the Hokage how much he had changed in four years. He was expecting Naruto to say something about becoming Hokage or that it was time that he went into retirement and that Naruto would take over the position.

" I hope you haven't had any trouble on your way here," Hiruzen asked Yamato.

"No, Hokage-sama it was a calm journey," Yamato said.

'That's good to hear. I have also heard you have unlocked a powerful ability when you were away. I don't think I need to say, you better keep this ability a secret for as long as possible." The Hokage said now looking back at Naruto.

"I understand, old man" Naruto said with a nod.

"You can stay in your old apartment, I made sure to keep it in shape." The Hokage said while giving a key to Naruto. "One last thing before you go. You are expected tomorrow morning for your exam."

"Oke, old man. If that's all, I think I could use some ramen." Naruto shouted while he left the office.

'Some things never change' Hiruzen thought.

It was a slow day at Ichiraku ramen. The restaurants profit took a dip since their best customer left. One day he came in the restaurant ordered 15 bowls of ramen and said he couldn't come for a very long time. He wouldn't say why but they never saw him again after that.

Ayame was cleaning the storeroom when she heard a customer come in. She went to the front. "Welcome to Ichiraku ramen, can i .." She stopped in the doorway not believing her eyes. "Naruto is that you," She said while looking at the boy. He looked different but there was only one person with that color of hair.

"Hey Ayame-chan," He said with a big grin.

"Where were you all those years. We were worried to-chan even went to the Hokage to ask if he knew where you were. But he said we didn't need to worry, and that you were in good hands." Ayame said while coming from behind to counter to hug Naruto.

"I was training to become stronger," Naruto said with a smile. "But I am really hungry from my journey. So can I have 10 bowls of Miso ramen."

"Everything for our best customer," Teuchi said with a big smile having heard their conversation "I hope you are going to stay, I don't want to loose my best customer again," He said while starting to prepare the order.

"This time, I am here to stay and become a ninja of Konoha," Naruto said while taking his first bowl from Ayame.

After eating his last bowl, he said goodbye and went on his way to fulfill a promise he made when he left the village.

Tenten was getting ready to train with her team. In the 4 years that passed, she had graduated from the academy and joined team 9. Her team was lead by their eccentric, spandex wearing, sensei, Might Guy. He talked a little bit too much about youthfulness, but there was no one that could beat him in taijutsu.

Her two teammates were Rock Lee and Neji Hyuuga. Rock Lee was a younger version off her sensei. They wore the same green spandex and had the same bowl cut. He specialised in Taijutsu like Guy-sensei. This was because he couldn't do any ninjutsu, and why he was the dead last of their year. So Guy-sensei took an interest in him. He trained him, gave him the same spandex uniform he wore and saw him as his own son.

Neji was the total opposite. He was more serious and colder than his teammates. He was known as a prodigy, proficient in his family taijutsu style, the Gentle fist, that made use of their bloodline limit, the Byakugan. He and Lee didn't see eye to eye. Neji saw Lee as a failure, never going to become a good ninja because of his limitation. While Lee always wanted to prove him wrong by becoming strong enough to beat him. Over the year, she became to respect Neji's skills and developed a small crush on him.

She was going downstairs. Into the kitchen saying goodbye to her mother, a lady with long black hair and the same eye color as Tenten. "See you later tonight," Tenten said while starting to open the door.

Her mother stopped her. "Before you go there is someone waiting for you in the shop."

"Who, is it?" Tenten asked.

"I don't know, I never saw him before. But it looks like your father knows him." She replied.

Tenten was confused, who would want to talk with her now. When she entered the shop a smile came to her face. In front of her stood the kid she had made a promise to four years ago. Only he wasn't the same scrawny kid anymore. He was now taller than her and more muscular. His hair had grown wilder and was a little bit longer. He was wearing a red coat that came to his knees. Under the coat, he wore dark red pants with metal greaves. he wore a mesh t-shirt with a black t-shirt with long sleeves over it. On his arms, he also wore metal vanguards. When he saw her he gave her a smile.

"Hey Tenten, long time no see," He said.

She was stunned to see how much he had changed. "Naruto, you finally returned," she said while regaining her composure.

"Yep, my training is over. I am back to become a shinobi of Konoha and challenge you to a duel like we promised." Naruto said with a smile.

A smirk appeared on her face "We'll see if you have learned to wield that staff."

With that said they both left for the training ground 9 were her team met every day. On the way there they caught up with each other talking about how life went for them the past four years.

When they arrived at the training ground Naruto was greeted by her eccentric teammate and sensei. "Yosh, who is this youthful young man you have brought with you." Guy shouted with a voice full of youthfulness.

"Hey sensei, this is Naruto. He trained outside of Konoha for a couple of years, and I wanted to see how much he has learned. So is it good we spar instead of the normal training." she said while pointing at Naruto.

"Hi, nice to meet you," Naruto said while bowing.

"Yosh, this is amazing to see their fires of youthfulness burn so much. I will do 100 pushups to reignite my fire. And if I can't do this I will do 200 laps around Konoha while doing a handstand." said the mini clone of Tenten's sensei.

"That's it, Lee! Let the power of youth explode." Said Guy while looking with teary eyes at his pupil.

"Guy-sensei" shouted Lee

"Lee"

"Guy-sensei"

"Lee"

They started hugging each other while there appeared a sunset with a beach behind them. Naruto tried to dispel the Genjutsu but nothing happened. He touched the sand, and to his surprise it was real. "How did they do this," asked a baffled Naruto.

"I don't know. We never found out how they do it," replied Tenten. "But enough about them, let's get this show on the road."

With that, Guy and Lee's beach disappeared like it was never there and they sat down ready to watch the spar between their team mate and Naruto. Guy was especially interested in how strong Naruto was.

"Don't forget no real weapons. We don't want, you kill each other." Guy said with a serious face.

Tenten and Naruto went to stand in front of each other. "You better don't hold back. Because I know I won't." Tenten said.

"Like you wish," Naruto said with a smile.

With that, they jumped away from each other. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" Naruto shouted. There appeared twenty clones around him.

"Simple clones won't work against me," she said. But when ten of the clones came out of the group, she saw that they kicked up dust. That meant they were real because a normal clone was just an illusion and couldn't change his environment. With that thought, she took five shurikens in every hand and with a deadly precision hit all ten clones.

The smoke from the clones dispelling surrounded her. She took out a wooden katana out of a storage scroll and stood ready for any attack. The clones came from every side and before they reached her she dispelled them with a single strike. When the smoke disappeared she saw Naruto still standing in the same place. 'Something is not right, he had ten clones left and I only took out eight were are the other two.' she thought while looking around. She had looked everywhere right, left, above, in front and behind her. Everywhere except… under her. She jumped up just in time to see four hands come out of the ground, trying to grab her. While she was in the air she threw another barrage of shuriken dispelling the last two clones.

"Nice try, but you need to be faster than that to catch me," She said with a smirk.

"Like you wish, we will take it up a notch then," Naruto said while unsealing his bo-staff from a seal on his hand and getting in his starting stand.

Tenten did the same thing with her katana.

Guy and Lee were looking with full attention at the fight going on that they didn't see their other teammate arrive. "What is going on here?"

Lee and Guy looked behind them and saw that Neji had arrived. "Tenten challenged this kid to a fight. He supposedly trained outside of the village for a couple of years." Lee said. "They were just going to start using their weapons."

Neji looked at the two combatants "It could be interesting to see how long he will keep up with Tenten."

Tenten and Naruto ran towards each other trying to hit each other only to be blocked by the other.

"This is amazing, I have never seen anyone who could keep up so well with Tenten," Lee said watching full of admiration at the two combatants trying to hit each other.

"Your right Lee, Naruto's youthfulness is burning with a great fire," Guy said.

Even Neji was surprised at his skill to keep up with Tenten.

'He became efficient in wielding his staff' Tenten thought while trying to find a hole in his defence. But she would show him how it was done. She started bringing her speed up, pushing Naruto back.

Tenten brought her katana down, with Naruto bringing his staff up to block the sword. But that was what she was hoping he would do. She pulled out another katana from a scroll with her other hand. Trying to hit him the side. But before the sword made contact he sidestepped bringing Tenten out of balance.

He swept his staff at her feet. She saw in time what he was planning and jumped over it. While in the air, she turned her body to create momentum for a kick. Only to be stopped by his staff, and being pushed back. She landed on her feet "You became proficient in using your staff." She said panting a little bit.

"Thanks, your katana skills are amazing too," Naruto said with a smile, with no exhaustion showing.

'I need to end this now' she thought knowing if it comes to wearing each other out, he would win for sure. With that, she jumped further away from Naruto. She pulled out two scrolls. "Time to finish this". She said.

Naruto was interested in what she was planning. So he was keeping his distance while trying to figure out what she was planning.

She planted the two scrolls beside her. "Sōshōryū (rising twin dragons)" a big smokescreen appeared, blinding Naruto. Out of the smoke, two smoke dragons rose up into the air, twirling around each other, until they changed in unrolled scrolls. Tenten jumped up until she was in the middle of the two scrolls. She started unsealing different throwing weapons and started to throw them at Naruto with high speed.

Naruto saw them coming towards him and knew he needed to react fast if he didn't want to become a pin cushion. "Bouseki Tate no Kaze (Spinning Shield of Winds)" Naruto started to spin his staff in front of him, creating a shield of the wind in front of him. Stopping every weapon that was going to hit him.

"I am not finished" Tenten shouted. She stayed in the air and pulled all weapons back up in the air with ninja wire that was attached to the weapons. When they were all in the air she threw them back at naruto. But before they could make contact she heard "Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)" Naruto released a strong gust wind knocking tenten and her weapons back.

She did a backflip and landed on her feet. "You could counter my best move," She said full of surprise while sitting down to rest.

"I was just lucky," Naruto said with a grin.

"It was a good fight, not many can beat Tenten when it comes to weapons," Neji said while walking in their direction. "What is your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said while turning around towards Neji."Nice to meet you. And you are?"

"Neji Hyuuga," Neji said while glaring at Naruto.

"I always wanted to fight a Hyuuga," Naruto said while still smiling. "What do you say about it. Do you accept my challenge?"

"Are you sure about this," asked a concerned Tenten. "You were just in a fight and Neji is stronger than me."

"Don't worry about me. I can handle this." Naruto said with a smile. "So what do you say," He said while turning to Neji.

A small grin appeared on Neji's face. "I have been called a genius, so it is my fate to win this fight. Only a fool tries to fight his fate. But I will amuse you and accept your challenge."

"We will see how much your fate will help you," Naruto said while getting ready to fight. Neji stood in front of him while the rest returned to the sideline.

"You know what, let's make this interesting and only use Taijutsu," Naruto said knowing the Hyuuga's where specialised in Taijutsu.

"Like you wish," Neji said full of confidence he would win.

With that said Guy gave the start signal for the activated his Byakugan and ran towards Naruto with the intend to finish this quickly.

Neji trusted his palm forward trying to close one of Naruto's Tenketsu. But before he could make contact Naruto dodged his attack. But Neji kept going trying to hit Naruto again only to be dodged again.

What was happening he had never seen anyone that was around the same age as him that could dodge his attacks. He kept attacking until Naruto grabbed his wrist and punched him in the face with his other hand.

Not expecting his speed, Neji was hit hard. He was getting angry. He started attacking again, with Naruto dodging his attacks. Neji was going nowhere, so he did a feint while Naruto was dodging this blow Neji used his other hand to hit Naruto closing one of his Tenketsu's. With the first blow came another one, Neji was closing his Tenketsu points fast.

"I told you, you were no match for me," Neji said with a smirk. To his surprise, Naruto began to smile.

"You are right you got a couple of good hits on me, but now it's my turn." With that, Naruto stopped dodging and started attacking. Neji was surprised at the speed Naruto moved having trouble keeping up. Naruto jumped and started spinning in midair kicking Neji with the built up momentum from the spin. Neji tried to block Naruto's attack the best he could. But it was hard, Naruto was jumping around kicking and hitting him from every side like a monkey. If it wasn't for his Byakugan he wouldn't have been able to block most of his attacks.

Naruto jumped up and did a handstand on Neji's shoulders. Neji tried to get him off but Naruto started spinning around switching hands. Naruto caught Neji's arm, put his feet onto Neji's chest and catapulted him away.

Neji skidded a couple of meters before stopping himself. 'How is this possible, I can't get a hit on him..' Neji thought while getting up.

Naruto was looking at Neji ready for any counterattack. They didn't exaggerate about the Hyuuga's gentle fist style, it was powerful. He was beginning to feel the damage Neji's attack's did on him. He was shaken out of his thoughts when he saw Neji run towards him to continue the battle.

When Neji reached Naruto he began his attack once more. More relentless than the previous one.

"Eight trigrams" Neji shouted while hitting Naruto in the chest. 'This isn't good, his attack was so fast I couldn't even react and I can feel the effects already.' With that thought Naruto tried to dodge Neji's attacks but they kept coming the next one harder than the last.

"Two palms …. four palms …. eight palms … sixteen palms … Thirty-two palms …. sixty-four palms" With the last hit Naruto flew back.

Naruto was breathing heavy and coughed up a bit of blood. There appeared a smile on his face. "Thanks, for the great fight," Naruto said while standing up. "You win."

Neji got out of his stance "Like I said, this fight was pointless. It was my fate to win and your fate to loose." Neji said while looking at Naruto. "And nothing would have changed that.."

"I don't think it was because of your fate you won. It's because of your hard work you put in your training.." Naruto said surprising Neji.

"I am an Hyuuga it was my fate to win this fight," Neji said while glaring at Naruto.

"Maybe you are born a Hyuuga but if I remember correctly the technique you just used, the Hakke Rokujuuyonshou (Eight Divination Signs, Sixty-Four Palms of the Hand), is only taught to members of the main family. And last time I checked the Main family has only two heirs who are both female. So if you're hiding your gender I think you are from the branch family." Naruto said now getting the attention from all members of team 9.

"And the destiny of the branch family is to protect the main family. Not to learn their techniques." Naruto said in a serious tone. "So in other words, you taught yourself this technique and fought against your own fate."

Tenten and Lee looked with surprise at their teammate. Who was looking down and clenching his fists so hard, his knuckles became white.

'I hope someone has finally gotten through to you.' Guy thought while looking with sadness at his student. 'Someone who will help you overcome your sadness.'

"With that said I hope we can have a rematch someday," Naruto said with a smile. "But for now, I am going to rest a little bit. I need to be ready for my exams tomorrow. I don't want to become the dead last of my year."

This surprised Neji. The person that just beat Tenten and then could keep up with him hadn't even graduated from the academy.

"You can join our training whenever you want," Guy said while giving a thumbs up. "Lee needs a good sparring partner and I think you would be perfect."

"I will keep it in mind," Naruto said while walking away.

Team 9 was looking at Naruto. With each another thought.

'He changed a lot in those four years, in a good way.' Tenten thought with respect in her eyes and with a little blush on her face.

'Such a youthful young man. With what will he surprise us next.' Guy thought.

'If I can beat Naruto I am one step closer to beating my rival.' Lee thought with fire in his eyes.

'Could he be right, am I just lying to myself. Am I fighting my own fate.' Neji thought while looking at the boy who inspired him to rethink his view on life.