YAAWN! Well, here's the next chapter of Insatiable Instability. Sorry it's been so long. AP and Finals have been killer. Ugh...

Chapter 3: Chance Meetings

Everything was peaceful in Konoha. Everything was just peachy. The birds were singing, the clouds were plump and white, and the sun was shining brightly. Yep, everything was in exactly the same state as it had been when he had left those many years ago. The kids he remembered playing ninja were still in the same playground and the swing he had used to sit on was still hanging from that kind old tree. If there was a universal constant for blissful ignorance, Konoha would have fit the equation perfectly.

He hated that.

Ooooh... Coming back to Konoha had chalked up quite a collection of nasty memories. When he had left, the clouds were dark and ominous with his blood tainting the sidewalks. The children had long since gone in, with them ignoring his existence. Instead of the noisy children, there had been ANBU ninja that had tried to assassinate him. Narrowing his eyes, Uzumaki Naruto, formerly Natsumune Naruto, watched the village with a steely gaze from atop the Hokage monument. Reaching behind, he lightly grasped the Amaterasu that clung to his back and sighed in sadness. Why had he come back? Kakashi probably didn't even remember him. Heck, he could barely remember the man having slanted white hair and a mask. It had been so long ago... Naruto sighed again as he let go of his sword.

But it was time to move on.

Jumping down from the monument, he spun three times just as he landed onto the floor below to minimize the impact. Righting himself, he then walked slowly towards the Hokage office building with his arms crossed. He didn't know what to hope for, especially since he was considered dead. Shrugging, he looked back at his sword with a comforted gaze before straightening his shoulders. Anything that Konoha could throw at him, he would throw back with nine times the force. With that thought in mind, he ignored the kids playing in the sandbox and entered the Hokage building.

OooOo

"Hey, Nami. Who's that kid? He looked like a ninja but he seemed like he was our age."

"Ahhh! He's probably a show-off. We're not allowed to graduate until we're twelve, remember? And our graduation is still three months away."

"Hmm.. I guess you're right. But he looks cool. We should see if he wants to play ninja with us later!"

The kids quickly went back to their game as they played with blissful ignorance, not knowing that the very kid they had accepted in an instant was the very one that they had ignored four years ago.

OooOo

Naruto sat down comfortably in front of the Hokage's desk as he crossed his arms. "Well, I'm back old man."

The Hokage raised his aged eyebrows as he looked around the office. "Who let you in here child? Was it my secretary?"

Naruto looked bored as he peered outside the window. "I snuck in. The line to see you was too long."

The Hokage smiled as he saw the boy. "Right. I know that kids these days like to play ninja, but I'm afraid that you'll have to pass your graduation exams first. You remind me of my grandson, so eager to prove himself."

Naruto tilted his head as he rubbed his masked chin. "You don't believe me?"

The old man smiled kindly as he raised his hands. "Oh no! I'm sure that you'll make a fine ninja some day, but until then, you'll have to train if you want to be able to get through six ANBU guards."

Naruto sighed as he stretched out his arms. "Yeah, okay. Doesn't matter what you think. Anyways, I'm back now, so I'd like to know what's going up with my apartment."

The Hokage narrowed his eyes as he looked at the masked boy carefully. "I'm sorry. What did you say your name was?"

Naruto's eyes curved into upside down "U"s as he looked at the senior Hokage. "Why, don't you remember me? It's the number one hyperactive child, Naruto!"

The Hokage fell out of his chair in shock as he grasped onto the edges of his desk. "What? That's not possible!"

Naruto stood up as he slowly pulled off his mask. Without the mask, the boy's face was much more clear. The tell tale whisker marks were etched upon his slim face. However, they had become thinner in appearance, almost to the point where they were unnoticeable. Moreover, his resemblance to the fourth Hokage was uncanny, making the third Hokage feel incredibly nostalgic at the moment.

"Na-Naruto? But how?"

Naruto rubbed his cheeks as he felt his chakra flow through his hands. It was a subconscious act that he had begun after opening all of his channels. "Yeah... It seemed as though once I sealed the Kyuubi, my physical appearance changed a lot. But enough of that." Naruto quickly placed his mask back on as he sat down grimly. "What will you do with me Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi rested against his chair as his eyes showed many emotions. The first was joy of course, since he had always been fond of the boy. The second was relief also, since Kakashi would might finally become serious again. The third was guilt however, since they had announced him dead without ever finding his body.

"Old man? Hello?"

The Hokage suddenly looked up as he saw the inquiring blond. Getting up from his seat, the wizened man walked over to Naruto before bowing headfirst towards the ground.

"Naruto. Please accept my humblest apologies. I should have tried harder to find you. Please forgive me. If there's anything that I could do..." Naruto saw the tears gathering at the Hokage's eyes before sighing softly. The boy had been determined to make the Hokage feel at least a little bad, but then again, it wasn't his fault.

Kneeling gently, the blond slowly bent down beside the Hokage. "All I ask is for your companionship. And...if you could, I would like to meet Kakashi."

The Hokage got up as he nodded solemnly. "I understand. I'll call him right away."

"Wait."

The Hokage stopped as he looked curiously at the blond.

Naruto smiled as an idea popped into his head. "Please, give these exact directions to Kakashi. I want to meet him on my own." As Naruto whispered into the Hokage's ear, the old man grinned as he recognized the intelligence of such a plan.

"I understand Naruto. Now go. I'll call him and tell him to go to the forest right now."

Naruto nodded and in a flash, disappeared in a mix of black and blue flames.

"Whoa. He's gotta show me how to do that." Smiling, the hokage sat back down back on his chair as he dried his eyes. Clearing his throat, he pressed the hotline on his phone before speaking authoritatively. "Get me Hatake Kakashi."

OooOo

Kakashi walked through the training field as he took an occasional sip from his bottle. The Hokage had simply asked him to come to training field number seven. Well, it didn't really matter to him since he hadn't been doing anything anyways. Grumbling softly, he reached for another bottle of sake only to find out that there were none left. Cursing angrily, he was about to go back to his house when a kunai suddenly flew towards him. Even in his slightly tipsy state, the copy nin quickly caught the knife and looked towards the trees.

"Come out. If you wanna fight, get out here."

In an instant, a black flash erupted from the trees as the copy nin felt something hit him in his gut...hard. Looking down, his eyes widened as he saw that the "thing" was a person.

HAKKA: GOFUBAKU!

Kakashi's eyes widened as he suddenly flew back with a devastating force carrying him through the air. What the hell was... Before he could finish however, the mysterious assailant had already rushed up to him and used a serious of chakra reinforced punches that pummeled him back into the ground.

Kakashi tried to block each one as he felt them nail into his bones. Wincing, he finally managed to jump back to free enough space. Using the time, he yanked off his forehead protector, revealing the sharingan, and began seals for a fire jutsu.

"KATON: HOUSENKA NO JUTSU!"

A stream of fireballs flew towards Naruto, with each one the size of a large basketball. Naruto quickly countered them though by spinning rapidly in place with his chakra creating a dome around him.

Kakashi's eyes widened in shock as he recognized the move. The Hakkeshou: Kaiten?! A Hyuuga then?

Kakashi's shock grew though as the cyclone of chakra suddenly grew limbs and tried to grab him.

No! This is more advanced... Who is this guy?!

The copy nin's sharingan was spinning at full speed, with his chakra barely enabling him to dodge. To his relief though, the chakra limbs retreated and the dome disappeared. Seeing his opening, Kakashi gathered chakra and directed it towards the water.

"SUITON: SUIRYUUDAN!" A giant dragon made of water flew towards Naruto with its mouth open. However, the boy simply ran straight up to the dragon with a Gofubaku in hand. The drilling tornado of chakra dissembled the dragon and drenched the two combatants in water.

Cursing, Kakashi realized that he had only enough chakra for one final technique. Placing his palm downward, he gathered as much chakra as he could before releasing it in the form of electricity.

"CHIDORI!"

Naruto also stopped as he began to charge another Gofubaku.

Trying to buy some time, Kakashi began speaking in hopes of starting a conversation. "Listen, I don't know who you are, but where I come from, you should at least warn someone when you attack them."

Naruto remained solemn as he raised his hand. "I wasn't aware that enemy ninja had to warn each other before attacking."

Kakashi sheepishly smiled as he stared at his chidori. "Well, I don't think that you're an enemy, are you?" The copy nin's face grew taut as he tried to pull out more chakra. Beads of sweat started to gather as he felt all of his energy go into the technique. Crap... I need more time! I can't believe that I've gotten this weak!

The jutsu in Naruto's hand suddenly emitted a low hum that signaled its completion. "I don't know. Maybe we should find out."

Kakashi felt the familiar tug of the chidori as he also smiled. "Ah. That would be a good idea." Kakashi suddenly galloped out as he used his sharingan to project his path. At the same time, Naruto also moved forward with the same speed as he raised his arm with the swirling Gofubaku. The two came closer and closer together, until they were able to see the whites in each other's eyes. And then...

OooOo

"BOOOOOOOOM!"

The Hokage fell out of his desk for the second time that day as he felt his entire office shake. Looking out his window, he saw the area where Naruto had asked Kakashi to come in a smoky ruin.

Hm... Maybe I should have asked him not to overdo it. Well, I'm sure that Kakashi could have survived that. I think. God Naruto, you better not make me do more paperwork.

OooOo

Kakashi and Naruto lay down on the ground panting as they both struggled to get up. Kakashi's lack of training for the past four years had made his chakra reserves significantly smaller, making even one chidori with his sharingan incredibly taxing. On the other hand, the chidori had been able to cut through the Gofubaku, since the chidori was originally a piercing move.

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, Naruto and Kakashi got up, albeit very slowly.

"You're pretty strong kid. What did you say your name was?"

Naruto smiled lightly as he brushed back his blond hair. "I don't know. Maybe you should tell me."

Kakashi stroked his chin as he thought. "Are you a new recruitment to the ANBU corps?"

Naruto laughed as he shook his head. "No. Our relationship was a little more closer than that."

Kakshi thought for a moment before resigning. "Sorry, I can't recall anyone like you. Although, with that strange sword and that cool black mask, I think I would've remembered you."

Naruto slowly stepped forward as he took out a kunai. "When I was three years old, you gave me a kunai set for my birthday. I cut my hand on one of the knives and healed immediately. After much explaining, you convinced me that I was a special ninja that was meant to become the Hokage."

Kakashi's eyes widened as Naruto came closer. "You..."

"At the age of five, you took me out to rain country to see the sharks there. I remember telling you that when I grew up, I wanted to be a shark."

Kakashi's hands were trembling now as he walked forward to meet Naruto.

"And then, at age six, you gave me my first mask. I've been wearing masks since then, remembering your kindness."

Kakashi and Naruto stood right in front of each other, as tears started to stream from Kakashi's eyes.

"And at age eight, I was labeled lost and eventually dead. After four years of training, I returned to Konoha at the age of twelve." Taking a deep breath, Naruto pulled down his mask as he smiled the brightest smile he had since Shin had killed everyone.

"Hiya Kakashi. It's nice to see you again."

OooOo

The Hokage watched with a smile from his window as he saw the rain falling freely in the sky. Out in the training fields he saw two people standing together without a care in the world. Usually the old man hated the rain, grumbling about the wetness and coldness that it emanated. However, seeing the two figures embrace each other for the first time in four years, the Hokage nodded in acknowledgment as he looked up at the sky.

Tears of sadness? No, I believe that these are tears of joy. Your son has come back Arashi. And with it, the fire of Konoha.

OooOo

Naruto walked amiably down the streets as he smiled in happiness. After talking with Kakashi over a bowl of ramen, the two had parted ways late in the night. In the morning, Kakashi had brought him some food, saying that he had too much at home. After enjoying a hearty breakfast, the two then separated as Kakashi had some missions to complete before daybreak. At the moment, the blond was walking without a destination. His sensitive ears however picked up a sudden cry a few blocks away. Thinking it worth to investigate into, he changed his direction and walked towards the sound. A few minutes later, he saw a group of men and women yelling. Curious, he crept up closer to the huddling of adults before noticing that all of the yelling was directed at one girl.

"There she is. The foul thing."

"So its one of Orochimaru's experiments? It's to be expected. My son told me that when they let her play with them, she actually hurt them with her ability. We can't let this go!"

"Yeah, I agree. But if the Hokage found out that we got rid of a girl, he wouldn't let us go."

"Just don't tell him Kaiga. We're doing Konoha a favor by getting rid of an abomination like this."

The girl in question looked around anxiously before backing up towards the wall. While they were playing a game called soccer, she had accidentally used her ability in her excitement. It wasn't a big deal, but to the kids, ninjutsu was still scary and new. After all, they weren't even genin yet. Looking between the crowds of adults, she decided that her best bet would be to take the usual beating and then crawl back to her shelter. It wouldn't really matter anyways, since she would heal in about a day. But the pain...

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he prepared to jump in. He didn't really understand what was going on, but the look on the girl's face was all too familiar. It was the look of resignation that meant your life was meaningless. He had seen that look in his own eyes many times in his past. Clenching his fists, he walked towards the group just as he saw an ANBU jump down into the crowd.

Sighing in relief, Naruto stopped. Good, maybe I won't have to deal with it.

Rei stopped as she looked around. For some reason, the noise had stopped. However, looking at the source, she sighed in relief as she walked towards her savior.

"ANBU-san! Thanks for coming to help. I-"

She was silenced though, as she felt blood spew out from her arm. Looking at the ANBU anxiously, she held the deep wound in her arm as she tried to apply pressure. "What... are you doing?"

The ANBU smirked as he took off of his mask. "It's time you died. All of Orochimaru's failed experiments deserve the trash heap. I'm just doing my civic duty as one of Konoha's ninja.

Rei faltered as she stepped back and grabbed the wall behind her. "No, NO!" Looking around, she saw the approving smiles of all the adults as they nodded in agreement with the ninja. Anger swelled up inside of her as she clenched her fists.

"YOU BASTARDS!" Running out, she felt her ability activate as black markings spread around her body. The chakra made the civilians back up in fear, but the ANBU quickly went up and punched her directly in the stomach. Her lithe body flew back and hit the wall with a crushing force, breaking about three ribs in the process. The ANBU sighed as he readied his blade. "Any last words?"

The girl smirked in spite of the pain as she tasted copper. "Go to hell. All of you."

Rei closed her eyes and waited for the impact but felt none. She did however hear her blood spraying out though. Smiling, she placed her head back against the cold concrete wall as she felt no pain.

So is this how it feels to die? Funny, it doesn't feel very painful at all. I thought it'd be horrible or at least a little scary. Wait a second...

Opening her eyes, she was shocked to see a black clad boy with the ANBU sword embedded in his chest.

"What the..."

The words barely escaped her lips when the said boy yanked the sword out without effort.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ALL DOING?!"

The crowd winced at the magnitude of the boy's voice. The ANBU stared in shock at the boy's wound.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he pulled his sword off from his back. The Amaterasu shined in all its glory with the wicked edge of the blade gleaming in the sunlight.

The rest of the audience stepped back slightly as they felt his killer intent peak. A few of them were paralyzed while the others were trying to look as small as possible.

"You're not answering me."

The ANBU was still in shock from having seen his sword removed from the boy's chest as if it were nothing. He opened his mouth to talk, but no words reached his mouth.

Naruto's eyes glinted red as his blade suddenly burst into black flames. "You people...are the worst type of scum ever. Doing something like that to someone who had no choice in the matter. All of you will die today."

He was about to charge into the crowd when a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder. Turning around, he saw the sober face of Kakashi.

"Kakashi... Let me do this!"

Kakashi shook his head. The villagers including the ANBU sighed in relief. They did not want to put up a guy that had just pulled out a sword from his body. They were all about to return home when Kakashi's voice suddenly rang out.

"All of you civilians will be detained in Konoha's jail for obstructing the peace. The ANBU... will report to the Hokage."

All of them gulped as Kakashi winked at Naruto. "It's better this way. Now, I've got to really get on my mission. It's lucky I caught you before you did something you would have regret."

Naruto nodded as he saw the Copy nin herding the group towards the district jail before teleporting away. After they all went away, Naruto turned back at the girl with a smile. "Are you okay?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she stood up, although very slowly because of her wounds. "Screw you."

Naruto almost dropped his sword from the rude response. "What? HEY! That isn't what you say when someone helps you. Didn't your parents teach you any manners?"

Rei grimaced as she looked away. "I didn't have parents, you idiot. Now leave me alone. I'm just... a failed experiment."

Not knowing what to say, Naruto stood in silence as she saw her limp away slowly. A few steps later though, she fell to the ground and struggled to get up. Walking over to her, he swiftly picked her up and walked towards his home.

"HEY! BAKA! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING YOU BASTARD?! PUT ME DOWN! YAROOOOOO!"

"Ahh... So noisy." Naruto continued to ignore the rants as he walked towards his apartment, wondering whether or not he was doing the right thing. Well, he would figure that out later. For now, he had to deal with this headache.

TBC...

A/N: Okay, how'd you like it? Now, the pairing won't necessarily be Rei. But if it's OC that you want, then it'll probably be her. But hehehe, I have a special surprise for you. Originally, I was going to make Naruto very dark and twisted... But that goes against like all that Naruto stands for. But here, have fun with this.

BRANCH! NARUTO AS A DARK GUY IN MY FIC!!!

Naruto strode through the street as he smiled in mild content. The ramen had been delicious, just as he had remembered it to be four years ago. Four years... It seemed like just yesterday when he had sat down with Aya, Matsumune, and Shin. Shin. Naruto's eyes blazed with anger as he remembered the event. The sword on his back started to turn darker as Naruto's thoughts overtook him. The blond was so involved in his thoughts though, that he had not even sensed one of the local children coming up to him. In fact, it wasn't until the said kid tapped him on the shoulder that Naruto finally turned around.

"Hm?" Half annoyed, Naruto looked at the kid expectantly. They were around the same size with Naruto's spiky hair just reaching two inches higher.

"Hey! That's a cool sword you got! Can I see it?"

Naruto looked at the boy's eager eyes before sighing. "Sure. But it'll end up burning you with a black flame that'll kill you in the most painfullest of ways possible. You'll also probably end up horribly disfigured, so that even your parents won't even be able to recognize you."

"You...you're lying, right?" The kid backed up with fear despite being the same age.

"No, I'm dead serious. Catch." Naruto was about to throw the sword at the kid when the child suddenly ran away screaming with fear. Chuckling, Naruto walked back towards his apartment more satisfied than ever while Kakashi watched in the background with a giant sweat drop marking the back of his head.

What happened to the cute little kid that always yelled that he would be the Hokage?

Haha, short, but LOL! Anyways, Naruto will remain largely like the originally story. However, when he fights... BWAHAHAHAHA! He will be a monsteeer! So review, and vote on the pairing! Basically every girl ever showed in Naruto. Age stops at Temari though. Not pairing with any women too old. And Hanabi doesn't work either. Too young. So vote! AND REVIEW!!!

Click that button right below this message. :)