This chap was kinda rushed…it's basically a filler thing, showing Naruto's return, so I didn't really proofread it or anything. Please bear with me if you see mistakes or there is a lapse in my writing….

One matter of business before we start. A couple of you have asked about anonymous reviews, and as of now…I accept anonymous reviews! Of course, I'd rather have non-anonymous, but if that's not possible, any reviews are fine with me.

On with the show!

I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 11

Naruto leapt through the trees as fast as his feet could take him. He was exhausted, but he could feel his insane stamina coming back. He realized that he was running for no reason really. None of those ANBU were in any condition to chase after him. But he ignored this fact, and just kept running. Running from his past. Running from his problems. Running from the inevitable.

He paused on a tree and slammed his fist into the trunk. God…why can't I ever be accepted. Why is this damn demon inside me? Why must I suffer through this?

"Yo."

"Gyahhhh!" Naruto fell off the trunk, falling flat on his face. He sat up and rubbed his face, noticing a figure jump down from the trunk he had been standing on a moment ago.

"Jiraiya?" Jiraiya nodded and held out his hand, heaving Naruto's body back up into a standing position.

"Hey kid. Saw what you did to those ANBU back there. What's got your undies in a bunch?"

"No comment." Jiraiya looked curiously at his young blonde charge. When Naruto got his way, there was no way to pry information from him. He sighed as he gave up.

"Ah. I see. Well, regardless, we should get going"

"Hm."

"Well, aren't you a bright ray of sunshine"

Naruto didn't even look at Jiraiya, only humphed in response again.

The rest of the journey back to Konoha was done in complete silence.

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"N-n-n-naruto?" stammered Shikamaru. The rest of the ANBU were still frozen in shock. Even the ice cold Uchiha Sasuke had been frozen by the previous five minutes.

"N-n-n-naruto?"

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Naruto sat on a pedestal, slowly picking at his food. Ichiraku ramen. It hadn't changed a bit. But he had. Naruto slowly slurped the rest of the fluid down and put his chopsticks into his bowl and paid the old man. He also gave a generous tip and winked at Ayame as he walked out of the shop. She blushed and pretended not to notice, but Naruto had become quite the heartthrob over the last few years.

As Naruto walked out, he rejoined with his sensei, impatiently tapping his feet waiting for Naruto to finish his "necessary" task.

"Can we go now?" Jiraiya asked scathingly. He had been waiting out there for over an hour and had nothing better to do than…peek at the bathhouses across the street.

"Shut up old man, you get some good research done?" Naruto inquired, walking besides the old man down the street. His cloak and robes attracted a lot of attention from the villagers, but one look at Jiraiya the legendary sannin quieted many of the fears the villagers had about this mysterious nin.

"Definitely, but if Tsunade attacks me, I swear to God I'm using your body as a shield."

"Aaaaah, sensei, you wouldn't do something that cold hearted to me, now would you?"

Jiraiya grinned. "In a heartbeat."

Naruto chuckled as he looked up at the building they had arrived at. It sure wasn't as intimidating as it had been four years ago. He sighed as he remembered his years as a genin in Team 7, waiting for Kakashi, throwing himself mercilessly at Sakura, fighting with Sasuke…those were his treasured times of his life. Sad really, that memories like those would be so precious to him. But now…now he knew those memories wouldn't repeat themselves.

His friends accept him. They knew his secret, and that was a sure-fire way for them to hate him. His eyes fell as he remembered that last day in Konoha.

Flashback

All of the ninja assembled there froze, trying to put together all the information they just received. After a shocked silence, they all turned their heads towards Naruto. He was frozen, staring at Sakura, as if he were dreaming.

"But guys! He's not the Kyuubi! He's just the container, so he's still the same guy!" Sakura continued, oblivious to the things happening around her. Kiba kept opening his mouth as if to say something, but nothing would come out. Hinata kept looking at the ground, Lee was confused, Neji stared at Naruto, and Shino remained silent, his emotions unreadable. The rest of the shinobi had similar reactions, except for Naruto. His emotions changed, from shock, to anger, to realization, to fear.

Fear is one of the most powerful emotions. It can cause someone to run away, to freeze, or to even lose control of their body. It is more powerful than happiness, lust, confusion, or even anger. In Naruto's eyes, all anyone could see was fear.

Suddenly, as if broken out of a trance, Naruto blinked, shook his head, and ran out of the gates. The rest of the ninjas there could only watch as he ran.

End Flashback

Sakura…she had…destroyed his hope for friends. But it wasn't her fault. He couldn't blame her for the demon in his stomach. Naruto looked down at his stomach, where the dreaded Kyuubi no Kitsune was trapped. He put his hand over his stomach and clenched his fist. Jiraiya paid no attention to his student's reaction.

"Naruto, Tsunade might be a liiiiittle shocked that you're not dead…sooo…let's be gentle."

As the pair walked up the stairs to the Hokage's office, they were stopped by the chunnin working as the secretaries, and were admitted up. They both stood outside of the door, until they glanced at each other, took a deep breath, and opened the doors.

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"HOLY CRAP, THAT WAS NARUTO, WE NEED TO GET GOING!" yelled Sakura, smashing each of the ANBU in the chest with her pinky, successfully waking them up out of their trances.

They all shook their heads to brush off the impact and immediately started running towards the village.

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An ANBU was standing nervously in front of the Hokage, her desk seeming like a protective barrier between them. But he knew that nothing could stand between her and his health if she got angry enough. He shifted as to give himself the quickest route to the door to escape her wrath if it was necessary.

"So…let me get this straight. First, an intruder is detected in the forest. Stop me if I make a mistake. Then, this unknown ninja is engaged by our patrols. Eventually, nine of the Eleven are fighting this ONE NINJA. And they are defeated. Do I have this straight?" Tsunade leaned forward menacingly. This was not a good day.

Coincidentally, the nervous ANBU before Tsunade was thinking the exact same thing. "H-hai Hokage-sama!"

"How can ONE NINJA beat nine out of the Eleven?"

Throughout Konoha, there was one group that was elite. One group that was sent on the hardest of missions. One group that the villagers had complete faith in. They were, after all, the strongest ninja in the village. All had been promoted to ANBU, although the squad of the Akamichi, the Yamanaka, and the Nara had taken a while. They were the defenders of the village. Most other villages quaked at the mere mention of these eleven shinobi. They were almost legends in their own respect. They made up the group simply called "The Eleven".

But here it was. Nine of the Eleven had been defeated. By a single man. Who was this person, and why were they invading Konoha? Had they already infiltrated the village? Had they already killed? Destroyed? Stolen? Tsunade gripped her forehead, a sign the ANBU knew was severe annoyance and frustration. He edged towards the door behind him.

"Alert the rest of the ANBU. I want Hatake Kakashi in temporary command of the ANBU while Hyuuga Neji is incapacitated. Send them out and find this invader. And kill him." The ANBU nodded and body flickered out of the office as fast as he could. Tsunade leaned back and sighed heavily.

"What am I going to do?! If the remaining members of the Eleven can't cut it, I might have to fight this guy myself! God. I wish Jiraiya was here. Ever since…that thing happened, he's been pretty aloof. I wonder where he is right now…probably peeping on women in the bathhouses…" she pondered, a slight grin coming over her face. When she got really stressed out, it really helped her to think about other people and what kind of fun things they were doing. It was soothing really. "Pervert, where are you?" she muttered to herself.

A slight sneeze alerted her to someone at her doorway. Her eyes widened as recognition set in. Tsunade had never been a very emotional person, she had learned to block out her emotions after seeing so many people close to her die. But seeing this new arrival filled her eyes with tears.

"J-J-Jiraiya?" she stuttered in broken speech.

"Yo! How's it goin Tsunade-chan?"

Tsunade smiled and wiped her tears from her eyes, stood up and moved forward to Jiraiya, her arms opened wide to welcome an embrace. Jiraiya just grinned and moved forward. He never saw it coming.

"IT'S HOKAGE-SAMA, GOT IT?!" she screeched, smashing her fist into Jiraiya's gut, leaving him to writhe on the floor in the fetal position, gasping something about "crazy old ladies" and "crazy damn strength".

Tsunade brushed herself off and regained her composure. That damn pervert got on her nerves EVERY time she saw him. It was at that moment that Tsunade noticed the figure behind the hunched form of Jiraiya. He was tall, almost as tall as Kakashi, but also seemed more muscular than the slim Copy nin. He stood leaned up against the doorframe, his arms crossed in a relaxed fashion.

"Who are you?" asked Tsunade sharply. It wasn't every day that strange ninja entered her office in such a manner. This guy…he seemed so mysterious…yet at the same time, familiar. Blonde hair, blue eyes…Tsunade noticed these things but the clues didn't quite register.

"Me? Sigh. Seems like all of Konoha wants to know. First all those ANBU, now the Hokage herself!"

"ANBU? You mean…the mysterious nin…is you?" Tsunade's eyes narrowed. Subconsciously, she tightened her right hand into a tight fist, ready to eliminate this man should he do anything dangerous.

"Yeah. Don't worry though, none of them are too hurt. Their pride more so than anything else probably." He chuckled lightly. That little fight he had with his old friends was fun. It wasn't every day he was really pushed like that. In retrospect, Naruto realized he shouldn't have been able to win. It seemed that the nine that attacked him were used to working as a cell. Their teamwork was impeccable. But Naruto was able to fight most of them in small pairs, or even one on one in certain cases. That way, his incredible stamina was able to keep him going while he wore down his opposition. Had all nine been there since the start, his defeat would be inevitable.

This guy…he's so relaxed! Even after defeating Konoha ANBU he seems completely calm…this guy is dangerous. I should take him out now before he can hurt anyone else...

Jiraiya regained his strength and slowly began to stand up. He noticed Tsunade's body language, the tightened fist, the way her feet began to slide into her favorite taijutsu stance, the way her eyes were focused on Naruto's head…she was about to crush him. And Naruto had no clue this was coming. He was just grinning his head off, his eyes closed in ignorant bliss. Tsunade began to cock her arm back until she was cut off.

"Tsunade! No! This guy's with me!"

"He's dangerous Jiraiya! How could you bring someone like this into Konoha?"

"Someone like this? He belongs here! Haven't you recognized him yet?"

"What?! Recognized? I've never seen this guy in my life!"

"What? How can you say…oh. Baka! Take off your mask! We're not in Wind Country anymore!" he screamed, smacking his young apprentice on the backside of his head.

"OW! Sensei…that really hurt…" Naruto whined, rubbing the back of his head. He reached up and pulled down his mask.

Before Naruto had left Konoha, he had adopted a mask on his face, mostly so he could look like Kakashi, one of his many role models. He just wanted to look cool, so he wore it everywhere, just like his old sensei. But eventually, he got rid of it. It was just too damn annoying. Such a hassle having people give him strange looks and feeling the tight material against his face. By the time he had reached Suna with Jiraiya to learn his sand techiniques, his mask was long gone from his outfit. But this was soon to change.

Flashback

"Hey! Sensei! Where are we gmmmmph!" Naruto closed his mouth as a large vicious gust of wind blew a particularly large amount of sand into his mouth. The had been traveling through this sandstorm for days…

"Kid! You really should keep your mouth shut!"

"Dammit! I hate this damn saaaaaammmmmph!"

Spitting violently, Naruto angrily shut his mouth. Not talking?! This would NOT do.

End Flashback

And so, Naruto had donned a mask again, but this time a much more traditional mask from the area, meant to do exactly what he wanted, to keep sand out of one's mouth. It wasn't as flashy as his skintight black one, but he didn't want it for looks. It was functional.

Tsunade looked blankly at the young blonde in front of her. What was Jiraiya talking about? She didn't remember this blonde! He did seem vaguely familiar for some reason though… Tsunade rubbed her temples and sighed.

"I still don't remember Jiraiya…"

"What!? Kid, have you really changed that much?"

"Guess so sensei…maybe its those birthmarks on my cheeks…" Naruto grinned, pointing to his face. Naruto's distinctive whisker marks had slowly faded over the four years of his training. They were still there, but you had to be looking for them to notice since they were nothing more than slightly darker streaks on his cheeks.

"Ah. That could be it. Here, see if this refreshes your memory Tsunade!" Jiraiya whipped out a marker.

"Uh…sensei?" asked Naruto nervously. "Wh-what are you planning on doing??"

Jiraiya giggled in sadistic glee as he pinned Naruto to a wall and started scribbling furiously on his face. Naruto struggled but Jiraiya wasn't one of the legendary sannin for nothing. It wasn't that Jiraiya was stronger than Naruto. That was definitely not the case. Ever since Naruto's sixteenth birthday when he beat the perverted man in an arm wrestle, Jiraiya had avoided such competitions of strength. No, Jiraiya had experience. He knew exactly how to hold Naruto in a way that he had no leverage. And so, after a humiliating thirty seconds, Jiraiya dropped him to the floor and stepped back to admire his handiwork.

"Heh, perfect!" He held his thumb up, grinning like a madman. Jiraiya had drawn in Naruto's old whisker marks, but he couldn't stop there. Nope. After years of Naruto annoying him to death, he needed to get revenge as many times as he could. Naruto now not only donned newly drawn whiskers, three times the size of his old ones, but now he had an eye patch, a unibrow, a curly moustache, a goatee, a black eye, and horns drawn on his face.

"ERO-SENNIN…." He started threateningly.

Tsunade looked on in confusion. The whisker marks…the nickname "ero-sennin"…the blonde hair…he was about the right age…blue eyes, short temper…Could it be?

"Naruto?" she squeaked in a small voice.

Both of the quarrelling ninja stopped their antics and looked up at the blank face of the Godaime Hokage. Naruto stood up and rubbed the back of his head, grinning.

"Good to see you again Tsunade-obaachan!"

Thump!

Naruto opened his eyes to see that the person in front of him had disappeared. He whipped his head left, right, up…then down. There, sprawled on the floor of the Hokage's office was an unconscious Tsunade.

"Heh…HEY, IS THAT PERMANENT MARKER?! OHHH, YOU'RE GOING TO PAY!"

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Nine ANBU appeared in a flurry of leaves in front of the Hokage's office. They had already checked the Hokage monument and Ichiraku's. But to no avail. Neither of Naruto's favorite places held the familiar blonde. So they decided to check in with Tsunade. Maybe she had heard something, or maybe she could search for him with her crystal ball. In any case, they needed to report in on the incident earlier that day.

"Man! Where is that guy? We checked all his favorite spots…" Chouji trailed off.

"Hm…maybe Naruto has changed more than we thought. Perhaps he is more mature and calm now" Neji stated calmly.

"That's probably it! He probably grew out of ramen and pranks and all his other childish crap!" Sakura smiled. It truly warmed her heart to think of this new, older Naruto.

As the nine ANBU walked up the stairs to the Hokage's office, they heard commotion upstairs. Looking at each other, they all began to run up the stairs, preparing to meet anything.

Anything, that is, but what they really did meet. Running around the office, knocking papers and other things off of desks and books off of shelves, a young man chased an old, grey haired man, giggling his head off. This may not have been very surprising to battle trained ANBU, but there was more. The Godaime Hokage was sprawled on the floor, evidently unconscious, and the blonde man had black scribble all over his face. He was holding a black marker trying to capture the old man and do the same to him. But the old man just kept giggling his head off and running faster than an old geezer should be able to.

The nine ANBU stood there with their jaws hanging open, something that could not be seen, due to the white masks covering their faces. The two ninja seemed oblivious to the things around them, intent only on their wild antics.

Sakura ran forward, worry on her face. "Tsunade-sama!" She rushed to her sensei's side, hands already glowing with healing chakra. She placed her hands on Tsunade's forehead, exhibiting an ease that comes only from experience. Tsunade's eyes fluttered, and opened with a start.

"Sakura! Wh-what happened…all I remember is…" Her eyes flew wide open as she relived the shock of finding that Naruto was still alive.

Her hands flew up to Sakura, grabbing her by the collar and pulling her face near her own. "Sakura! Where is Naruto?! He's alive!"

"Um…he's…around…" she trailed off as a vase fell to the ground, shattering. At that moment, Jiraiya ran by, still giggling like a madman.

Tsunade's fists began to clench and her brow wrinkled. Her face became slightly pink. "JI-RAI-YA!" she screamed, as she let loose her rage onto the next thing that came running by. Which was Naruto, chasing after the old hermit.

He flew out the window, a thin trail of smoke showing his path. All of the ANBU visibly winced, and Sakura stood up suddenly.

"Oh my god! Naruto!" She ran out of the room, leaving her sensei to deal with the old pervert. All of the other ANBU gave one look at the twitching Hokage and decided they would rather skinny dip in piranha infested waters than stay where they were. So they followed Sakura out of the tower.

Sakura found Naruto easily enough. His abrupt landing had left a crater in a poor man's wagon, and they were having a heated argument, attracting quite a crowd, not only to see the strange ninja that fell from the heavens, but also to watch the confrontation. Seeing nine ANBU approaching, the crowd dispersed, leaving the two to argue in relative peace.

They approached cautiously, as if trying not to startle Naruto. The formed a circle around him, waiting for him to notice their presence. After five more minutes of arguing, Naruto had promised to pay the man back. As soon as he got some money. He was broke, sadly, and had to rely on the old pervert for food, water, and shelter. The man walked away, dragging away his broken cart, leaving Naruto alone. He looked up and noticed that he was surrounded. Naruto immediately slid into a defensive pose, his eyes glancing from one ANBU to the next, watching to see which would be the first to attack. But the attack never came.

"Naruto!" squealed a pink haired kunoichi, throwing herself on Naruto, wrapping her arms around his neck. Confused, Naruto froze. He felt what seemed to be tears dripping out of her mask onto his shoulder. He awkwardly allowed his hands to wrap around her, still shocked at her actions. Never before had anyone acted like this around him. Never before had anyone shown an emotion other than hate or indifference toward him. And now? The girl he knew for sure hated him was crying on his shoulder. Was this some kind of trick? She knew about the Kyuubi, she had told everyone about it. There was no way anyone could ever accept him now, right? But here was something contradictory. Here Sakura was, crying in joy that he was back.

He looked up in amazement at the other ANBU. They had all taken off their masks and were looking at him. Neji, wearing a small smile, something pretty big, since he didn't allow his emotions to seep through very often. Kiba, grinning from ear to ear, Akamaru by his side, wagging his tail violently. Hinata, blushing, as usual, he would have to find out why she did that, and giving him a look that told him she was happy to have him back. The rest had similar reactions, each looking at him in a way that showed him their acknowledgment, their approval.

Naruto's eyes, wide as saucers as he looked around at his friends, slowly closed, as a single tear leaked out. He wiped it away quickly. He was strong. He was a man. Then why was he getting so emotional? Finally, after eighteen years, Naruto was home with his family.

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Hey hey! So, review! Btw, does anyone think that this fic should be M? I kinda use a lot of swearing…habit I guess.