Welcome. This story was inspired by ThatReallyWeirdDude. Hope you enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I posted this story on Earth Day to remind everyone, we only have one Earth. Please do what you can in protecting it.

Chapter 1: Becoming The Log

A valley near a flowing waterfall was fraught with cracks, craters, and small wisps of flames. Signs of conflict were easily detected and at first glance, two armies were the reason for the scene. Armies? No. Two boys with equally strong wills? Yes.

Uzumaki Naruto. Jinchuriki of the Kyubi. Village outcast with dreams to ironically protect the village that shuns him. And Uchiha Sasuke. Wielder of the Sharingan. A prodigy among even a clan full of geniuses.

It'd been a real struggle between the two shinobi but in the end, Sasuke emerged victorious once more. He'd never lost to Naruto and it hadn't changed here. Sasuke stood over the unconscious Naruto and looked down upon him.

Sasuke stared at Naruto for the longest time as rain began to fall. It would be so easy. Sasuke could kill his best friend and achieve the power to face off against his brother.

"I don't need to stoop to his level..." thought Sasuke scoffing at the idea. "When I beat you, I want you to know I did it through my way."

Sasuke made a move to leave only for a sharp pain to run through his body. The battle with Naruto had taken a lot out of him. Sasuke fell forward and landed on his knees with his face but a few inches from Naruto's own.

The raven-haired boy stared at Naruto inadvertently and in doing so, he noticed something weird. As close as he was, he should be feeling Naruto's breath. He hadn't been which meant-

"Naruto..." said Sasuke weakly not noticing Naruto was moving slowly also. By the time he did notice, Naruto was picking up speed from the muddy ground that'd grown slick from the downpour. "Naruto!"

Sasuke wanted to give chase but his body wasn't responding due to exhaustion. He could only watch Naruto slide into the river and get carried away by the current. Sasuke's black eyes were wide as he watched his rival disappear through the waters.

Sasuke's blood went cold immediately.

"The dobe isn't dead. The dobe isn't dead. There's no way." thought Sasuke trying to will himself to believe.

"Sasuke..." The Uchiha didn't have to turn around to know who was speaking to him.

"Kakashi-sensei...Naruto...I didn't mean to-" A chop cut Sasuke off and left him unconscious.

Kakashi stood above Sasuke and let out a sigh from his facemask covered mouth. He kneeled and looked at the easily noticeable skid in the mud. Team 7's sensei reached down and scooped the Konoha headband that he'd already guessed was his blonde-haired student's.

"Pakkun, can you smell anything?"

A small pug at his side sniffed the air before shaking his head and speaking.

"Negative...Naruto's trail ends right here..." Pakkun looked up at his summoner before coming to the same conclusion Kakashi already had. "You don't think-"

"-We have to keep looking," cut off Kakashi quickly. Kakashi didn't wish to think this way. He couldn't. "Naruto wouldn't die that easily. So, we'll find him."

Pakkun nodded his head as the two took off in the same direction they assumed Naruto went. They would find him. They had to.

(With Naruto)

It was dark, really dark. Naruto looked around eerily at the darkness surrounding him until he spotted a campfire in the distance. Seeing how that was the only thing around, Naruto walked to it. As he did, he could make out one person sitting at the campfire. A redheaded woman now that Naruto could see as he cautiously walked up to her.

The woman was humming a very beautiful tune before she blanched and turned to see Naruto right behind her.

"Aaahh!" yelped the woman loudly getting Naruto to cover his ears at the loud noise. The woman narrowed her eyes before shaking her fist at him. "What gives you the idea to sneak up on someone, dattebane?! Did your mother not raise you right?!"

"...geez, you scream loud lady," said Naruto making sure his hearing wasn't affected by the high pitched scream. "And I never met my mom. I am sorry for sneaking up on you though, I didn't mean to." continued Naruto getting no response. Naruto turned to the woman to see her frozen stiff. "What's wrong? Is it something-"

"-What's your name?" questioned the woman abruptly.

"Huh? Oh, right. Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage dattebayo," said Naruto with a bright smile as he extended a hand. Instead of a handshake, Naruto was engulfed in a hug by the woman. Naruto was confused by the woman's actions. "Uhh lady...why are you hugging me?"

"Because my name is Uzumaki Kushina and I'm your mother."

Naruto's blue eyes widened slowly as he sat frozen in the hug.

"You're my...my..."

"Yes, I'm your mother."

"...you're my..." Naruto was choking up as he couldn't believe it. "Ka-chan..."

Naruto's eyes began to well up with tears as he slowly wrapped both arms around the woman. He was hugging his mom! Who would have ever imagined such a thing? Naruto thought he had died and went to heaven.

Sad thing was, he had died. He simply didn't know it yet.

(Konoha)

Biting her manicured nail, the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade, stood patiently waiting for news about Naruto. He was the last unaccounted-for Genin, other than Sasuke, that'd left on that retrieval mission. Time-wise, Kakashi should have been back an hour ago which raised the beautiful woman's anxiety further.

Tsunade had the other Genin to occupy her mind beforehand due to their injuries upon their return. But she'd stabilized the three critically hurt ones already and was waiting patiently for the last one out of the five.

"Hime...where's Naruto?!"

Tsunade blanched at the voice and turned to see her teammate, Jiraiya, standing behind her. He had an out of breath and disheveled look about him and looked to be pleading with her to know Naruto's whereabouts. Jiraiya saw nothing but confused eyes back and his heart sank. Pulling the scroll from his back, Jiraiya opened it and showed Tsunade three names.

Jiraiya's own, Namikaze Minato, and Uzumaki Naruto. The toad summoners contract and in red sat Jiraiya's name while Minato's and Naruto's were both in black. It didn't take long for Tsunade to put it together as her eyes widened.

"Naruto..." thought the Kage as tears began to stream down her cheeks. "You can't be..."

Jiraiya grabbed Tsunade in a hug as the woman broke down and sobbed for hours.

(Parts Unknown)

"The Kyubi and Uchiha's fight has concluded," spoke a man that was split down the middle, white on one side and black on the other.

"Is it? Tell me who won?" said a second man who had on an intriguing spiral mask.

"The Uchiha boy prevailed but was stopped from fleeing to Orochimaru. The Jinchuriki is..." said the first man before stopping.

"What? What is it Zetsu?"

"The Kyubi boy died in the aftermath of their final clash."

"Hmm, so he perished did he..." pondered the man for a moment.

"What are your plans for the Kyubi?" questioned Zetsu not caring about the boy's death.

"We capture it once it resurfaces in a few years," spoke the man casually. "We just won't have to worry about extracting it from a person first. It'll make a good aid in my plans under my control once more."

Zetsu nodded before sinking into the floor and vanishing. Nothing had changed. Perhaps a small delay but the plan was still the same.

(Three years later - Konoha)

"Yes, I am up to the task Godaime-sama," spoke a brown-haired teen with white eyes.

"I'm glad you are Neji. I approve of your suggested team also. You all should be more than capable," said Tsunade, hands crossed in front of her. She looked to the three others standing with Neji and addressed them. "Rock Lee, Haruno Sakura, and Inuzaka Kiba. You all, along with your captain, Hyūga Neji, will be providing protection and travel for our VIP. Ensure she arrives safely."

"Hai shishou!" responded Sakura with a nod and adjustment of her gloves.

"Of course Tsunade-sama!" responded Rock Lee with a thumbs up and a smile that sparkled.

"Don't you worry, Akamaru and I got it in the bag!" responded Kiba as his dog partner, Akamaru, gave an affirming bark.

"Agreed. Let us head out then," said Neji as the four of them left.

Tsunade watched the four depart as she turned to her assistant who stood behind her.

"Shizune, do you know what today is?" questioned Tsunade getting Shizune to nod her head. Tsunade then stood and nodded back. "Right then. See you tomorrow. Alert me if anything happens."

"Hai shishou," said Shizune watching the blonde Kage walk out of her office. The black-haired woman gave a concerned look at her master's disappearance. "Today is the third anniversary of Naruto-kun's death."

If it wasn't clear before, it became abundantly prevalent over three years. Uzumaki Naruto had meant a lot to a lot of people, practically everyone, in Konoha. Most importantly, he was Konoha's war deterrent as its Jinchuriki and left them mightily vulnerable with his passing. That was the most glaring loss and that didn't even account for Naruto the person. And each year, on this day, Tsunade went reclusive.

"Just like many of his close ones do." thought Shizune feeling like doing the same. But she had a duty. She was a ninja. And a ninja is someone who endures. "...I do miss you Naruto-kun."

Shizune thought of the blonde-haired boy a little longer before returning to work. She didn't want to get sad again.

(Several days later)

"You're going to die! Stop trying to protect me!" shouted a pale blonde-haired girl. "Mōryō and his followers are going to kill you all if you-"

"-Shut. Up!" came the agitated voice of Sakura dodging a blast of water. The pink-haired girl was focused on her opponent but the annoying voice of their VIP was getting to her. "We're not going to die. Now let me concentrate."

"Hehehehe, you should listen to the priestess pinky," spoke Sakura's opponent as the medic-nin bristled at the nickname. Sakura's opponent was an orange-haired girl with white skin and blue markings across her face. "Because you and your friends are all going to die. Suishu Gorugon (Water Attacking Gorgon)."

A massive water serpent spawned around the woman before launching out at Sakura. Sakura was surprised by the attack but dodged it with no real worry. Sakura smiled until the attack didn't just continue forward and swerved to catch her in midair. Sakura's eyes widened and she braced for impact.

"This is going to hurt..." thought Sakura waiting for impact. Seconds passed before Sakura realized she hadn't been hit yet. "...what, did it miss?"

Sakura's green eyes popped open to find herself settled comfortably within the arms of a masked man with spiky black hair. He was wearing a dark blue-grey robe with grey lining and a fur collar, and a tattered grey-blue cape. There was a white kitsune mask on his face lined with red markings, the most interesting being a circle resembling a third eye on his forehead.

"Hey! What the hell! I had her!" shouted the girl opposing Sakura at watching her being saved.

"She'd have survived and defeated you shortly thereafter. I'm just going to do the latter, faster," said the masked man getting the girl to blanch. He then looked down at Sakura, who sat confused in his arms. "Sorry for taking your fight. I was hired to protect the priestess too. Actually for much longer than you all have."

Sakura was placed down with that said but only stared at the enigma who saved her. She hadn't even heard what he said because she was entranced by his eyes. Eyes colored a heart-stopping gold and they were looking at her with an indescribable warmth.

"Gotcha suckers," said the orange-haired girl with a grin. Her water dragon had swerved a second time and was primed to demolish the two of them. "And checkmate."

The water dragon neared the two shinobi before inexplicably bursting before making contact.

"Right then," spoke the masked man getting the orange-haired girl's eyes to go wide.

"What?! What the hell was-"

"What it was doesn't matter," cut off the man standing before the girl now. She was shocked at his speed because she didn't even notice him until he spoke. An open palm hit her square in the chest with a feathery touch. "Rasensho (Spiraling Palm)"

A simple rotation of the man's arm caused the woman's eyes to widen in shock. The girl's orange hair lightened to its natural color as blood trickled from her mouth. Her purple eyes faded back to their natural black while the three blue markings on her face disappeared altogether. Watching the quick battle was Sakura who couldn't believe what she just saw.

"He barely touched her. Was that Neji's Juken(Gentle Fist)?" thought Sakura seeing the girl fall backward motionless. The medic then watched the masked man make his way over to the priestess. "And earlier with the water dragon, he used pure chakra to repel it. Is he a Hyuga?"

"It took you long enough," said the priestess just as the masked man reached her.

"Apologies Shion-chan, I didn't think it would take so long," he replied before scooping the girl up bridal style.

"I had to hire misfits to do your job at its utmost importance and it has nearly gotten me killed," said Shion before glaring at him. "And it's sama, not chan."

"Yeah yeah." The masked man shook his head before turning his head up. "Did you protect the others?"

Just as the man asked, another masked person landed right next to Sakura. Sakura turned and gasped in surprise at the individual getting so close to her. She was a woman at first glance and wore the same clothes as the first masked man. Only difference between them happened to be her eyes were a glowing orange.

"Hai, they were all very capable and helped immensely. They should be here soon," said the newcomer before noticing Sakura's stare. Not lacking manners, she extended a hand in greeting to the medic-nin. "Well, aren't you pretty. Hello, I am Chomei and it is my pleasure to meet you."

"Uh...hi," replied Sakura shaking her hand while blushing at the compliment.

"Chomei-chan, what did I say about names?" asked the original masked man getting Chomei to flinch.

"Oops, right, but it's not like they know mine," replied Chomei returning her eyes to Sakura after addressing him. Sakura was getting flustered at the attention she was being given as the woman continued. "They only know yours, Mumei-sama (Unknown Name)." Seeing no reaction from Sakura, Chomei deflated. "Maybe they don't. I thought you were more famous?"

"I am, maybe," said the masked man, Mumei, before shaking his head. "Either way, we have work to do. Coming back or meeting me?"

"Definitely meeting. I'd like to see this," said Chomei never-ceasing eye contact with Sakura. The medic's face reddened further at the next line. "I'd like to see her a little longer also. I'm sure she'll meet us there."

Chomei then jumped back before dissolving into a shimmer of lights. Sakura gave a silent 'wow' at the shunshin variant from the masked woman. It was one of the prettiest things she'd ever seen.

"Showoff," said Mumei prepping to leave too.

"Wait!" shouted Sakura getting the man to stop in his departing. "Why did you save me?"

"I saved you because you looked like you needed saving, Sakura-chan."

The man smiled behind his mask before he and Shion vanished in a poof of smoke. Two logs dropped to the ground after they vanished as Sakura's eyes went wide.

"Sakura-chan...he just...but that means..." thought Sakura frozen solid even as her three team members arrived minutes later.

"Sakura-chan! Are you alright?" questioned Rock Lee as Kiba sniffed the air for a few seconds.

"That masked lady who helped us was here...with the priestess and some other person. The latter's scent is so familiar..." said Kiba as Neji looked to Sakura.

"Sakura-san, what happened to the priestess?"

"Sakura-chan...the only other person besides Rock Lee who called me that was...there's no way!" thought Sakura beginning to hyperventilate before noticing Neji. He was trying to calm her down. The medic couldn't calm down though because she needed to confirm what she was feeling. "We have to follow them, now."

The other three heard the urgent tone from the Hokage's apprentice and all of them took off in chase. They were on an escort mission and their escort was with two unknown commodities at the present moment.

Not good for business.

(Sometime Later)

"Hmm, so the sealing jutsu you knew all your life helped to release him? How quaint," spoke Mumei looking at the massive upheaval going about.

Shion was deceived by Mōryō into activating her jutsu. She believed it would seal the demon of a man and in turn released him given the faux body he'd been possessing. Now, there were swirling black dragons of his chakra chasing them as Mumei held Shion bridal style again.

He was dodging the dragons with ease despite the speed they were moving and his carrying of Shion. Shion would have been fascinated by this if not for how she felt. She'd started the apocalypse. Moryo's revival meant the end of the world and it was all her doing.

"I'm sorry, I thought...I mean, it should have-" started Shion before she was hushed.

"Don't worry. Now, let's end this," said Mumei turning to see the team of four led by Neji had arrived. The man's mask hid his grin as he built up chakra. "I believe it's finally time I stopped hiding."

Dodging once more, Mumei created a lot of space between him and Moryo before tossing Shion extremely high into the air. Shion screamed her lungs out as Mumei looked down at Moryo from his elevated perch. Moryo was about to attack again until steam burst from the man's back and he vanished.

"Kairiki Muso (Unrivaled Strength)." Mumei appeared in the midst of Moryo's dragons with a fist cocked back.

"What shunshin speed!" shouted Moryo in shock as his dragons converged on Mumei. The dragons were too slow as he punched down on the core of the chakra creating the dragons. Moryo watched his chakra dragons howl in pain as he even felt the attack. "Such...power. And what is this...coral?"

"Sangosho (Coral Palm)," said Mumei as coral was growing and spreading across Moryo's chakra. Moryo was helpless as he was fossilized in seconds. "And just in case, I'll seal you myself."

A pulse rippled out from Mumei before a wicked juinjutsu spread across the immobilized demon. The masked man nodded his head before standing up and looking at his handiwork. Up with Neji and his team, the four of them were shocked at what they saw. The medic of the group noticed something interesting about the seal markings covering Moryo.

"They look just like the markings on Gaara when he was transformed." thought Sakura before another thought hit her. "Are we forgetting something?"

Before anyone could answer, it was then everyone remembered the priestess as her scream reached their ears. The team of four all looked to see Shion falling through the air at a rapid speed. They couldn't stop her as they were all too slow to react.

"I'm going to kill him if I survive this!" shouted Shion in the middle of her screaming.

"And there's that. Another easy one," said Mumei catching Shion to save her from certain death.

"...and fast," commented Shion after slowing down her heart. She was about to thank Mumei for catching her until remembering he'd been the one to throw her in the first place. "Did you just throw me into the air?!"

"Yes."

"We're in a volcano! I could have landed in lava you idiot!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot we were fighting above lava," said Mumei nonchalantly looking around the inside of the active volcano.

"Are you insane?!"

"No...at least I don't think I am," said the enigma in thought. It was then he noticed Shion was glaring at him again. "Wait, are you mad Shion-chan?"

"Yes! You threw me in the air dozens of feet above lava!"

"...but, I caught you." Mumei was confused as Shion narrowed her eyes even further.

"And it's sama, not chan!"

"Mhmm...anyhoo, none of that matters. Because it's not important since I caught you anyhow." Shion huffed and turned her face away from Mumei as he shook his head. "I don't have time for this. I should be telling everyone-"

"Naruto."

"-that I am..." continued the masked man before trailing off. He turned his head sharply to Sakura who'd spoken just now. He set the priestess down slowly before turning to the approaching medic-nin. "What?! You've got to be kidding me, right?" questioned Mumei before slapping a hand to his mask. "I had this whole thing planned to surprise everyone and you had to ruin it, huh Sakura-chan?"

"Naruto..." repeated Sakura in a quieter voice while walking closer to the masked shinobi. He reached a hand up to take off his mask as several tears formed in Sakura's eyes. A gasp came from Kiba, Rock Lee, and Shion as Sakura shook her head in disbelief. "It is you..."

Standing a head taller than her now, his black hair shifted to its normal golden yellow as the six whisker mark-like scars on his cheeks confirmed it. This was Naruto! And the years had been good to him as he looked distinctly like the Yondaime Hokage with the two bangs framing his face now.

Only thing is, Naruto's eyes weren't their normal blue. They were an entrancing gold and the pupils were in a cross-like shape. The closer Sakura got to him, the more unbridled power she could feel radiating off him.

So focused on Naruto's face and eyes, Sakura was surprised when his arms enveloped her in a hug. It was a warm hug that Sakura melted into and returned. Standing there contently for a few moments, Sakura felt Naruto lean his head back to look at her which got her to mirror his actions.

"How did you know it was me?" questioned Naruto giving Sakura quite the perturbed look. "You messed up my groove, dattebayo."

"Still a dunce Naruto," said Sakura smiling at him as she sniffled some to keep herself from crying. "Neji's a Hyūga..." continued Sakura getting Naruto to look at Neji. His Byakugan was on and Naruto resisted the urge to smack his face again. Naruto looked back as Sakura added one more point. "And you called me Sakura-Chan. You're the only one who ever has besides Rock Lee and he's right there. It wasn't hard to figure out."

"Huh...well...hmm..." Naruto shook his head before hearing a fluttering next to him.

"Told you it wouldn't work Naruto-sama," spoke Chomei in a singsong voice as she landed next to Naruto and Sakura.

"Meh, it would have if Neji wasn't here. And I didn't talk. And I...yeah, it was a bad plan. Anyone could see this coming," said Naruto before Sakura got his attention.

"How..."

"How?"

"How are you alive?! We thought you were dead! There was no body! And it's been three years! What have you-"

"Sakura-chan." Naruto cut off the pink-haired girl getting her to stop speaking. "Please stop crying."

Sakura hadn't even realized tears were falling from her eyes during her tirade. She didn't mean to cry but she couldn't help it anymore. She'd thought Naruto had died. And yet here she was hugging him!

"I have a story to tell. It'll explain all of this. Do you want to hear it?" questioned Naruto getting a nod from the medic. Naruto could feel everyone else did too as he smiled. Wiping the tears from Sakura's face, Naruto smiled at her. "Now, allow me to begin. In the beginning, there was nothing. And from nothing, the first Log grew."

"Log?"

"Yes Sakura-chan, the Holy Log. It was my savior," spoke Naruto getting Sakura's and everyone's devout attention as he regaled them the tale of his salvation.

The log pope had returned.

And to the Log be praise. Thanks for reading.

A/N: This story is Road to Ninja-esque. Warning: Naruto will be OP. And yes, praise to the Log will be sprinkled throughout this story. I hope to reach Log Pope status someday and this story shall be my submission to those holy lands.