A/N: Timeline takes place right after Naruto returns from his training trip with Jiraiya. Also take note of the time of each scene.

Chapter 1: A Trial

The shackles were heavy on his wrists and ankles, dragging noisily on the stone pavement as he was roughly hauled through the streets. The prisoner gave a pained grunt as his knees jolted against a crack in the road.

All around him, he could hear the yells, the jeers, the taunts: Demon! Scum! Traitor! Trash! He could feel some of the bolder people in the crowd spit on his head.

But still, the prisoner kept his head down, eyes hidden by his disheveled hair. His clothes were torn, revealing the burns and bruises on his body, the results of an overzealous interrogator.

"You deserve to die for everything you did, demon!" The prisoner nearly flinched as the voice cut through the roar of the crowd. How had it all come to this?

Pain suddenly spiked through his entire body as he was dumped onto a raised platform by his guards. Grunting with the exertion, the prisoner craned his neck slightly, trying to lift his head off of the ground. Opening his bleary eyes, the prisoner blinked, trying to block the noise of the crowd out. This was it. The execution block.

The two ANBU stood on either side, tall and imposing, silent and lethal. Then, one suddenly lashed out with his foot. The prisoner gave a cry of pain, much to the delight of the crowd. When he didn't budge, the ANBU kicked again, this time harder, shoving the body toward a pole erected in the center of the platform.

The prisoner cried out as his back slammed painfully against the post. He could vaguely feel his hands and ankles being bound to the post, forcing him into a kneeling position. From this position, the crowd sounded louder, seemed larger, more oppressive.

Some in the crowd were hurling garbage at the prisoner, piling their anger and hatred onto this one man. Their anger was like a wildfire loose in the grasslands, unquenchable, destructive, unstoppable. Not many in the crowd knew the prisoner, only of him. And if the rumors were to be believed, then he truly he was deserving of death. Only a handful stopped to wonder on his innocence. This was truly a mob gripped by irrational hatred.

Then suddenly, one by one, the crowd fell silent, an expectant hush gripping the frenzied mob. The prisoner felt the change and painfully raised his head to see what had happened. It was an old man. The arbiter. A flare of hope flickered within him. Perhaps he would believe.

"Please! You have to believe me! I was set up! I'm inno–" He yelled out, before being struck suddenly across the face with a wooden cane.

The prisoner fell silent, but held his gaze up for a second longer. What he saw chilled him to the core. The old man was a cripple, his entire right side hidden in the folds of his robe. Half the old man's face was bandaged, and the one eye that was visible was utterly dead. It was the stare of someone who would do anything to accomplish his goals. A shudder seized the bound prisoner, who had never seen eyes like that. No help would be forthcoming. That much was clear now. Letting his head slump onto his chest, the prisoner's hope crumbled into desolation.

"People of Konoha!" His voice was loud and clear, surprising for one so old. "We are here today to witness the trial of this man," He shouted, pointing to the beaten prisoner with a crooked finger, "For the attempted murder of the Fifth Hokage!"

The crowd gave a savage cheer. "Let's kill him now!" Some were saying. "He deserves something long and slow!" Others were calling out.

The prisoner felt despair as he heard not a single voice from his so-called friends. Where were they now? How had something like this happened? This wasn't what he expected upon returning home.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

The defendant blinked, before he realized that he was the one being addressed.

"I have nothing to say except that I am innocent!" He spat out, his voice filled with impassioned bitterness.

"So you have said, but you cannot deny the evidence brought against you!" The old man proclaimed.

"There was a Yamanaka there! He controlled me! I didn't do it!" The prisoner cried out, trying to make the people see sense. A roar of outrage drowned out the plea of innocence.

"Now he dares to slander the honorable Yamanaka clan! From pond scum like him, no less!" The old man cried out, turning to the crowd, left arm outstretched as if trying to capture the incredulity of the statement. "How dare he?!"

The crowd surged up in response. "Kill him! Liar! Execution! Death! Traitor!"

"NO! I'm innocent!" The condemned pleaded desperately.

"So you say, but what do you say, friends?" The old man addressed the bloodthirsty crowd.

The crowd gave a mighty roar, hundreds of voices all condemning the man before them. After a short while, the old man raised his hands again. "So is he guilty or not?"

"GUILTY!" The crowd roared in return. The defendant felt his heart sink at the words, wondering why nobody wanted to believe him. He was innocent! This wasn't even a real trial! Just a farce of one! While the man raged silently in his head, the crowd fell silent as they waited expectantly for the old man's fated words.

"Therefore," He began ominously. The prisoner gave one last pleading look at the crowd, hoping to find a familiar face. There were none.

"I pronounce you guilty of the attempted assassination of the Fifth Hokage. I hereby sentence you, Naruto Uzumaki, to death!"

IIIIIIIIII

"NO! Please!" Naruto yelled in desperation. "I was set up! I demand a real trial!" Naruto struggled against his bonds, his limbs flaring in pain, desperately trying to plead his case. "Please! I'm innocent," He croaked out at last, but his voice was drowned in the malicious cheering of the crowd.

Naruto looked on helplessly, as the old man turned to an ANBU and gave a nod.

Finally realizing that it had truly come down to this, the pleas and hopes drained away. Only anger and rage remained. Naruto bared his teeth and growled at his prosecutor. "You call this justice?!"

There was only a pause before the old man commented quietly, "And us releasing the only suspect in the Hokage's attempted assassination is true justice? I think not. The evidence does not lie." Then he coldly turned towards the crowd. "My friends!" He gestured dramatically with his left hand. "For justice!"

"JUSTICE!" The crowd roared back at him.

The old man could practically feel Naruto's baleful stare drilling into the back of his head. A solemn nod to the ANBU. Everybody made their way off the platform save for the executioner, whom the crowd cheered on more enthusiastically as they sensed the nearing end.

Forming several quick hand seals, the ANBU took a deep breath and gathered his chakra. "Fire style: Fireball jutsu!" A huge fireball raced toward the prone form of Naruto Uzumaki, bringing with it his death. Naruto squinted as he felt the searing heat on his face, scrabbling with his hands to touch the chakra suppression seal on his restraints.

I WILL NOT DIE HERE! For a brief second, Naruto closed his eyes, remaining absolutely still, harmonizing himself with nature.

BOOM! The fireball exploded spectacularly, the heat making the front rows flinch backwards, the force of the jutsu blowing a hole through the platform itself. Realizing that Naruto was dead, the crowd gave a rousing cheer before a blur shot upwards out of the smoke. Confusion crashed over the crowd like a tsunami.

"There!" Some shouted. "No!" Others shouted desperately. As people began to look up, they saw the singed and smoking form of a very much alive Naruto Uzumaki. "He's free! Run!" Some shrieked in terror. "Kill him! Kill him!" Others screamed. Abject terror suddenly seized the once-sneering, arrogant crowd as the multitude turned on one another, each fearing for his or her own safety.

"How did he escape?" The old man barked furiously at the ANBU beside him, his voice cutting through the screams of the crowd.

"I don't know, sir." The ANBU turned briefly toward his commander. "Perhaps it wa–" Suddenly, he fell over dead as two chunks of wood lodged themselves in the back of his head, killing him instantly. The old cripple blanched as he realized that they had been meant for him.

"Call for reinforcements!" He ordered his troops. "You know what to do!" The old man then beat a surprisingly hasty retreat, using the crowd around him for cover. Uzumaki on the loose was not good.

Naruto landed on a rooftop, the rage burning within him, the injuries on his body faded. "YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL ME?!" He savagely challenged, rage overriding all else. "BRING IT!" Suddenly, he was beset by three ANBU. Cursing, Naruto tore his gaze away from the crowd and defended himself. Finding a gap in the attacks, Naruto jumped up to a higher rooftop, hoping to gain a better position. Suddenly, an ANBU either braver or stupider than the rest, gave a battle cry and rushed forward, hoping to distinguish himself by striking the killing blow.

Naruto scoffed and raised his arm, almost casually deflecting the blow aimed for his head. Like lightning, his fist shot out and shattered the ANBU's throat. Naruto stepped back from the gagging, choking, and dying body. Naruto took a defensive position, noting the jonin that had joined the battle as well.

Seeing their comrade taken out so easily, the Konoha nin all formed a wary circle around their quarry. "Who's next?" Naruto gestured with his palm, taunting the ninja.

"What's wrong with his eyes?!" One jonin yelled out. "His pupils!"

Another older jonin gasped. "He's in sage mode! Stay back! This is Jiraiya-sama's jutsu! He's dangerous!" Most had never heard of sage mode, but the ones old enough to remember Jiraiya's skill on the warfront all tensed up. They had witnessed Lord Jiraiya as an unstoppable force of destruction on the battlefield. They weren't eager to face that, especially if they had to protect the civilians below.

The ANBU in the circle gave quick glances at each other before nodding subtly. They had to end this quick. The orders were vague enough that collateral damage was excusable.

The younger jonin and chunin scoffed. Dangerous? This was Uzumaki Naruto. They had all read his file. He was still a genin for crying out loud! Only the older jonin in the crowd recognized that soon, this would become a battle for mere survival. Trying to mask his movements, an ANBU behind Naruto began forming seals. "Are you crazy?!" The chunin next to him yelled. "There's people down there!"

Naruto's eyes became slits as he turned his head, realizing what the ANBU were going to do.

The ANBU cursed. "You fool!" Like greased lightning, Naruto feinted to his left, causing all the ninja to jump into action anticipating his move.

Naruto suddenly turned on a dime, launching himself at the other side of the circle, his sheer speed taking everybody by surprise. Grabbing the ANBU by his head, Naruto twisted, snapping the man's neck in one easy motion.

Breaking away from the group, Naruto held the body aloft, several kunai thudding dully into the corpse. With a savage kick, Naruto sent the body flying towards the shinobi, scattering the group as they dodged the meaty projectile, which slammed into a far wall.

Giving a growl of anger, Naruto engaged the rest of the ninja, blocking, countering, trying to land successful blows, but they all worked too well as a team. Growling in frustration, Naruto then made a hand seal, quickly drawing upon his chakra, before disappearing in a flash of yellow.

All the shinobi were stunned. This was like nothing they could have ever foreseen. This was not the Naruto they remembered three years ago.

"Where'd he go?!" A chunin cried out in alarm.

"That looked like the Yondaime's Hiraishin jutsu!" Another older jonin exclaimed.

"How did that monster steal the Yondaime's jutsu?!" A bigoted jonin angrily shouted out.

"What matters is where Uzamaki is now!" Another interrupted angrily.

"The one he kicked away!" An ANBU suddenly grunted in realization. As one, they all leapt away in that direction, ready to bring Naruto Uzumaki to justice.

IIIIIII

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when he found himself being pulled back into real time next to the body of the ANBU he had kicked away. The one who was willing to sacrifice innocents in the crowd to kill him. "Bastard," He muttered under his breath, before turning the corpse over and removing his seal.

Shrugging off the disorientation he felt whenever he used the Hiraishin, Naruto thought of the creator of the jutsu. "To use the Hiraishin so quickly, Dad must've been a real master with it," Naruto mumbled quietly, more to numb his thoughts than anything else. Then, sensing the approaching ninja with the last of his natural chakra, Naruto cursed and dashed away, doing his best to remain hidden in the shadows of the buildings cast by the afternoon sun. All around him, he could hear the alarms of the village going off, ninja scrambling to find the escaped murderer.

It would only be a matter of time till the sensors and the more skilled jonin caught up with him. I have to get out of the village, Naruto thought grimly. I can only stay hidden for so long. I need a diversion…

Scratching his chin, Naruto realized that he could make a good distraction. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto whispered quietly as a doppelgänger poofed into existence. "You know what to do." It nodded before it whizzed off.

Ok. There'll definitely be guards at the gate. These guys aren't idiots. But hopefully, my diversion will distract some of them at least, Naruto thought to himself, hiding in one of the empty bakeries on the street side. A bitter resentment shot up Naruto's throat as he saw the numerous signs announcing closure for his execution. Naruto growled before looking around and taking some pastries for himself and began planning.

The main gate was only a hundred feet away. It was being guarded by at least forty ninja. Taking a risk, Naruto dispersed his natural chakra and suppressed his chakra to hide from the sensors running around Konoha. It then became a gamble as Naruto waited to see if his distraction would clear the main gate.

One minute. Two minutes. A bead of sweat rolled down Naruto's forehead as the anxiety began to set in. Three minutes. Then suddenly, a huge explosion rocked the village.

"The Hoakge's Tower is under attack. It must be Uzumaki! Let's go!" One of the brasher ninja yelled out before sprinting in the direction of the smoke. His action spurred the other ninja into action. The captain yelled in frustration as two thirds of the ninja leapt away.

"No! Stay here! It could just be a distraction, you fools!" The captain's shouts went unheeded as the sounds of battle near the Hokage Tower increased. There were too many hot emotions flying around over the matter.

"Dammit!" Naruto whispered in his hiding spot. He had just received the memories from his clone, meaning that it had been destroyed. He had to act fast. Tearing off the chakra suppressors, Naruto calmed himself and stood absolutely still, drawing in the nature chakra to him.

It had been incredibly risky drawing upon natural chakra while he was on the execution block, as his chakra had been sealed. Without access to his own chakra, the nature chakra had threatened to overwhelm and petrify him, but thankfully, his chakra had rushed back at just the right time, balancing out even the small dosage he had drawn in.

Now, though, there was no such danger as Naruto's own chakra ran wild, flowing like liquid fire through his veins. This time, Naruto drew in more than just a small burst, drawing in as much nature chakra as his body could balance with his normal stores. It was more than most jonin would ever be able to handle.

Naruto opened his eyes, which were rimmed with orange and had rectangular pupils. None too soon, too, as one of the kunoichi cried out urgently to the remaining fifteen or so ninja, "He's here! He's in that building. Get ready!"

"Call for reinforcements, quick!" The captain ordered.

Naruto cursed. Of course they had a sensor with them. Throwing caution to the wind, Naruto punched his way through the wall and burst through the dust in a terrifying rush toward the small group of shinobi. He had maybe seconds before reinforcements showed up.

Forming the tiger seal, Naruto took a deep breath. "Grand Fireball Jutsu!"

Unleashing a massive missile straight at the gates, he was glad to see a few of the skittish ones jump away early. The projectile exploded against the gates. When the dust cleared, they stood strong. Seeing this, Naruto shrugged. Time to bring out the big guns.

Drawing chakra into his palm, Naruto let the natural energy fuel his jutsu, empowering it beyond imagination. He cried out, "Giant Rasengan!" Speeding up even more, Naruto thrust the massive, swirling ball of death toward the opposing ninja, and incidentally, the gate behind them.

"Get out of the way!" The captain ordered, as he and a few others tried to form a makeshift earth barrier to stop Naruto's jutsu.

None of the other ninja needed to be told twice. Naruto smirked as he felt the chakra signatures between him and the gate disperse. Then speeding up even more, Naruto tore through the barriers and right into the massive Gates of Konoha.

For a split second, the gates shuddered and remained in place, the seals strengthening the gates flickering, before shattering from the massive influx of power. The gates slammed open, giving Naruto an escape route.

"So long, suckers!" Naruto yelled out before leaping through the gates. In midair, Naruto turned, forming a seal even as his momentum sent him skidding backwards. "Earth Style: Stone Barrier!" Naruto cried as he slammed his hands into the ground. Fueled by the natural energy, Naruto's jutsu burst forth spectacularly, a huge stone barrier shooting from the ground and blocking the huge gateway of Konoha.

Naruto grunted cheerlessly, knowing that his jutsu would hold his pursuers at bay only for a short while. Turning away, Naruto leapt into the woods bordering the main path to Konoha. When Naruto felt that he was a good distance away, the blond ninja made a hand seal, seeking for a familiar chakra. Sensing interference that prevented him from reaching his seal, Naruto cursed.

Konoha has some sort of barrier seal around it, and I can't teleport around it. Naruto's eyebrows curled together. This was bad. Naruto bit back another curse as he thought about how he could get out of this predicament. Look's like it's the old fashioned way. I've got to make it past the barrier by foot.

Suddenly, Naruto heard faint rumblings in the distance. For the umpteenth time that day, the young ninja found reason to curse. "They got past in 40 seconds. That was fast."

Growling, Naruto channeled more chakra to his feet as he shot forward like a bullet, hoping to pass the barrier before the ANBU caught up with him. He couldn't afford to get bogged down in a fight this close to Konoha. To throw off any trackers, Naruto angled slightly away from the main path and the direction of his Hiraishin seals.

Meanwhile, back at Konoha, several teams of chunin and jonin had already been formed, each ready for their mission. Naruto Uzumaki was a dangerous missing nin. Strength Unknown. Last assessed as a genin. Current strength believed to be jonin level. They had orders to bring him back dead or alive, preferably alive. He was still the Jinchuuriki and needed to stand trial.

As the jonin captains briefed their individual teams, other special ANBU teams had formed. Each team wore special masks different than the regular ANBU. Nobody outside of ANBU would have been able to tell the difference, because the main difference was a very subtle but dangerous one. Each of these special ANBU was incredibly loyal to their leader – not the Hokage, but Danzo Shimura. They glanced at each other, ignoring the other shinobi around them. No words were needed. They had their orders. Naruto Uzumaki had become too much trouble.

As one, the entity known as Root dispersed, chasing after the missing nin as Naruto Uzumaki. They had a rogue asset to put down.

IIIIIIIIII

Naruto collapsed on the ground of his safehouse, activating the protection seals. Taking a moment to slow his breathing, Naruto slowly clenched and unclenched his fists. His muscles were weak from malnutrition, continuous torture, and the strain of running all day. His natural chakra was practically gone.

Crawling towards the supply of soldier pills that he kept in a nearby drawer, Naruto popped one in his mouth, letting the energy wash over him. Knowing that it was bad to to take the supplement on an empty stomach, Naruto groaned as his sore muscles moved his body toward another cabinet, where he pulled out some bread and began munching furiously.

As energy flowed through his lead limbs, Naruto stiffened as he felt a disturbance outside. They'd found him. But how?! Naruto's mind spun as he agonizingly pulled himself to his feet, ready to run.

Slow down. Think. Use your head, a voice that sounded like Jiraiya's said in his head. Although he could feel the buildup of chakra outside of his safehouse, Naruto turned his attention inward. They had to have tracked him somehow. Nin-dogs? Sensors? Then, Naruto sensed it. A disturbance in his chakra network. It was a tracker seal that they had placed on the bottom of his foot.

Naruto's eyes shot open as he fell to the ground, pulling his foot upwards. Then, he could see it. It was a small work of calligraphy, but it was ingeniously hidden. The effect was so subtle, that in the chaos of his escape, he hadn't noticed it.

Knowing that he had mere seconds before the ANBU destroyed his hideout, Naruto injected some of his natural chakra straight into the seal complex, destroying the tracker with a burst of chakra. Naruto grit his teeth at the stinging sensation that came with overloading a seal, glad that it wasn't a large seal, which would have required more chakra.

Suddenly, the chakra that had been building outside released all at once, and Naruto could only drop to his knees and curl in a brace position as his world exploded around him. Everything around him began to collapse as Naruto could only grit his teeth and cover his head. Seconds passed as debris began to pile on top of Naruto.

When it stopped, the twelve ANBU outside of the destroyed safehouse stood around warily. Had they got Naruto? Was he dead? There was so much residual chakra hanging in the air from the amount of chakra that had been thrown into those jutsus, that even the sensor in the group had trouble determining if there was a living source of chakra in the debris.

Suddenly, out of the dust and smoke, they heard, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Everybody tensed as suddenly, twenty shadow clones shot out of the obscuring dust cloud, straight at them. The ANBU who were quick to react sliced at the incoming clones, destroying a few of them, but not before the bulk of clones was able to break free from the confining circle and dash away into the woods.

"Dammit! How did he survive that!" One asked angrily, before another, a captain, yelled at the group. "Let's move! Split up!" He barked.

As one, the ANBU teams vanished into the forest, the light from the setting sun quickly disappearing around them. As silence settled over the debris of the forgotten safehouse, a hand pushed aside a large slab of rock.

"Ow," Naruto groaned as he examined the new set of bloody cuts and bruises he had received from the falling debris. Thank goodness for those reinforcing seals. Otherwise, I'd have been squashed like a bug. Naruto groaned as he pulled himself to his feet. He needed to get out of Fire Country, and fast.

Naruto's chakra levels were quite low thanks to the distraction of his mass of shadow clones, but there was still enough to draw a good amount of natural chakra into his body. As the potent chakra flowed through his network, Naruto sighed in relief as a sense of power flowed into him.

A new sense of determination filling him, Naruto turned towards Wave Country and the direction of his next nearest safehouse. It was dark now, and that was both a good, and a bad thing.

Then, Naruto cursed again. Most of his clones had run off in that direction. That meant that if he traveled to Wave Country, he could easily be caught in a pincer movement. I have to go to either Waterfall, Wind, or Lightning Country, Naruto thought with a sense of despair. That meant that he would have to turn around in a wide circle and spend even more time in Fire Country – time that would be very dangerous.

I have to get in range of my Hiraishin seals, or I'm dead, Naruto thought as he sped off through the trees, not caring who saw or heard him. Speed was of the utmost importance. Naruto kept traveling well into the night, well after he had come out of several battles, well after hunger and cold had begun to gnaw into his bones.

As the moon rose higher and higher into the night sky, Naruto sensed the ANBU blocking off his path to Lightning Country, and the Konoha nin blocking his path to Wind Country. It looked like that it would be Waterfall Country after all. Naruto changed his angle of direction so he would run into the jonin before the ANBU. If it came down to it, Naruto preferred to deal with opponents with skills specialized in areas outside of killing.

Naruto could only thank the fact that he hadn't seen or had to seriously harm anybody he knew yet. Coincidentally, they were somehow all outside of the village on various missions. Then Naruto thought about that old man who had presided over his execution. The cripple knew more than he let on. It had been quick, but Naruto had seen him give an order to an ANBU. An ANBU! There was something foreboding about him.

Then, Naruto thought about that fateful meeting with Tsunade. The assassin. He hadn't sensed anything at all out of the ordinary. And then, he'd woken up, and Tsunade-baa-chan. Naruto's heart clenched when he remembered the massive pool of blood that the legendary tannin was lying in. And he was the one standing above her.

But he was innocent! It hadn't been him. It had been the assassin! I'm going to clear my name! I have to! Naruto thought angrily. I'll prove it to them, believe it! Suddenly, he was broken out of his thoughts as a group of chunin came barreling down on him. It was a flurry of blows and blocks before Naruto emerged victorious yet again, but this time with even more scrapes and cuts on his body. Fighting to disable was much harder than fighting to kill. Even with his new skills. And he didn't want to reveal more of his new skill set than he had to.

Naruto could feel his nature chakra running extremely low. He hadn't stopped to refill his stores and Naruto was wishing that he had stopped at least to draw in a little more. But through his ragged breaths, Naruto looked up at the stars in the night sky and realized that he was almost at the border. Putting on another burst of speed, Naruto was alarmed to sense a group approaching him at a very rapid speed. Dashing toward the tree line, Naruto could sense Waterfall Country in the distance. He would be able to make it!

With a final burst of speed, Naruto leapt away from the tree line, almost collapsing as his knees buckled under him. As the exhausted blond stumbled forward, he saw a group of jonin grouping near the border line, preparing jutsu and hurling weapons. Damn. Even across the border he wasn't safe. Hoisting himself up painfully he weaved and dodged, the main amount of projectiles missing him. A few nicked him, drawing blood, but soon he was out of range.

The jutsus suddenly began pouring down: scorching fireballs, crumbling earth, crackling lightning. Naruto clenched his teeth and drew a kunai he had scavenged earlier in his left hand. Drawing blood on his right index finger, he rapidly drew a Hiraishin seal on the kunai and then hurled it as far as he could. Just before he was disintegrated into a paste, Naruto drew on his chakra and disappeared in a flash of yellow.

Appearing 10 feet in midair, Naruto was too tired to bother cushioning his fall. He descended fast and hard, his body skidding to a halt in a cloud of dust. Glancing back, he could make out the glow of the jutsus lighting up the night sky.

Grunting, Naruto picked himself up and trudged deeper into Waterfall Country, still wary for any Konoha nin foolish enough to try to spark an international incident. He wasn't going to die tonight.

IIIIIIIII

It was nearly sunrise when Naruto came into range of his seal. Grimacing, Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated, flashing away a second later to a small shelter hidden away in a cliffside. Using his chakra, Naruto activated the locking mechanism on the camouflaged door, revealing a pass just thin enough for a person to enter through. Squeezing tiredly through with a painful wheeze, Naruto collapsed onto the cool floor as he relocked the door. Making sure that all of the protection and chakra disruption seals had been activated, Naruto finally breathed a sigh of relief. Safety.

Sunlight filtered through a crack in the ceiling, affording Naruto a small light. Spying the bed, Naruto made his way over and crumpled gratefully onto the mattress. Sleep. Oh, it felt so good.

IIIIII

The sun was just beginning to set when the young man woke. His blue eyes blinked as he tried to sit up. He winced as his entire body shouted in protest at even the smallest movement. Everything then began to filter back through Naruto's mind.

On the run. Being hunted like an animal. The escape. The torture. The interrogation. The pain. Tsunade dead. No, not dead. Almost dead. Coming back home. Feeling so happy. Everything was right. Then, it all fell apart. Forcing himself up, Naruto looked around, seeing a wash basin stocked with clean water.

Groaning as he rose, Naruto stripped himself and washed the grime of the previous night away from his body. He grimaced as the memories replayed in his head. He had been framed for an assassination. He had almost been executed. He had killed Konoha ANBU.

He had killed Konoha ANBU. An image of Konoha flashed in Naruto's mind. Home, came his first thought, before a stab of despair shot through him. Not home. Not anymore. He was a traitor. He was a rogue ninja. I'm a nobody, Naruto thought bitterly. I'm not a Konoha ninja anymore. I'll never be Hokage. I'm just a nobody. I'm a nukenin.

As Naruto's gaze lowered, hot tears threatening to spill out, a numbness spread through the blond. His home was gone, and he couldn't go back. My name is Naruto Uzumaki… missing nin.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Oh, and before I forget, I own nothing but my ideas. Secondly, this is a revamp of one of my first stories, Missing Nin. It starts off the same, but really takes off in another direction later on. Some of you may spot the main differences quite early on, and yes, the old man is Danzo, as everybody knows. So again, this is right at the start of shippuden, when Naruto returns to Konoha. I'll make that abundantly clear later on as well. Review, please.

A/N: Edit (2015): A brief edit to this chapter since I want to go back through and work on this fan fiction over the summer.