"Who is at the gates?!" A surprised, female shriek sounded throughout the office. The young jounin winced slightly as he wiped of the sake from his face. The situation for him had just gone from bad to worse. As if a rouge ninja wasn't bad enough; he also got to have a face full of sake, and a nervous wreck of a Hokage to boot.

Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage had just ended the paper work for the day, and decided to revard herself with a bottle of sake. Everything seemed like an ordinary day. Until one of the youngest jounins in Konoha burst though her door and told her the most disturbing news she'd heard in the last 6 months.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Hokage-sama." The young jounin repeated slowly, as if she needed the extra time to cope with what he was saying. The Hokage started to rub her temples. Not only was the village in a full blown war with the Sound, now a certain blond that she had held very dear had returned after 3 years of being assumed dead. She furrowed her eyebrows in deep concentration, thinking of a way to handle the situation. She didn't even know if it really was Naruto. Maybe it was an assassin who played the role of the blond prankster to get close to her.

After a good thirty second silence, Tsunade released a heavy sigh. She had decided on what to do.

"Bring him here please" Her voice sounded reluctant and uncertain. He nodded in confirmation. The young jounin was about to leave, but the blonde woman stopped him in mid motion.

"And bring two other jounins with you, he could be dangerous. Genma, Aoba!" She called out. Two new jounins entered the room hastily. "Could you please help out our little mastermind with one measly task?" The two jounin nodded confidently.

The dark haired boy twitched his eye out of surprise; a small sweat drop at his temple signed his nervous emotions, but he regained his lazy, I-don't-care attitude a few seconds later. His curiosity couldn't help but make him wonder how that little troublemaker could be dangerous.

"Tch, how troublesome...."

The great wooden gate opened after quite some time. The thirty minute wait seemed like forever. And judging from the nervous twitches Naruto had, he was getting anxious. Well he could always just destroy the entire village if they denied him access. The thought reassured him a bit.

When the Konoha gate had opened completely, he was greeted by three jounin clad shinobis. They were probably for escort, for their safety.Because the Kyubi would be too dangerous to be roaming free in the village of Konoha. His thought patterns travelled back to his old memories of the village, bitterness ensued. The three Jounin walked up to him, their movement seemed uncertain and careful. If they knew what he was capable of, they wouldn't even get close to him at all, but for now it was probably his blood drenched cloak that unnerved them. Blood stained clothes tended to do that. Peculiar.

He was getting impatient; things were moving too slow, as were the jounin. He decided to speed them up a small comment.

"I don't bite you know.... at least not much" His words were soaked with annoyance and irony; they all seemed to wince at it. This was definitely not the Naruto they knew. And to Naruto's temporary joy, his goal was reached. The three jounins sped slightly up, until the were mere feets away from him. The Jounin who had met him at the gate in the beginning stepped forward, his ponytail bounced slightly as he moved. Suddenly something hit Naruto, his head looked like a pineapple! That meant only on thing, it was him.

"We are here to escort you to the Hokage's office, Uzumaki-san." He chose his words carefully, less he wanted to piss Naruto off. A task many had successfully done when he was still a part of Konoha. But back then he was thought of as weak, and the tone of the Godaime Hokage's voice had convinced him that this person was probably powerful, Naruto or not.

Naruto nodded slightly, acknowledging the information that was just served to him.

"Shall we go then, Nara-kun?" Naruto inquired arrogantly. Nara Shikamaru's pupils widened slightly, this person knew who he was. This could only mean one of two things. That he already knew him. Or that he was a professional who had done his background homework. Both options were too troublesome for his taste.

"Yeah... sure....Follow me please." Shikamaru signalled Naruto to indeed follow him through the grand wooden gates, the two other jounins followed them shortly. And with a loud boom, the gates were once again closed.

The streets of Konoha were radiant with life as always, it sickened him. How they managed to go on with their blissfully happy everyday life, while Shinobi wars ravaged the lands. And the people who suffered for it were always someone else. Naruto made a sneer under his tattered ANBU mask; he was inwardly disappointed that no one saw it.

"Nothing has changed, has it Nara-kun?" Naruto's voice was sugary sweet, filled with demonic charm. Shikamaru tensed for a split second before he relaxed again, it did not however, go unnoticed by Naruto. He grinned a toothy grin under his mask, this could prove fun. They walked a little more before Shikamaru responded.

"It never does. They are a bit too conservative, aren't they?" Shikamaru strived to remain polite and friendly. Although it wasn't easy to be like that against a comrade thought lost for 3 years. He would rather yell at him for not returning sooner. That lazy bum!

The kettle calling the pot black eh?

Naruto chuckled good willed, he couldn't help but to agree.

"Indeed, Nara-kun. I think I will have to do something about that." The pineapple jounin gritted his teeth at the cutesy wutsey nickname, as if hearing it from Ino wasn't enough. Now he got a sarcastic blonde as well. And his other comment didn't sit well with him either. It seemed the Blond Trouble maker had something planned.

"Could you just call me Shikamaru? Your nickname is too troublesome" Naruto only gave a half-hearted shrug. Oh how he loved calling people "troublesome" names. But now was not the time.

"Very well….. Shikamaru" Naruto laid weight on his name, stressing the change to Shikamaru. His tone of voice was sarcastic and mocking, like an arrogant demon.

The blond turned his head slightly. Casting glances at the two jounin behind him. One was the examiner in the third exam, Genma wasn't it? Yeah it was. He always wanted to ask him about his dental care, with the toothpick and all. He knew it was a senbon needle, but someone needed to call attention to it. Naruto turned his head to the other side, and observed the second jounin. He had seen him a couple of times around the village, when he was still one of the leaf.. The most distinctive about Aoba was his sunglasses. Few Ninjas wore them, gave people bad night vision. He was walking in a tensed up fashion, and when he noticed the demon child looking at him, he tensed up even more. Naruto smirked lightly under his Fox mask. He loved the power of fear he had over others.

The reactions from the townspeople were few, spiky blond hair wasn't that uncommon, and his face was hidden under the ANBU mask. Being escorted by jounins wasn't unheard of either. Just wait until he removed his mask. He got almost gleeful at the thought.

Naruto noticed an exclusive goldsmith as he walked down the one of the main streets. He took a note of its location. He figured he would need to pay it a little visit if this meeting went well. His weapons needed a bit of decorations. And his Fuuma Shuriken needed a rehaul.

They followed the dusty street through the market until they saw the Hokage building. The three jounins felt like quickening their pace, to get this done as fast as possible. None of them wanted to spend more time than necessary with the demon child, in Shikamaru's case it was just too troublesome. Naruto noticed it rather quickly. He could smell their fear. So in sheer defiance, Naruto slowed down his pace. Forcing his jounin escort to slow down with him. Shikamaru could swear he heard a quiet snicker under the covers of the mask.

The Hokage's office was as it had always been, big, red and had Kanji for Fire written on it. He remembered Shikamaru's comment on conservatives and realized the truth of it. He had a sweat drop on the back of his head revealing how stupefied he was. Shikamaru noticed the blond demon child's slight hesitation and called out to him.

"We don't have all day Uzumaki-san, would you follow us please" His voice was monotone and bored, hiding his anxiety well. They went discreetly through the doors of the Hokage building.

The Godaime Hokage was by now biting her fingernails. Mixed emotions was brought to her by Shikamaru's sudden message, a sense of joy from the possible return of "Naruto-kun", a sense of anger from Naruto not returning until now, and a lot of anxiety from not knowing if it was truly him.

Her finger were clicking repeatedly against the fine wood of her desk, the rhythm was the only thing that broke the monotone silence in the room.

It had been forty five minutes already. It had seemed like an eternity for her. They should have been here by now and Tsunade was getting an humongous headache, she didn't even pay attention to the newly arrived ANBU.

Anko had never seen Tsunade so worried. Whatever was bothering had got to be huge. She went through several scenarios that would make her like this, but none of them seemed feasible. As pineapple boy would say, how troublesome. She put her hand in her trench coat, and pulled out dango on a stick. It was after all, lunchtime. She took a bite of her newly acquired food, munching happily. The sound of her chewing broke the uncomfortable silence. Well except for the finger tapping of course.

If looks would kill, the one that Tsunade-hime sent her would decapitate her, and then make her body spontaneously combust. Anko swallowed quickly, and then scratched the back of her head lightly while laughing an awkward laugh. The two ANBU that came with her tensed visibly as they sensed Tsunade's killer intent. They were a step short of chewing their fingernails off, something that would be praiseworthy, considering that they were wearing gloves.

Finally Tsunade decided to speak up her annoyance.

"Anko, would you PLEASE stop smacking? Or stop eating for that matter."

Anko returned her dango into her trench coat quickly after the brutal, but honest critics of Tsunade.

"Yes Hokage-sama!" She said in a way that could be compared top Jiraiya or the old Naruto, Energetic and proud.

Yet again Tsunades thoughts returned to the blond haired little boy. She started to wonder how he looked like, and what kind of a man he had turned into. The rather voluptuous Hokage was almost too deep into her train of thoughts that she didn't notice the door to her office opening. The squeaking of the door opening made her train crash abruptly.

Into the room came a cloaked man, accompanied with the three jounins. The man's blond spiky hair was bouncing freely as he walked in with confidence. It was at that moment Tsunade was sure that man was Uzumaki Naruto. It was just a feel he had always radiated; it was so energetic you couldn't help but to be inspired, although now it seemed much more mute. His ANBU mask raised a lot of questions in all the present people's heads. Why was it a Leaf ANBU mask? Why was the Leaf mark gashed? And why was his dark cloak stained in blood. The smell he radiated signed that the blood was newly spilt as well.

Naruto stopped in front of the Hokage's desk, even in here nothing had changed. But then again, Tsunade must be the poster girl for conservatives. With the anti-aging jutsu and all.

A bead of sweat ran down her forehead, and over the crystal placed in the middle of it. Tsunade's golden brown eyes narrowed at the cloaked man. Supposedly Naruto. This entire situation was making her nervous; she could sense he was powerful. At a genius level even. He could prove a powerful ally, or an assassin hired by Orochimaru. Who knew what his intentions were. She regained her authorative facial expressions though. She gestured for the man to sit down; Naruto nodded in acknowledgement and did just that.

An awkward silence blanket the room, until Tsunade herself decided to pierce it.

"So, Uzumakie-san. What do I owe the honour of your visit?" She tried to sound as formal as possible. She would rather just jump over her desk and rip of his wooden mask. Her diplomacy training forbade her to do so though. Naruto made a simple motion with his head, signalling his acknowledgement.

"I want to ally with the leaf, I felt a personal need to join in the war with the sound." His voice had that arrogant ring to it again. "And I am sure you will need my help" Tsunade raised an eyebrow at his arrogant comment, this boy, no, man was way too arrogant to be Naruto. Agreed, Naruto had his pride. But not even he would claim he was needed to win a war.

"Oh really, I think we'll be the judge of that…. Uzumaki-san" Naruto nodded politely. He found the statement agreeable.

"Fair enough." Tsunade's patience was coming to an end. She, and apparently the rest of the people in the room wanted to know if he was really that Uzumaki Naruto.

"You told the guards that you were a missing-nin by the name of Uzumaki Naruto, Correct?" Again Naruto nodded, his hair bobbing along with his head. Tsunade furrowed her eyebrows.

"Prove it."

"Pardon?" Naruto's voice seemed uncharacteristically surprised.

"I said prove it. Take of your mask and show us your real face." Tsunade's demand seemed quite bold, but she found it quite fair considering the risk they would be taking if they granted him his demand. Naruto was quite hesitant with this, but moved his hand towards the wooden mask implanted on his face. It would need to happen anyhow.

"Very well.." Naruto half mumbled while he pushed off the fox mask, revealing his true face. The sight was a shocking one.

The face that had once been so childish and innocent had changed into something else. His jaw line was much more edged and adult, a few stubbles graced his chin He looked more like nineteen or twenty, rather than sixteen. The whisker marks where still there. Something that had been like a trademark for him in the younger days, but this time around they were more defined. Darker, making his face seem like a constant sneer. The biggest change was his left eye. What was once azure blue was now a demonic red The hatred that reflected the demon fox burned in the red pupil, and the slit defined the demonic nature. The sight of the demon eye made most of them freeze up, or cringe in fear.

"See anything you like?" A charming smile graced Naruto's lips. This was more fun that he'd bargained for; the look on Tsunade's face was priceless.

"Naruto…. What happened?" Tsunade seemed almost hurt. Naruto's smile disappeared, being replaced with a frown.

"I would rather not share that with the rest of the group. I will tell you what when we are alone." His hand gestured lazily towards the ANBU, his escort and Anko. Making them all frown, although it couldn't be seen with the ANBU.

"But that will happen tomorrow, I feel rather fatigued from my journey. I am sure the Hokage could get me a hotel room, wouldn't she?"

It looked like Anko and her ANBU subordinates were about to protest against Naruto's boldness. Tsunade answered him before they had to time to do so though.

"Of course… Naruto-kun. Genma, could you tell the secretary to make a reservation?" Genma nodded, although he was unseeingly disappointed with his task.

"In the meanwhile I want some answers, from you." A smirk appeared on Naruto's face. He liked it when he had full control over the situation.

"But of course Hokage-sama. Go ahead."

"Oh pray tell, why are you covered in blood?" The blond demon boy's eyes widened slightly. He kicked himself for not seeing that one coming. He coughed nervously, hoping that she would see the necessity of killing the ANBU team.

"I ran into some trouble on the way here, an ANBU team to be exact. They attacked me, even when I asked them not to." He had to keep sure he kept his edge in the conversation. This topic could be fatale.

"And this ANBU team was a part of the leaf?" Naruto nodded in confirmation.

"I might add that they were quite unprofessional, it seemed the leader was motivated by a personal agenda. I had no choice but to defend myself. I hope you understand that." The mood in the room was uncertain. It was a mend between anger and understanding. Naruto himself felt a little confused.

"We'll look into it. Do you know who the ANBU were?" Naruto nodded, putting his hand slowly into the folds of the cloak, he drew out four metal tags, and then proceeded to hand them to Tsunade. The Hokage inspected the tags, then continuing to write something down while nodding.

"Aoba, would you please tell the families of Kanonhou Kaiba, Dame Kangohei, Hikerakasu Ofu, and Hyuga Jakushi about the situation?" Aoba nodded, and in a split second vanished with the speed of a Shinobi.

Tsunade let out a humongous sigh. The recent news gave her headache quite a boost.

"Okay, overview. You want to join the leaf again after a three year absence to help out in the sound war, for reasons unknown. You have killed a team of ANBU on patrol, because they seemed to have a personal vendetta against you, and your "changes" will be explained tomorrow. That better be good Naruto. Or so help me god. You will also explain why you have been absent for the three past years. If these conditions have been met, then we will let you into the leaf. Your rank will be decided after an evaluation. Agreed?"

Naruto nodded numbly, the conditions didn't seem that bad.

"You will return tomorrow for another meeting, 12:00. Be there! Talk to the secretary about a hotel room, now shoo!" Tsunade wavered her hands to emphasize what she said. Naruto sat up, and walked slowly out of the room . He stopped a bit at the door.

"Oh and could you be a darling and get me some new clothes? The old one smell of blood and is making me slightly nascious." Naruto turned around, letting his old cocky smile to be seen. Tsunade was about to object, it wasn't her job to fetch other people clothes after all, but his smile stopped her before she even opened her mouth.

"…. Fine, I'll get someone to deliver something to your hotel room."

"Thanks luv!" Naruto left the office promptly. Five minutes would pass before anyone said anything.

"What the hell just happened?!" Anko hollered in a way that only she could. The rest of the jounins nodded in silent understanding of her confusion

The jounin had left Tsunade's office an hour ago; she just sat there and grumbled. There was a task that needed to be done. Naruto's father, the Yondaime had left a scroll about their clan techniques. But Yondaime had ordered Sarutobi-sensei not to hand it until Naruto was eighteen years old. Tsunade's conflict was as of this: Would she obey the wish of the Yondaime and wait until Naruto was old enough, or did she chose to give him them scroll of the clan techniques now, and have a master of the Uzumaki techniques in her was against the Sound.

Jirayia wasn't around at the moment to give her the advices she needed. And therefore uncertainty tainted her mind. This was not how a Hokage was to act, she told herself repeatedly. She sat at her desk and rubbing her temples until she decided. After all, what good would the techniques do Naruto if he died in the war?

She at up from her chair and walked gracefully out of the dark office. It was already after hours, so no one was around except the few ANBU creeping in the shadows on guard duty. Walking down the dim lit corridors she felt a slight dread. Did she really want to know what happened to Naruto? For whatever it was, it was definitely intertwined with the monster sealed within him.

She reached the Hokage's Library. As the name suggested, it was a library filled with scrolls that were for the Hokage to view only, among them were the scroll of sealing. She unlocked the door with a well-polished silver key, and opened the heavy wooden door. The half murky wood creaked slightly.

Tsunade walked past an amazing amount of scrolls; the knowledge contained in this room was almost unsurpassed.

At the end of the massive library there was a medium sized scroll sitting on a pedestal. The scroll itself read "Uzumaki". She picked it up, along with the black clothing that it laid on, a decorated kunai laid there as well. She unfolded the clothing, it was a jacket. It was awfully similar to the jacket Yondaime had worn. Except for the Hokage design, it was black with the Uzumaki clan symbol gracing the back. How well-timed. Exactly what Naruto had requested.

Tsunade picked up the decorated kunai along with the jacket and scroll and left the library haste fully. It couldn't be safe to let that door be open for long.

Naruto let himself soak in warm water. His clothes long ago been stripped. It had been so long since he was able to take a warm bath. The water tickled his toughened skin, letting it soften a bit. The light scars became less definite when the dirt was rinsed off his pale skin.

"Oh man this is so friggin' comfy!" He exlaimed brightly.

The blond man dipped his head underwater, letting his hair suck up the water like a sponge; he started to massage his spiky locks, trying to unwriddle the hair knots that had been there for a while now. He was surprised what could hide in that massive head of hair he had. Branches and leafs all over it. And he'd finally found out what had smelled so odd the last month or so. Stupid bird carcass. He stopped doing anything at all, and slid down into the warm water until only his head was over it. He released a relaxed sigh.

A loud snore was soon to be heard in the rather royal hotel room.

"Man this sucks soooo much!" Kiba whined in a canine like way. His eternal partner Akamaru shared his owner's sentiment, and showed it aswell. The dog that was once a pup now was a rather big dog, almost wolf like. It reached up to his owner's hips and was a feared animal in the shinobi world. Well except for the times when he whined along with his owner.

"I am a chuunin for god's sake, not a delivery boy! I am suppose to escort and assassinate!" Tsunade-sama had personally ordered him to deliver a package to an important guest. This did not sit well with the feral Teenager. He grumbled all the way to one of the most exclusive hotels in Konoha.

"Rich bastard could at least get the package himself!"

Little did Inuzuka Kiba know that the package he was delivering was one of Konoha's best guarded treasures. The hidden techniques of the Uzumaki clan. And that the receiver was the boy who housed the Kyuubi demon.

He arrived outside the hotel, he growled when he saw the "No dogs allowed" sign. He hated to be separated with his partner. But reluctantly he ordered Akamaru to stay outside, something his trusty dog returned with a sad whine. It broke his heart, really.

He entered the hotel, walking up the long stairs.

"Lesse here, room 507… Oh there it is!" He loudly announced as he searched through the hotel rooms. He had received a key from the reception when he reported he was on Hokage business. He locked himself into the room. He heard a loud snore, and figured the guest was sleeping. A bit pissed that he was forced to deliver a package to a person that wasn't even busy, he just put it down on the bed and left.

"Bastard!" He said loudly.

Naruto woke up from his wet slumber when the door closed behind Kiba. He heard a muffled voice.

"Hey, I'm not a bastard!" He pouted slightly but got up from the bath. He frowned when he saw his wrinkly skin, but shrugged it off quickly.No matter. That must have been his clothes arriving. The golden blond man walked into the main room with a towel around his waist and a grin on his face. The clothes he had looted from Hunter-nins was getting old and tattered.

He quickly targeted the package lying on the bed.

Like a child getting a Christmas present, Naruto ripped up the brown paper covering the package. He eyed the contents, so far so good.

"Okay let's see here. Black pants? Check. Shirt with netting sleeves? Check. Hey cool! ANBU boots. Oh! And those gloves Kakashi used to wear. Neato. I can get used to this." He exclaimed happily. He checked himself out in the mirror. Nice! He checked the package a second time and found a jacket. The black garment reminded him of what the Yondaime used to wear while he reigned as a Hokage. Like the Yondaime Fan boy that he was, he quickly put on the jacket. Again he looked into the mirror. His smile was wide and toothy. Perfect! He turned around and noticed a white marking on his back. His slitted pupils dilated for a moment.

"Shiki Fuuin" The fox boy muttered.

On the jacket there was the seal that had kept the fox in place, the only thing that the two had shared. He smirked a bit.

Naruto picked up his necklace, even after these three years; he still had the Shodaime's Necklace. He tied the emerald green jewel around his neck. The dot over the i.

The blonde walked towards the window. He couldn't recall Tsunade saying he couldn't walk around the village. Even if she did, he wouldn't care. He opened the window, letting the cold air flow into the room. Even when on the fifth floor he jumped out with hesitation. It was one of the good things about being a ninja.

He had notice the scroll, but was too lazy to open it. He could read it when he came back.

TBC

AN: Another chapter down…. Yay . This is just so fun to write. The joy of putting anime characters in silly situation is indeed exquisite.

Thanks for Reffy for again betaing the fic. You naughty man you. And thanks to Erik for being a bastard and tell me how I fuck up

Mr Daniel of Lorien made an excellent point in his short and sweet review. It wouldn't seem like the ANBU would do such a stupid thing. But I have a bunch of reasons(read: Excuses) for this. You may note how two of the ANBU cooperated in a multi attack. But this happens while the leader is alive, so after his tragic death, the group got thrown in a kind of disarray. You see where I am coming from right? The headless chicken syndrome.

That and the fact that the ANBU group is just to make that chapter a bit more interesting. If the chapter was about Naruto going from point A to point B, it would be boring. So instead we got bloody murder. Everyone wins . Except the ones that died of course….He Hh