Disclaimer: I do not own any wrights to Naruto or Shadow Skill. I merely use their characters and themes for entertainment purposes.

Not much had changed About Konoha since that fateful mission when Gennin Team Seven lost their first third teammate. The only things that changed were that people grew older and the occasional personality change from a few select group of people that were close to Kyuubi's prison. The ones that changed the most were his teammates and only other gennin that came to his funeral.

After the funeral Sasuke through himself into his training. After that day when he said good-bye to his teammate he vowed he would never lose another. During the team's time on the reserve list he would spend all his time training his body and developing his Sharingan. Within five months after he first activated it he had developed his eyes to same level of Kakashi. Many praised him for his accomplishments but he ignored them. He pretty much cut himself off from everyone except his teammate Sakura and teacher Kakashi. And though he did not become a chunin until a year after many of the rest of the nine that graduated with him, his skills had already become the talk of the entire village. Because Team Seven was on the reserve list they were still able to go missions and it was there he truly proved his worth. Every mission he went on was a success and every mission would come back with no casualties. After a new third member of Team Seven was finally selected from the next year's graduating class they were permitted to enter the chunin exam. He easily passed the requirements to be promoted and only after six months of being a chunin Sasuke became an Anbu. And then six months after that he became an Anbu Captain. But perhaps the greatest change to his personality was his humility. Before the fateful mission he had been somewhat arrogant to those around him and if asked how he was so strong he would give them a look that said "Because I am." Now whenever he was asked he would simply answer, "I'm just fulfilling a promise."

Sasuke's teammate Sakura had also changed greatly. Ever since she became a gennin Sakura had doubt about her abilities. She had perfect control but that was about it. Ever since the time Naruto was killed she decided to do what he did, take the skill she was worst at and make it her strength. Because she lacked stamina she trained tirelessly with the self-proclaimed eternal rival of Hatake Kakashi, Gai-sensei, as he liked to be called. With Gai's help Sakura was able to increase her stamina dramatically. She still kept her perfect control and was able to incorporate it into her new stamina. With this she became as much known for her raw physical power as well as her brains. It was said that if Sakura and the Green Beast, Gai's protégé Rock Lee, were to ever fight neither would win. While Lee had the speed, Sakura had the power. Fortunately this theory was never tested. Using her strength Sakura was able to pass the chunin exam at the same time as her teammate Sasuke. Though she did not immediately go higher in rank about year after she became a jounin, one of the youngest in Konoha history. She has yet to take a gennin team saying she is not yet ready for that yet. Her personal life also took a change after Naruto died. She no longer solely went after Sasuke, though she still has feelings for him, she has opened up to many of those around her. Rock Lee especially, from the first time she met him she thought he was somewhat like Naruto.

The one who changed the most was Hinata. She took her promise to the loudmouth to heart and never gave up. The first change came in her fighting, she stopped being so afraid of her opponents that she was finally able to show that she was a very capable fighter. In first chunin exam she ended up facing her elder cousin Neji in the final matches. And though she lost she should exceptional skill and intelligence in the fight, earning the respect of her Father and sister who were watching in the stands and the respect of her cousin as well. Because of the skill she showed Hinata was promoted to chunin. From there she found her real calling as a medic. She had always been good at making healing creams and with her byakugen she became quite skilled at medical jutsus. And later she surprised everyone by learning how to combine medical taijutsu with Gentle Fist. Now it said that if she were to fight her cousin again the fight would be very different. The biggest change was her personality. Before she was timid and shy to a fault, now however she was friendly and personable, making her one of the most popular medics at the hospital.

The three that changed the least were the adults that attended the funeral. The Hokage was still the kind yet strong leader with a bit a perverted side, which is why he constantly loses to his grandson's Sexy no Jutsu. Kakashi was still the lazy, though less late, jounin as before. And Iruka was still a chunin instructor at the Academy, though now he takes extra time to help those who are considered 'dead last.'

Currently there is a meeting-taking place at Ichiruka Ramen stand. Ever since the passing the three former gennin would come here every so often and have some Ramen in honor of their fallen friend. "So Hinata," Sakura began, "How's the hospital?"

"Busy," Hinata replies, "Sasuke's squad had some rather heavy injuries from their mission a couple of days ago." She's looks over to Sasuke and gently throws a bottle to him. "Here this is a bit better than the stuff they gave you at the hospital."

"Thanks," Sasuke says then continues to eat his Ramen. "How have you been Sakura?"

"Bored lately," she sighs, "Not much to do, haven't been any descent missions lately. Although training with Lee-san is always entertaining." The others smile knowing what she means after having met the thick-browed teenager. Conversation continues to be light until each has eaten their fill and goes their separate ways. All enjoying their friendship that should not have come in the way it did.

A couple of days later a stranger wearing a deep red and black outfit comes to the main gates of Konoha. This figure is a little over one hundred sixty-five centimeters (five and a half feet) in height. He wears a mask that covers the lower half of his face and a hood to hide the rest. If one were to look into his eyes they would see a set of deep blue eyes with slightly vertical slits. Though he moves at a casual pace it is easy for the trained eye to know he is never off guard. When he finally arrives the gates the guards move to stop him. Not wanting to cause trouble the stranger stops and lets the guards come to him.

"What is your business here?" the head guard asks.

"Just visiting some old friends," the person responds in a male voice.

"Let me see some I.D." the guard says.

"Sorry I don't have any," the man says. "I haven't been here for a few years and my I.D. expired."

"Then I'm afraid you will have to see the administration office to get in renewed," the guard responds. "And you will have to escorted all the way."

"I understand," the man says. "If it is not to much trouble might I be able to see the Hokage as well?"

The request puts the guard on edge for a moment, "That will be up to him. Hey Shikamaru, Chouji get your lazy buts over here!" Two people with chunin vests come closer. The stranger glances at them for a moment then turns back to the head guard.

"What do you want?" asks the lazy chunin.

"I need you and the Meat Tank to escort this guy to the administration office."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru said, "Fine lets go."

After a few minutes walking Chouji speaks to Shikamaru, "Hey Shikamaru does this guy seem familiar to you?"

"Maybe," Shikamaru glances back at the stranger. Earlier he noticed he had deep blue eyes and that seemed to cause recognition, but he just could not remember from where. "We could have seen him as kids. He does appear to be about our age."

Chouji now even more curious turns back and asks, "Hey have we met before?"

"Yes," the stranger answers, "When we were younger. I was alone a lot so I don't think you'd remember me."

Shikamaru now intrigued turns back and asks, "What's your name?"

"My name really doesn't matter," the stranger responds, he begins to move faster and moves past them causing the two to speed up to catch him. The rest of the way is nothing but silence, the two chunins wondering whom this person was.

Once they arrived at the administration office the stranger spoke again, "Do you think the Hokage will see me?"

"That will be up to him," Chouji answered.

"We'll take you to him first," Shikamaru added. "He can get your I.D. reinstated if he is willing to see you; it will be less troublesome for us." The stranger nodded and the three proceeded into the building.

After a few minutes of walking they came upon the office of the Hokage and were stopped by two jounin guards. "What is your purpose here?" the sickly looking one asks.

"Hey Hayate this guy wants to see the Hokage and get his I.D. reinstated," Shikamaru answers.

The other jounin gives the stranger a glance and asks, "What's his name?"

"He didn't give it, Genma," Chouji responds.

"Then he can't see the Hokage," Genma replies.

Inside his office the Hokage is taking a quick break to smoke his pipe. There has not been any real activity lately so his workload is light. He decided to take a break since there was no rush and went out to his balcony to gaze at Hokage Monument. His gaze rests on the last one for a minute and he sighs, "It's been a little over two years since your legacy has died Fourth. I'm sorry I didn't protect him better." After his apology he makes his way back inside.

The Third is about to get back to work when he senses something peculiar outside his door. He waits a few moments and hears some people talking. Relenting to his curiosity the Hokage goes to open the door.

Outside in the hallway the two chunins and stranger are about to leave when the door opens and the Hokage comes out, "What is going on out here?"

"We are sorry for the commotion Hokage-sama," Genma replies. "But this stranger wanted to see you, he did not give his name so we sent him away."

The Hokage looks at the person in the deep red and black outfit. For some reason he seems to recognize the person. "Send him in," he finally replies, "I will see what he has to say."

"Yes Hokage-sama," Genma replies. He and Hayate stand aside and the stranger passes through.

Once the door closes the Hokage faces the stranger and asks, "So who are you and why did you want to see me?"

The stranger begins to remove his mask and hood. The first things the Third noticed were the deep blue eyes the stranger had. His eyes widened a little at the familiarity of the eyes but practically jumped out of his head when the stranger revealed blond hair on his head and three whisker marks on each cheek. "Well I wanted to see if you would let me back into the village and I can guess you already know who I am, Old Man."

"Na…Naruto?" the Hokage asked, "Is that you?"

"Yeah, Old Man. It's me," Naruto responds. "Did you miss me?"

Joy was the first thing that came to the Third's mind when the teenager in front of him answered the affirmative. One of his greatest regrets, not being able to protect the legacy of the Forth, had just come back into his life. It was almost too good to be true, and then the more cautious side of his mind told him that this could be a trick by one of his enemies. Calming down he asked, "How do I know it's really you?"

Naruto sighed, "Do you really want me to do the technique I taught your grandson?"

The Hokage at first was surprised, then paled, and finally smiled at the thought of Naruto's Sexy no Jutsu. "No I don't think that will be necessary." He took a long look at the teenager before him and saw many of the changes. He wore a dark red pants with black trim, a tight shirt that was the reverse of his pants. A black cape that had the hood he removed earlier. His gaze traveled down to his hands and he saw Naruto now wore fingerless gloves. When he looked at the fingers he saw they were now more claw-like, stunned for a moment he looked back to his face and noticed for the first time that Naruto's eyes had slightly elongated pupils making them look somewhat fox-like. Surprise was on the old man's face when he asked, "What happened to you?"

Naruto sighed and sat in a near by chair, "A lot, and I'll tell you about it but first could you call my old friends here I think it will be easier if I tell everyone at once."

"Of coarse," The Hokage called for the two outside his door. When they answered he said, "Find Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, Iruka, and Hinata and bring them here immediately." The two guards bowed and went left.

"Hinata?" Naruto thought, "That shy girl from the Academy. I guess she cared about me more than I thought."

"It should only take a few minutes."

A few minutes latter five people that had come to know each other rather well met up once again outside the Hokage's office. "So he called you here as well," Kakashi said still reading his Icha Icha Paradise book.

"Do you think some one vandalized Naruto's grave again?" Hinata asked in a disgusted voice.

"Possibly," Sasuke answers with just as much distaste. "I really wish they would give it a rest and leave him in peace." The others nodded in agreement as they entered the office.

When they went inside they were not expecting the Hokage's face to have a smile. Their previous theory was obviously not correct. "Good, you made good time. There is someone here who wishes to say hello."

A person that went previously unnoticed before stood up from the chair. When he did five gasps were heard at once, "Hey guys, it's good to see you again."

The five were too stunned to make any kind of motion. The Hokage seeing this began to answer the questions that were going through everyone's minds. "Yes this is Naruto. I questioned him myself. He just arrived a few minutes ago. And said he would say what happened to him once you arrived." The Hokage's answers seemed to bring everyone around and they looked at Naruto in anticipation.

"First I have to ask do they," gesturing to Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata, "Know about what happened when I was a baby?"

"Yes," Kakashi answered, "We told them after your…funeral."

"Funeral?" Naruto asks, he looks at their faces to see the sadness and decides to drop it. "Good because first I should tell you it's gone. That's the reason for the claws and eyes." For the first time the five saw Naruto's hands and eyes and understanding passed through their minds. "First let me explain how I survived." He paused for a minute then continued, "After I fell off the bridge I was rescued by a being named Darkness. I say being because the one that rescued me was not human nor demon, but something else. Even know now I don't know what he is, just that he has been alive for a very long time."

"How long?" the Hokage interrupts, the name Darkness triggers something in his memory.

"Longer than the shinobi countries have been in existence," Naruto answered. "Anyway, he said that even with his help the only reason I survived the fall, wounds and drowning was because of Kyuubi. After I was healed I tried to return but Darkness would not let me. He took west by some kind of teleportation to some ruins of an ancient civilization. There he trained for two years. It was only because of the Kyuubi's power that I was able to complete the training in two years. After my training was complete Darkness freed the Kyuubi." Several gasps were heard interrupting Naruto. He looked at their horrified faces and said, "Relax Darkness sent it back to the demon world and made sure it could never come back."

"Then what about your changes?" Kakashi asked.

"Well these happened because of the power that I did absorb," Naruto answered. "And they became permanent even after the Kyuubi left. I still retain some of its power, like rapid healing."

"So what did this Darkness teach you?" Sasuke asked.

"Well you probably wouldn't know even if I told you," Naruto said, "It was a lost art. But I will tell you it's quite powerful."

Silence hung in the air for several minutes until the Hokage spoke up, "You may just get an opportunity to show us Naruto." Everyone turned to look at him, "When I reinstate your shinobi status you will still be a gennin but I have a feeling that your skills are well beyond that level. So I must see your skills in order to reassess your level."

Naruto gave his fox-like grin that everyone in the room had missed, "Sure Old Man, when will it take place?"

"It will take me about a week's time before I can put everything together," the Hokage answered, "But I will go ahead and reinstate you."

"It won't take long after that for word to spread about Naruto," Sasuke spoke up.

"That can't be helped," Kakashi said.

"But surely there's something you can do…" Iruka began but was interrupted.

"Its all right Iruka-sensei," Naruto cuts him off, "The village will learn that I am not Kyuubi eventually. So there's no need for me to hide." The others were surprised at Naruto's calm answer.

"Well then why don't you get yourself reacquainted with the village while I get back to work," the Hokage suggested. "And the rest of you have the next few days off."

Naruto smiled once again and said, "Ichiruka Ramen here I come!" The others laughed glad to see their friend is back had not changed too much.

The next day word had already spread about the return of the Kyuubi vessel. While a very few were glad most loathed idea about Naruto's return. It was a good thing no one knew where he was staying at; otherwise they may have done something that everyone would regret. When they could not find Naruto, several villagers approached the Hokage demanding to know where Naruto was. The Hokage silenced them by saying that the law was still in affect and anyone caught even mentioning the Naruto being the Kyuubi would be punished severely.

Naruto was currently at Team Seven's old meeting spot reminiscing about old times. He had to laugh at himself for the way he acted back then. He brought his head up and said, "You know back then I really was a dead-last and an idiot. You two were right about me."

"Well not everything," Sakura said coming up behind. "We're glad you're back Naruto."

"It took a shorter amount of time for word to spread than I thought," Sasuke greeted.

Naruto just shrugged, "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Hokage-sama says your evaluation will be in five days time," Sasuke said.

"Good that will give a chance to train a little," Naruto smiled.

"Would you like some help?" Sakura asked.

"Nope," Naruto smiles even more, "Don't want to give anyone any heads-up until the day." He turned to look and saw some disappointment on their faces. "Hey don't worry about it, all I want to do is retain my title as the Most Surprising Ninja in Konoha," he joked.

The others chuckled in response. "Fine we'll leave you be for now, but just remember I'm going to be one of you opponents," Sasuke says. "I want to personally see just how strong you've gotten."

"Don't worry, I've gotten stronger than even you can handle," Naruto boasts.

Sakura smiles at the renewed rivalry, "Well we'll leave you alone then. But don't be surprised if Hinata pays you a visit soon."

"Um ok Sakura-chan," Naruto says confused. His two former teammates smile at his clueless expression and leave.

Naruto continued to train the rest of the day. He currently has several practice logs set up around him. He took a shoulder width stance. Then slowly brought his right leg up then while leaning forward and pulling the raised leg back. After a brief pause he swung his leg and disappeared from sight. A second latter he reappeared in his original stance then relaxed. Another few more seconds passed and the practice logs suddenly crumbled. If anyone was watching they would have wondered just what he had done. He smiled at the results and decided to take a break. Taking a rest under a tree and noticed that someone was about to enter the area. Turning in that direction he saw, true to Sakura's prediction, Hinata coming to visit him.

When she saw Naruto sitting under a tree Hinata went over to sit next to him. After a brief period of silence Hinata began, "Naruto-kun there is something I want to tell you."

"Yes Hinata was is it?" Naruto asked. He had been curious about her since he found out she had also attended his funeral two years ago.

"When we were at the Academy, no even before then, he used to watch you and I really admired you. And when I thought you were dead I regretted never telling you before."

Naruto gave her a soft smile, "Thank you for caring Hinata, not many people did."

Hinata blushed a little bit starting to feel like her younger self again, "I…I don't want to…miss…" she began to trail off at the end.

Fortunately Naruto had become more observant than when he was younger and caught on to what she was trying to say. "Hey Hinata-chan would you like to go and get something to eat," Naruto said. Hinata was surprised but also relieved and glad at Naruto's offer and simply nodded in compliance. "Good then you can tell me what you've been up to since I've been away." Hinata nodded again and the two left to enjoy dinner together.