There are no pacts between monsters and men. That is a hard lesson learned when he dove within himself. It will be a lesson he must learn once more.
"Where is that pervert? He should have been here by now." A growl surfacing from his mouth as if it were natural. Three weeks he has been strung up here in the middle of nowhere without so much as a map. Never in Naruto's life would he have believed that fire country could be so large. Almost entirely covered in forest, it's quite easy to get lost from time to time. Each day he was exposed to the ultraviolet shine, he understood how this became known as fire country. His mission was simple, train, train, train. Train until your muscles give out; train till you can't grasp your kunai, train till your brain shuts down from exhaustion. This idea was simple and its how the boy lived his life. Unlike most shinobi who could seriously endanger themselves from such rigorous training, Naruto could stumble on, which was often the case. Though his hard head had hindered his improvement, he more then made up for in determination. He was now ready to return to konoha and start where he left off before his departure. His thoughts often drifted back to the valley of no end where he squared off with his teammate and friend which inspired him to push on. He could feel the power inside as he filtered though his painful memories. Kyuubi just loved to wallow in his misery; it seemed to give him life. He was often reminded of another Shinobi that acted the same way. Without others to guide him, he gave into the desires of his contained and became the embodiment of the beast that dwelled within him. With a beast as your only companion, it's amazing he was still in touch with reality at all. He often wondered about Gaara and rumors of his accomplishments. He was declared a hero as he protected his entire village against an invasion of the sound. With the desert as his ally, he buried three hundred sound ninjas while his fellow shinobi fought the rest off. After the battle, the title of Kazekage was given in a unanimous decision from the council. A short chuckle escaped Naruto's lips hearing the story from his sensei; many believed that it was because of his fight with Naruto that Gaara became a better man, others believe it was who he was all the time. None of it mattered to Naruto, after all, he would be hokage; soon Suna and Konoha would unite without all the bullshit from the past weighing on their shoulders.
Naruto was soon drug out of his daydreaming when he caught sight of a shadow streak through the trees. Removing two kunai from his pouch, he quickly throws the weapons in the same vicinity only striking the bark of a tree. Now alert he scans the area and catches sight of someone hundreds of feet in front of him. Too far to make out any details, he appeared to be cloaked in a shadow except for the hair that seemed to shine bright yellow when struck by the rays of the sun just before it vanished without a trace. Within a couple of minutes, a small, pulsating shake of the earth started in a rhythmic tune. Increasing it's intensity, it seemed as if it were coming closer and closer until a loud crash plowed all the tree's in his sight to the ground. Standing before him was a blue and red frog almost rivaling Gamabunta but quite a bit thinner. The pervert was standing on its head with a big smile on his face as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
Like a bomb went off in his head. "WHAT THE HELL! HOW ABOUT A WARNING NEXT TIME YOU DAMNED PERVERT!"
"Damnit Naruto, I am sick and tired of your disrespect. You're lucky I came back at all." Jiraiya scoffed while the frog even seemed to chuckle at the boys comment.
"Well why did you, I was just fine you know." Naruto said, very convinced of his lie.
Without a response, the hermit simply gazed at the boy, a soft smile filed his face. In his eyes, Naruto was defiant, but was also one of the best men he ever met. Not much like the fourth at all, yet entirely the same.
"Its time kid, we need to get back before nightfall."
"Why so quick, I was kinda hoping to run back for training purposes, I have been sitting here way too long thanks to you." He said pushing out his lower lip in protest.
"Normally, I wouldn't mind, but my sources have just told me of an attack on the village hidden in the grass. Apparently, two men dressed in black stormed the gates and killed over two squads of ANBU before kidnapping a small child. Rumor has it, that the boy possessed a demon much like Shukaku, but his name was Isonade. I still need to investigate it more thougholy, but I can't risk you getting caught off guard out here on your own. Gamitcho here will get us back in no time."
"I see…." Naruto says with a deep sigh. Sadness apparent in his eyes, as he thought of another person out there like Gaara and himself.
"Don't worry boy, we will help them, but first we need to get back to Konoha, I fear the sand is the next target."
A look of shock and fear showed in his features as Gaara's face crossed his mind. "This can't be happening, we need to help them!"
"We need to return to Konoha first, besides, from what I hear, that boy can take care of himself. Until I know a little bit more information, we can't risk being in the open."
"But…"
"Please…Naruto, I understand your feelings, but we must get to Konoha first to inform the hokage. We will send aid as soon as we can."
Though he did not agree with his sensei's advice, he learned over the past two and half years to be more humble. He was one of the legendary three for a reason. Also the techniques the old pervert taught him certainly came in handy.
"Alright… "He said with great reluctance.
Sensing the boy's attitude, he attempted to raise his spirits in the best way he knew how. "Would you like to know how to summon Gamitcho?"
Without so much as a glance, he replied. "I already can.."
After a moment of surprise, it faded quickly as he realized Naruto did have a talent for mastering jutsus. "I see." Was his reply as he often wondered if Naruto had created any techniques of his own.
Naruto quickly jumped onto Gamitcho's back and the two were off like a bolt of lightning, shredding the landscape as if they were weeds. The scenery blurred by the two and within a couple hours, the gates of Konoha could be seen as they waved their goodbyes to their amphibian friend.
Upon their approach, Naruto became a bit more excited to see his home once more. The thoughts of Akatsuki and Sasuke buried within for the time being, he decides to pull one last prank on his old village for good time sake.
With a grin plastered on the boys face, the hermit became a bit suspicious. "Naruto… What are you up too?"
"He he, HENGE!." He says as he becomes a miniature version of a nine tailed fox but with a much cuter look.
"AAAHHHHHHHH! Damnit Naruto, are you crazy?" The old man yelled in disbelief as he quickly turned back to his former self.
"Jesh, I was only kidding you old man, besides, wouldn't it be funny to see granny's face?"
Both realizing what the wrath of Tsunade would incur, shudder in fear for a moment at the thought.
"Okay, your right. Bad idea. How about… HENGE!"
As the smoke slowly cleared, Naruto was replaced with a Tsunade look-a-like but with one "small" difference.
"Ha ha ha, perfect!" Jiraiya responds trying to hold back his laughter a little more. "He is gonna regret this one for sure." He thinks to himself as the two begin their venture back to Konoha. "I am glad he is in good spirits, there is a long road ahead before he is hokage; I just hope he doesn't suffer the same fate." The Hermit thinks to himself, a sad look of regret in his eyes.
Short I know, but it is only a prologue. I have a quite a twist in the storyline ahead. And for those curious, this takes place after the time skip and Sasuke will be in the story as well. I hope to update soon so if you are reading this, please be patient. And as for Kyuubi, he will have his own tale in all this also, but I wont give any of that away for a little while yet.
Thanks for reading