Chapter 3: A Rocky Introduction

"This is such a drag." muttered Shikamaru as he stood before the gate of the Forest of Death with his teammates Kiba and his large faithful hound Akamaru, Hinata, and Shino on his left with him. Dawn was just now approaching so it was still quite dark when they arrived.

It was an hour before when the Hokage, despite her recovering injuries, ran to him with Naruto's headband and informed him of what had happened. While Shikamaru found it difficult to believe the part about the floating green ring, when Lady Tsunade gave him the emergency mission to find Naruto, he set immediately to the task of gathering a team.

It didn't take someone of Shikamaru's intellect to figure out who would be best suited to find Naruto. Getting them prepped and ready on short notice was the difficult part. Especially given that this was supposed to be the end of the war.

Fortunately, they weren't that hard to find. Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino were all found getting ready to head back home for some sleep. Kiba and Akamaru were walking with Hana with one of her Haimaru dogs carrying a now unconscious Tsume Inuzuka, Hana having a look of dismay on her face from her mother having too much drink.

Shino had been practically dragged out by Kiba. He only wanted to stay home and tend to his bugs or go to sleep. While he was glad the war was over he didn't feel the need to celebrate like the rest. One thing he will say is that Kiba was very stubborn and he wasn't in the mood to argue with him tonight.

The only one of them that was difficult to find was Hinata. She wasn't in the campsite where the village was to be rebuilt or with the other members of her clan. Turns out she was headed towards where Naruto had been. To the Hokage Monument. She also happened to see the green light that took him away. She was already in front of the gate that lead into the Forest of Death. Thank goodness for Shino who had somehow managed to place a beetle on her during the first day of battle. Then Kiba managed to calm her down long enough to tell her that they all had the same mission: find and help Naruto.

Shikamaru gave Naruto's head band to Kiba who in turn had Akamaru take a sniff.

"Got the scent boy?" Kiba asked his best friend. Akamaru barked telling his master that he has the scent.

"OK," Shikamaru said moving in front of them, turning to face the rest of his team. "From what Lady Tsunade described, the object..." Shikamaru still had trouble believing that a piece of jewelry kidnapped a ninja as powerful as Naruto "... that took Naruto, hurled him towards the center area of the forest. That area is most likely where we will find him." Shikamaru took a breath before continuing "We will move in as a group towards the central area of the forest then split up into a three pronged search pattern. From there one of us should find Naruto" he finished.

"Are we sure Lady Tsunade was clear on what she said took Naruto?" questioned Kiba. "I mean are we actually going to believe that a green ring hooked itself onto Naruto and flew him into the Forest?" he continued. Shikamaru himself was having trouble believing it.

Hinata, on the other hand would hear none of it.

"What does it matter!? Naruto is in trouble and we have to go now!" she yelled at them. Both of them turned their heads and suddenly became a little intimidated. Not by the volume of her voice but the way she said it without hesitation. Something that the Hinata they had all known has never done before. It was also the look of determination and anger in her eyes that had stunned them. Even Shino looked at her with astonishment.

"She's right."

The three of them all suddenly turned and saw, much to their surprise, Kakashi next to where Kiba and Akamaru were. Kiba so shocked by him appearing out of then air jumped right into Akamaru. Fortunately, thanks to his size, he managed to keep Kiba level.

Kakashi had not been seen since he was forced to kill Obito. It was bad enough that he had left Obito behind during the Third Great Ninja. Bad enough that he had let Rin die all those years ago hereby breaking his promise to him. Killing his best friend, however, had seemingly crushed him. That along with the fact that Sasuke had been corrupted and had killed Sakura destroyed him. The guilt of all those acts had made him disappear in seclusion.

However when he had heard that Naruto was in trouble, he put that aside for the one student that he should have paid more attention to from the start. His mentor's legacy, he vowed, would not be taken from this world. Naruto had done too much good in this world regardless.

"If Naruto's in danger, then we need to move now." Kakashi said simply looking into the forest.

Shikamaru nodded while Kiba just muttered something under his breath. Apparently, Hinata was still in love with Naruto.

Which then Kiba gave a disappointed sigh that Shino couldn't help but hear. And feel sympathy for.

As soon as they were about to head in, a bright green light had erupted from the forest. The light so bright that they had to cover their eyes to shield them. It only lasted for a few seconds but it felt like an eternity before it finally diminished.

"OK starting to believe the whole green thing now" said Kiba with Akamaru agreeing.

"Lets go!" said Kakashi with Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino leaping into the forest.

"This is such a drag."exclaimed Shikamaru before following thinking to himself 'When did Kakashi-Sensei become team leader?'

(Center of the Forest of Death minutes later)

"Naruto!" screamed Hinata as they arrived on the scene. Hearing this Naruto turned around to see who had called his name.

The team moved through the Forest with a very quick and rigorous pace being pushed by Kakashi in front with Hinata close behind. It didn't take them long to reach the the center where the light was clearly emanating from. When they reached the area they noticed three things. One was what appeared the corpse of some fish being that was wearing a green uniform of some kind. The second was what looked like a lantern who was beside the body. And finally, third, was Naruto himself as they slowed to a halt in front of him.

Or rather what he was wearing. Which was exactly what Naruto was pondering before the team got there. When the light from the ring, his ring, if what Tomar-Re said was true, had retracted back into it, he found himself in the same uniform as the alien, which he strangely accepting of for some strange reason.

The uniform was skin tight, yet not uncomfortable. Rather to him it felt almost like a second skin. The color of it consisted of green covering his chest and shoulders green while his arms, legs and armpits were colored black. Finishing off the uniform was Naruto wearing green gloves and green boots. What stood out for Naruto was that unlike Tomar, his chest only had a white circle devoid of a lantern symbol. A simple design from what he guessed would be something akin to maybe the rank of a recruit.

Naruto then turned to Hinata who while glad that Naruto was alright, started to look him over and blushed at how this...outfit showed off his figure. She along with the rest noticed that his now blue eyes had turned to an almost ethereal green color.

"Naruto what happened here?" asked Shikamaru, breaking the stunned silence. He then continued while looking him over "We were told by Lady Tsunade that you were taken into the Forest of Death by some unknown object."

"Yeah by that ring that is currently on you hand now"said Kiba pointing to what Naruto had surmised was now his ring if he believed what the strange person said which was now on his right hand.

"I'm not sure you guys." said Naruto looking at them both while Kakashi and Hinata walked to the corpse.

Kakashi looked at the dead stranger with curiosity as he nodded to Hinata who then did her hand seals and activated her Byakugan eyes. As she looked at the creature there were some similarities with humans but it looked like the organs were differently shaped then humans. But then Shikamaru noticed her eyes widen in surprise which meant something was off. He walked over to her.

"What do you see Hinata?" said Shikamaru. She deactivated her Byakugan and turned to him. "Well his organs and bone structure are different from us. Stronger, denser and his facial structure is obviously not human but..." Hinata then became hesitant. "But what?" asked Shikamaru.

"He doesn't have a chakra network."

That got everyone's attention except Naruto's. For some odd reason he knew that would be the case.

"How is that possible!? Every living being has a chakra network even the civilians have them!" said Kiba clearly not able to understand how that's possible. Kakashi was wondering the same until he saw the lantern next to the alien's corpse. He then turned his head to Naruto.

"Naruto did he say anything to you, like who he was or how that ring suddenly appeared?" he asked.

"His name was Tomar-Re. Green Lantern of Sector 2813. Species Xudarian." said Naruto automatically almost like it was on auto pilot. When he finished he was shocked what came out of his mouth "How do I know that?" he said then shook his head as he felt something in his mind.

This got everyone even Akamaru, who was smelling Tomar-Re's corpse, looking his way with surprise on their faces.

"Kurama what's going on? How did I know that just now?"

"The ring is giving you a working knowledge base of this sector and others as well. And before you ask your mind and mine are linked remember."

Naruto nodded his head to himself. That explains how he seemed to know now that Tomar-Re was telling the truth. Though it still frustrated him how this seem to be happening all at once. He started to panic internally.

"Is this thing taking over my mind!?" he asked Kurama realizing that he had just spoken to the others in a monotone, almost robotic voice.

Kurama just shook his head "No Kid, it seems your brain is just going through an adjustment period. It's very subtle about it. Don't worry too much about it. It will pass." responded Kurama

"Uh... Naruto, are you feeling alright?" said Hinata shaking him from his conversation with his fox spirit partner. He turned to the others who were still expecting answers.

"Naruto how did you know all that?" asked Kakashi walking over and taking the lantern into his left hand.

"This is gonna sound crazy, but according to what he said" he pointed at Tomar "I am his replacement or successor I guess." said Naruto.

"What your saying that he chose you for something like a mission from another village or something?" said Shino

"Not him, not really." said Naruto showing them his right hand "This did. The ring was looking to choose someone. It chose me." he continued. He then felt strangely honored that out of all the people in the elemental nations, no on this planet as he was just starting to realize, that the ring had chosen him to take up Tomar's mantle.

"OK, that sounds cool and all Naruto but maybe we should take you back and have Lady Tsunade take a look at you see if you're effected by something that ring did on the way here." said Kiba looking at Naruto like he had become a little crazy. And he wasn't alone as Naruto looked at everyone around him and they had the same look on their faces. Even Hinata didn't seem to believe him.

Frustrated Naruto then had his hands up "Look I'm not making this up. How else do you explain the fact I am in this get up right now!?" he said using his hands to motion the new set of attire that he was in. They all looked at each other for a moment in thought. Naruto knew what they were thinking though. Given his recent state after losing Sakura and killing Sasuke, he figured by the way they were looking at him they thought he was going crazy. Hell he thought he was going crazy.

Holding his head he could feel the ring's encyclopedia filling information on not just other space sectors but some information on Tomar himself and his associates. Noticing how Naruto was grasping his head Kakashi had decided to take Naruto back to the camp to recuperate. And examine that ring.

Kakashi, with the lantern still in hand walked over to Naruto. "In the meantime it seems you are at least safe. Just the same I think we better have Lady Tsunade or Shizune look you over to see if you have any other effects from this...object." he said then hand out his free hand "For now I need you to give me that ring. At least until we can determine anything you might have said." he continued.

Now Naruto in the past had listened to Kakashi-sensei's counsel in the past. It was with his help that he created the Rasenshuriken. However, over the course of the war he started to think on how events had played out. How Kakashi had hesitated when facing Obito granted him being his former friend from what Captain Yamato had described. Maybe it was from the fact that deep down he at least partially blamed him for what happened to Sakura.

But as for right now Naruto was thinking if what Tomar-Re said was true then the ring and the lantern in Kakashi's left hand belonged to him. It wasn't just this new knowledge that he acquired that was telling him to either. Despite how extraordinary this all sounded, even to him, for the first time in what seemed like weeks it made sense. All his instincts were telling him that what Tomar-Re said to him was true.

Kurama smirked at his jinchuuriki's thoughts. If there was one thing he could say is that Naruto knew how to follow his instincts and his gut. It was how he had gotten this far as a shinobi.

So Naruto did something that he had never done before with his sensei. He stood straight at him looked him straight in the eye.

"No." he said.

This made Kakashi go wide eyed. Hinata gave out a sigh. Kiba and Akamaru had their jaws on the floor. Shikamaru and Shino seemed to be the only ones calm about this.

"Naruto, give me that ring. That's a direct order." said Kakashi. He didn't want to make it an order but he felt he had no choice. Naruto and him were not on the best of terms right now and he seemed openly defiant at the moment.

"The ring chose me Kakashi." he said. The fact that Naruto didn't call him sensei made even Shikamaru eyes widen and Shino looked more interested on whats going on. Naruto let out a breath "Look, I don't why it did or what it means. What I know is that my gut is telling me that it is mine and that" he pointed to the lantern in Kakashi's hand "is also mine." he finished.

Kakashi was taken aback. Naruto had never been openly defiant before. The only times he did this was if he truly believed in what he perceived to be the right thing. Or maybe he felt angry at him for what happened he wasn't sure.

"Naruto as your teacher I-"

"Since when were you ever my teacher!" he yelled in anger. Shikamaru suddenly realized this was getting personal. Before he could intervene, Naruto suddenly grabbed the lantern out of Kakashi's hand with his left hand so quickly they almost didn't notice.

"Naruto calm down." said Kakashi holding his hands up trying to placate him. Naruto however was having none of it.

"I will not calm down! You were the one that trained Sasuke when we were young! You singled him out of all three of us! You taught him the Chidori! Pervy Sage taught me had to teach me almost everything I know. You were only there when I needed help creating the Rasenshuriken. Even then it was to take out the monster you helped create in the first place!" screamed Naruto. It was true that he was angry at himself mostly but he blamed Kakashi. His special treatment of Sasuke was, in part at least, how Sasuke became the threat that he was.

For his part Kakashi wasn't sure if Naruto was wrong or not.

"Should-Shouldn't we do something. They look like they are about to come to blows." whispered Hinata to her teammates.

"What good could we do? We might be able to stop Kakashi but Naruto? Whatever the ring may or may not have done to him, if he can still go in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode we wouldn't be able to stop him." explained Shino. Shikamaru nodded in agreement with Hinata reluctantly doing the same.

Naruto then turned away from Kakashi trying to calm down. Kakashi still wanted him to listen to him so he reached out to him to grab his shoulder. "Naruto wait-" he began to tell him.

Big mistake.

Naruto then turned around quicker then even Kakashi expected and punched him square in the face. The force powerful enough to send Kakashi into a tree back first. He then slid down landing on his butt groaning, trying to stay conscious but failing miserably.

No sooner had he done it, Naruto's anger soon disappeared. His rage gone he looked at the slump unconscious body of his sensei. Where there was once anger there was now regret. Whatever he had said, true or not, he did not want to hurt Kakashi...at least not knock him out.

Shikamaru quickly ordered Hinata to give a look to how badly Naruto hit him. Before he or Shino or Kiba or Naruto could do anything else however, suddenly what appeared to be a hand seemingly made of green energy shot from nowhere and slammed Naruto into the tree behind him making him drop the lantern in the process.

'Now what?' thought Shikamaru. They then turned around and gasped when they saw two others come down from the sky themselves.

The first being a tall, athletically built, Caucasian male in his early thirties with brown hair. Shikamaru could tell his eye color given his eyes were hidden behind a black green domino mask. The second, the one had the energy hand emitting from his ring, was a dark skinned man with short black hair whose build was similar to the other one if not slightly bulkier.

What Shikamaru is that they wore the same type of uniform that Naruto now wore. The Caucasian wore the exact same design Naruto now wore, minus the fact that his gloves were white. The dark one's on the other hand, while looking similar to his brethren's, was mostly black with his shoulders, wrists and chest were made up of green armor. The main difference was their chest's white circle each had a green lantern while Naruto's only had a white circle.

"Stand down kid." said the darker of the two to the struggling Naruto trying to escape the hold he was in. Shikamaru took a quick look up at the sky above the two visitors to see the sun just now rising. Akamaru was growling at them which Shikamaru then looked to Shino and Kiba who nodded.

'If only they could come to the ground...given that they are flying. Am I actually seeing this? Two guys in green flying?' though Shikamaru. Although their uniforms were a lot better looking then Gai-Sensei's or Lee's. He then looked to Hinata, who was kneeling next to Kakashi to see if he was alright, and walked slowly to her.

"Can Kakashi stand?" he whispered. Hinata shook her head.

"Naruto only punched him hard enough to knock him out. He doesn't appear to have a concussion. He should be fine but he won't be able to wake up for at least an hour." she explained.

The caucasian walked over to where the decease's corpse was, kneeled down and took his pulse. He then turned to his partner. Even with his mask, Shikamaru could tell he was saddened by the passing of what Shikamaru figured was a comrade and friend.

Said partner had the same look of sadness. He shut his eyes in an attempt to contain his emotions. He then turned to his head back to Naruto who he saw was starting to see cracks in his construct. Gripping his wrist, he focused more to keep him contained.

"Kid you need to calm yourself down." said the stranger. Naruto just scoffed at the notion.

"Kinda hard to do that when you suddenly show up and shoot this energy hand at me." he said.

"Kid, the hand is a construct from his ring." mentioned Kurama.

"Yeah considering he's a green lantern I would assume so. What about it?" replied Naruto wondering where Kurama is going with his thoughts.

"Don't be an idiot. You got a ring too so use it!" Kurama shook his head. When Naruto loses his temper it could be a good thing. But for the moment it was being uncooperative. "The ring works through combination of willpower and your imagination. All you have to do is concentrate on something in your mind and create a construct of said object." explained Kurama. Naruto nodded his head although secretly the both knew the real reason why he should use the ring instead of his other abilities.

The truth was that they both knew if he wanted to, Naruto could have busted out of his captors construct in at least several different ways, an obvious one being his Nine-Tails chakra mode. Or even with his own brute strength maybe augmented with chakra. However, one of the many things that he had learned from Pervy Sage was when dealing with possible new enemies was the same way you deal with them in card games.

Never show your hand and never show fear.

The lantern that held him returned to his attention as he talked. "Look my name is John Stewart" he began then turned his head to point out his fellow lantern "My partner there is Hal Jordan. We're Green Lanterns from Sector-"

"2814." interrupted Naruto as he secretly concentrated his ring glowing. John didn't notice because he had pinned both of his arms in the "hand" hold. "Yeah I know who you are and which sector you're from and what planets and systems are there." he said.

"No need to get smug. Just making sure your ring's galactic encyclopedia had worked into your system. Its seamless but a little disorienting for new recruits." he explained.

"No shit its disorienting. I've been sorting this crap out since that thing put you in uniform." said Kurama. Naruto just rolled his eyes at that.

"Now I don't know what he" pointing at the still unconscious Kakashi "did to you but hopefully you got it out of your system. Now relax and-"

"You know I don't feel very relaxed right now." he said. It was then John noticed his ring glowing. "So how about I fix that!" he yelled as suddenly a green bubble surrounded Naruto. Then it expanded to the point where John couldn't hold the construct together and then suddenly he heard that familiar almost glass like cracking noise. He did his best but then just like that Naruto crossed his hands and with a yell uncrossed his arms and exploded his bubble breaking his construct in a loud crash noise similar to glass crashing. The force of it sent John from his floating position to just being able to land on his feet on the ground

From there Naruto saw his chance. Instinctively he formed a kunai construct into his right hand and charged towards John Stewart. By the time John managed to recover from the initial shock of Naruto breaking his construct, he was behind him, grabbed his ring hand in a submission lock and had the kunai on his throat.

'Damn the kid's fast' John thought. He looked to his partner who for the life of him he couldn't figure out why was still kneeling at Tomar-Re's corpse.

"Hal a little help here." he said.

"Wish I could." said Hal with gritted teeth as he found himself unable to move. "But for some reason I can't move."

Naruto looked at Hals feet or more precisely his shadow. He then saw a familiar connection between Hal's shadow and trailed it down to the familiar kneeling position that Shikamaru was in along with the Nara clan's signature hand seal. Naruto just smiled at how easily Shikamaru could do that.

"Shadow Possession Jutsu Complete." said Shikamaru as he stood up with Hal also standing up against his will. They then both turned to Naruto. Which from there Kiba had order Akamaru to stand right in front of him He did from there Akamaru started growling.

"Grrrrr!"

"OK I think the balls in their court now." he muttered to himself seeing this giant dog growling and looking at him like he was a very large piece of meat.

"OK Naruto. Judging from these guys I have to say some of the stuff you said earlier now has some weight attached." he said. "Question is why are you guys here?"

"We came because of the beacon we got from Tomar." grunted John who felt Naruto grip on his hand like a vice the pain keeping him from concentrating thus unable to create constructs. "In it he told us an old enemy of ours had badly wounded him. We wanted to make sure if he was alive or dead. Seeing you in our uniform was enough to know that the ring had chosen another user." he further explained.

Naruto tightened his grip on John hand making him grunt in pain as he felt that Naruto would break his hand at the rate he was tightening on it like a vice.

"That doesn't explain why you decided to attack me." said Naruto in a menacing tone.

"That was him being a little presumptuous." responded Hal Jordan "After seeing you deck the guy with white hair, he thought you were going to attack the others. We Green Lanterns can pack a punch with our rings and all. He was just trying to make sure everyone was safe." he further explained.

"Makes sense to me." said Shino who then turned to Naruto "What do you think?"

"Why ask me?" said Naruto. This kind of stuff usually would be up to Kakashi or Shikamaru if it wasn't Shino. They were the most level headed people he had ever known.

"You seemed to know more about this then we do. After all, you received our decease's ring." said Shino.

Naruto thought about it for a moment. The power ring's encyclopedia he had received detailed information about GL protocol so what John said made a certain kind of sense. Still that left one more question on Naruto's mind.

"Why did you attack me then?"

"That was a mistake obviously." the answer came from Hal Jordan as continued to struggle in the hold Shikamaru had him in. Though he knew that he could break his hold using his power ring Hal and John weren't looking for a fight. Despite John's obviously reckless behavior.

"Look we all have seemed to have gotten off on the wrong foot here. My fellow lantern here was overly emotional over Tomar-Re's death and overreacted. Our friend is dead so can we please stop trying to see who has the better abilities." he turned to Shikamaru "Please." he said with quiet desperation.

Shikamaru and Shino turned to Naruto. He then turned to Hinata and they each silently agreed. Even though there was some mistakes on their part, the actions they took was in part the response from seeing what was clear a friend and comrade in arms dying. Shikamaru immediately released his Shadow Possession while Naruto let John go of the submission hold he had. John rubbed his hand to restore some feeling in it while Hal rolled his shoulders to remove the kinks.

"Thanks." he said to Shikamaru who just nodded. It was then he realized that, besides the white haired guy who was unconscious, the rest of them were kids. No older then sixteen by the looks of them. Including the new recruit.

Said recruit then spoke up "Uh I don't mean to be a downer now that we are no longer killing each other but shouldn't one of you take Tomar back to his homeworld for his family to bury him?" he asked.

John nodded as he went to the body of Tomar-Re. He sighed wishing this was one duty he hated above all else. Both from his time in the marines and now as a Green Lantern. He then used his ring to create a tomb construct around Tomar in the shape fo the lantern symbol and lifted off the ground which he soon followed.

"I'll take Tomar's body back to Xudar and inform the Guardians on what has happened." he said.

"And where does that leave me then?" asked Naruto.

"Hal has seniority as a Green Lantern, he'll fill you in on how Tomar landed on your planet." said John. "As soon as you get your friend there to tell his dog to let him go." he said with a smirk. Saying this while Hal Jordan was trying to placate the dog with a bone construct without success. "And he will be the one to take you to Oa...if you decide that is." he finished before flying off with Tomar's body in tow toward the sky. By then they could only see a glimpse of green light then nothing.

"OK then." said Hal looking up at his friend before turning back to Kiba and Akamaru "Kid could please tell your dog to let me pass please!?"

Kiba just scoffed "No offense pal but when Akamaru doesn't like you he I tend do differ to his judgment."

"He's a dog for pity's sake!" Hal yelled at him. Akamaru barked even louder and Hal then changed his bone into a cannon.

Hinata moved away from Kakashi's limp body, walked up to Akamaru and peted his head. Nearly instantly Akamaru calmed down and moved in for more of her petting.

"Kiba we need to take Kakashi-Sensei to the Medical Corps. I think he will be okay but he needs to be checked for a concussion just in case." she explained. Kiba pouted but he silently agreed.

Hearing that Naruto felt even more guilty for hitting him as hard as he had. Even so, as he looked backed to their argument he wondered if it was just the punch that he was wrong about.

"Plus we could use more details on what our...visitor wants with Naruto." said Shino.

Shikamaru nodded in agreement and turned to Naruto "Would you mind escorting our guest to the Lady Hokage?" he asked.

Naruto just nodded his head.

Kiba picked up Kakashi and set him on Akamaru's back then turned his head. "See you back home. Or what will be home again." then they, along with Shino and Hinata, moved out.

This left Naruto with Hal and Shikamaru "Look guys I am at a bit of a disadvantage. Why don't we try starting over. You guys know my name so what's yours?' he asked.

Naruto moved forward "My name is Naruto Uzumaki." he said. Hal smiled then held out his hand. Naruto looked at it for a moment then shook it. "Shikamaru why don't you head on home with the others. I'll take Hal here to Gran-err Lady Tsunade myself." he told him.

Shikamaru just sighed "Fine. Its like six in the morning I need to get some sleep." he then became serious. "Be careful man." he then jumped into the trees heading out of the forest.

Hal just looked up at how all of them just jumped onto trees. "Interesting friends you got there. Last one there seemed pretty lazy though"

"Don't let him fool you. Shikamaru Nara is one of the smartest guys I know. The guy who had his dog threatening you was Kiba and Akamaru. He's one of the toughest ninjas around especially when they use their combined jutsu." explained Naruto remembering his battle with Kiba.

'Ninja?' questioned Hal in his head. Realizing his confusion Naruto just smiled.

"Right. On your planet there are only certain kinds of people who are Shinobi." that gave Naruto pause "Come to think of it I can't find anything on us from the encyclopedia the ring implanted me with."

"That's because there isn't much or any information on Ajnin or the Ajnian people." said Hal. Naruto was shocked to hear that. "Hey don't look at me I don't why you guys aren't in there until now. Even when I became the first human Green Lantern my race was in there. Though not very well or looked upon with much pride."

This made Naruto more then a little concerned. However, as he continued to think about it he suddenly realized that they were not the only species that was sentient. Hell they weren't the only species in the universe period.

'How come we never thought about this before!?' he thought to himself. Suddenly he felt a little light headed.

"Hey easy pal." said Hal putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry." said Naruto as he shook it off. "It just now hitting me that my race, who we have been calling ourselves humans for as long as I can tell, are suddenly not the only ones with claim to that title. Hell you just called us something completely different!"

"Hey calm down Naruto I get it. Been there done that with the whole not only species thing. Trust me you'll get used to it." said Hal. "If it makes you feel any better, what little info we have on you guys says that your people are pretty much the same as mine." said Hal. "Look if its all the same to you we should get going to meet this Lady whatever you said she was so I can explain what's happened."

Naruto nodded in response again shaking his head. "Now you better grab you battery before we depart."

"My what?" he asked. Hal just sighed.

"Your lantern." he pointed at the green lantern standing a few feet from him. "Its your battery for your ring. Every three days or so you need to recharge it. Trust me if you decide to join us you will need it." Hal explained.

Naruto went to grab the handle on the battery then looked down at his ring. 'So that mean this thing has limits. Make sense to me. Every weapon, no matter how powerful, has limitations to how it works' he thought

"Alright then." said Hal as green energy once again surrounded him and he lifted himself of the ground to at least ten feet above. Naruto gazing in awe once again as he saw him fly.

"OK kid your turn." said Hal snapping him out of his stupor.

"Huh? How the hell do you expect me to fly!?" he complained from the ground.

"Use your ring let it do the work. Trust me unlike everything else you'll learn about it, that's pretty much the easiest. Not to mention the most fun!" he explained. Naruto shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes. He concentrated his will just as he did when breaking free of John Stewart's construct and creating the kunai.

At the same moment he felt himself getting lighter. Seconds later he opened his eyes and nearly panicked. He was at the same level as Hal. It took a minute before he calmed down.

"OK then lets go." he said. Naruto looked at him like someone hit him in the head.

"Are you nuts!? I am high above the trees and all you can say lets go!?"

"Just let it flow. Its easy. And since you are the only one who knows the planet, I need you to be my guide." Hal explained.

Naruto sighed in response. Hal moved in front of him which Naruto soon followed. Now while Naruto was in no way afraid of heights this was really high.

The fear didn't last though as soon they started flying. As he looked down below him he started realizing something. That fear soon turned to excitement.

He was flying!

Naruto soon realized how free he felt up in the clouds. No strings dying him down. Gravity not holding him back. He then flew ahead of Hal as great speed doing moonsaults in the air laughing like a kid with his new favorite toy. Hal just smiled and shook his head.

Naruto soon flew back next to Hal "Wow! Ha Ha Ha! Now I know why Hoshigakura used their chakra to create wings to fly. It's amazing."

While Hal agreed with the new recruit, part of him wondered about what he was talking about. Especially when he heard the word 'chakra'.

"Yeah it is. No engine no flight controls. Just...freedom." Hal responded.

Naruto questioned what he meant by flight controls before he referenced that humans used machines and technology to fly. Naruto was still uncomfortable calling another species but didn't bring it up.

"So where are you taking me exactly?" asked Hal

"I told you I am taking you to see Gra-Lady Tsunade. Explain to her what you told me and what I tried to explain to my teammates." said Naruto coming to the conclusion that it would be better if Hal Jordan, a man who can be confirmed to at least not be a shinobi from his lack of a chakra network, would be better suited to explain what has happened.

Fly toward the camp where the village was being rebuilt, Naruto could see that it was already daybreak. The sun now just popping out and morning beginning. They flew in silence for about halfway until Hal decided to speak once again.

"So can I ask a question?" Naruto nodded. "What been happening on this planet?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto said though he already had a guess on what Hal meant.

"I mean when me and John had gotten to the surface area and headed to the forest you guys were in the surface looked like a war zone. We craters, battle scars on the land, hell when we passed the mountain there a lot less then there should have been. Like the mountains had been blown up. Care to tell someone whats going on?" asked Hal.

Naruto cringed at the last part remembering that he, in Tailed-Beast Mode, had blasted aside seven Tailed Beast Balls from the resurrected Tailed Beasts. Not sure what to tell him and given the fact they were nearing the village camp, Naruto made a quick statement.

"Cliff notes version: there was a conflict called the Fourth Great Ninja War. If you want more details ask the Hokage about it when we meet her. Suffice it to say we won and it was brutal." he then noticed the perplexion on Hal's face "Look I don't know how you guys don't know about any of this but we are here so lets table this for now."

Hal looked ahead and found the 'village' that Naruto's friend mentioned. Village being a strong word seeing as how there was what appeared to be signs of a massive crater big enough for a small city. To say Hal was surprised to say the least. Overhead he could see that where building an shops used to be were now temporary housing developments as well as many smaller shops and restaurants. Hal assumed they must be for the construction workers having to live in the area as well as the civilian population.

'Not to mention soldiers.' he thought.

Both Naruto and Hal landed in the middle of the village. This stopped all the people who were working. Some even dropped their piece of wood or tool when they saw Naruto and the other stranger just come down from the sky.

"Lets just get to the tower." muttered Naruto not liking the attention they were giving. Walking ahead they moved to one of the only structure Tazuna's crew managed to rebuild. The Hokage Tower.

As they moved in Naruto could feel the villagers and workers gawking at them until he heard a familiar voice scream "Get back to work you bums!".

For the first time, Hal saw Naruto smile.

(Office of the Hokage)

Tsunade had been sitting in her office, waiting Naruto and the visitor. Before Shikamaru returned home he went to the Hokage to explain what had happened in the Forest of Death. Although Tsunade had taken Shikamaru at his word she was still skeptical of his report. That was why, along with Shizune, she also had Neji in the room. Since Sakura's death and Shizune being assistant to the Hokage the medical corps had been stretched then. Hinata and Ino were needed to check on the wounded with now Kakashi being among them.

Tsunade had sighed at that mention though not entirely surprised. With Naruto grieving his temper had to be all over the place.

'I'll lecture him about it later.' she thought to herself.

When Naruto and Hal appeared Tsunade had her eyes widen and Naruto's new attire. She read the report but still it was odd seeing Naruto in something besides his orange and black jump suit. What made her brows cross was the new visitor: Hal Jordan.

For his part, Hal couldn't help but realize how beautiful the leader of this village was. When Naruto realizing where Hal was staring he went over to him quickly.

"I wouldn't stare too long at her. Last guy who looked at her like that ended up nearly dead. Trust me on this." he whispered.

"Please how bad could it be?"

"I mean it literally." deadpanned Naruto.

Hal quickly heeded his advice and went into diplomatic mode.

"Greetings Lady Tsunade." said Hal Jordan. "My name is-"

"Shikamaru told me who you are Mr. Jordan." Tsunade interrupted "Before we continue there is one matter we need to confirm." she then nodded to Neji.

Neji then activated his Byakugan and ran a scan on Hal. Neji could see Naruto's and Tsunade's chakra network working fine. When he looked at Hal however all he could see was a black, blank canvas of a human being. No chakra whatsoever.

"Its true. He had no chakra running through him. Not even a chakra network to speak of." said Neji astonished since he had never seen this before

"Uh not one to sound offensive but what is with his weird eyes suddenly getting weirder and what exactly is a chakra network?" asked Hal.

"When Hinata was on the scene she examined your dead friend's body. She discovered that he did not have what we call the chakra network." explained Tsunade. "To answer one of your questions, the chakra network, in layman's terms, is basically a second vascular system but instead of blood it pumps the energy inside us known as chakra."

"And the bit about this guy and the girl I met with their eyes?" Hal repeated.

"Trade secret." said Neji with his eyes returning to normal albeit still completely white eyes. Hal took the hint that it wasn't something he should ask again. Neji turned to Tsunade who nodded to him giving him permission to leave the room.

"Now that we have established that fact..." said Tsunade while looking at Naruto in his new uniform "Maybe you can explain to me what exactly you are doing here?"

"As I explained to...Shikamaru was it?" he turned to Naruto who just nodded "Right, basically we got Tomar-Re's distress beacon. We came to your planet hoping that he might still be alive. As you probably know already he was dead when we arrived."

"And your partner attacking Naruto?" asked Tsunade. This made Hal a little more uncomfortable. Fortunately Naruto decided to step in.

"He saw me punch Kakashi-Sensei. John figured I may have used the ring given the force was enough to knock him unconscious." said Naruto. Tsunade looked him. Naruto then remained silent after that.

"That was part of it. He was afraid that Naruto used his ring. I know you don't know much about us ma'am but our rings are very powerful weapons. I mean in the right hands it could be used to decimate armies." he said. That got everyone's attention.

"Since we are getting to that subject, what exactly are Green Lanterns?" said Tsunade getting to the nitty gritty of the issue. "I also still find it hard to believe that you and your friend's are from another planet. Pardon me for saying so Mr. Jordan-"

"Please call me Hal ma'am. Calling me mister makes me feel old." said Hal. The sudden interruption soon made Tsunade, Naruto and Shizune snigger.

"Did I say something funny?" he asked.

"Our Lady Hokage is...older then she looks." said Shizune with a smile on her face.

"To get back on track." said Naruto suddenly. "Both Neji and Hinata pretty much confirmed that they aren't from around here. I can also verify which planet and space sector that they are from Lady Tsunade." said Naruto.

That last bit caught Tsunade and Shizune off guard.

'Naruto never call Lady Tsunade by her name before.' thought Shizune.

Shaking her head Tsunade returned to her attention to Naruto.

"And how do you know this all of a sudden?" she asked.

"Because along with other things this ring has given me a galactic encyclopedia which allows me access to pretty much everything in this galaxy. Well everything besides our own planet. Strangely enough there's nothing on us in the database" Naruto explained .

Tsunade put up her hand to stop Naruto from saying anymore. "If you believe in what you says then I believe it." she said. It made Naruto gave a genuine smile on his face when he heard that.

Hal was surprised at how quickly she had trusted Naruto with what he was saying. From what he could tell Naruto was just a kid no older then seventeen. Yet the way Tsunade just spoke to him with such respect, it seemed odd.

Hal was soon woken from his own thoughts when Tsunade turned her attention back to him. "Again I ask Hal Jordan. What is a Green Lantern?"

"Basically a Green Lantern is I guess you could say a champion for their space sector. As a whole we are called the Green Lantern Corps. We are a military/police force for the entire universe."

"So there are more of you?" asked Tsunade.

"Yes three thousand six hundred of us. One for each space sector." said. Hal

'That many?' thought Naruto looking at his ring.

"Who created the Corps?" asked Tsunade.

"The Guardians. Powerful immortal beings. They created the rings we use and they govern and advise us."

"You mentioned that your rings are said to be very powerful. Can you elaborate?"

Hal decided for this part to do a demonstration. He used his ring to create a construct of flowers. Tsunade stood up and walked to him. He then held them out for her to touch it.

"It feels real." she said.

"When we focus our will power we can use the ring to create constructs of any object we can imagine. From flowers to guns, missiles, you name it." said Hal. He then looked a bit sad.

"Whats wrong?" asked Naruto.

"Tomar-Re told me once that a rings limits are only by what you can imagine." he then had the construct disappear and rubbed his eyes.

"I'm sorry I don't think its hit me quite yet."

"He was a friend of yours I take it?" said Tsunade

Hal just nodded. He then felt a comforting hand on his left arm and looked to see Tsunade grasping his arm and looking at him with sympathy.

"I'm sorry for your loss." she said.

Hal shook his head. "Um, anyway that's why rings are so powerful." he said trying to get back on the subject at hand.

Naruto, experiencing grief himself, soon found a way to do that by asking a question of his own.

"Why green though? No offense to it but my favorite color is orange." said Naruto.

"Well that's because green is the color of will. The will to live, the will to fight, that's what the color represents." said Hal.

Naruto then looked at his uniform, ring, and lantern with some new appreciation and respect from hearing that. Will as definitely something he knew about.

"Where do we get this power from?" he then asked.

"Your ring is charged by your battery." he said pointing at the lantern in his left hand. "You see the rings don't have unlimited energy. Every so often, like three days or so depending how much you use, you need to place your ring in the lantern to recharge. I'll show you how later if you want. Our batteries source come from the main battery on Oa. The headquarters for the entire Corps. The energy charges your lantern which in turn charges you ring." he then looked him over for a second.

"Even you uniform is a construct of the ring believe it or not." When Hal said that Naruto once again looked at his uniform. "It can even change your eye color if you allow it to."

"I have green eyes now!?" he turned to Tsunade who had Shizune fetch him a small mirror. He then used it to look at his face. Sure enough his eyes were as green as his uniform.

'Its a good look for you Kid.' piped in Kurama. Naruto was about to retort when Hal spoke again.

"If you want you can adjust so it doesn't do that. Your eye color will change back when you switch out of uniform. It helps when you have to keep you identity secret." he explained.

Naruto decided not to bother with it and come to the one question that was bothering all of them.

"Why did Tomar-Re's ring chose me?" he asked.

"Whenever a Green Lantern dies or retires from the Corps. His or her ring leaves them to choose a new bearer to take up the mantle. In order to be chosen, the person must have the ability to overcome great fear. Tomar sent the ring while he was dying and it chose you."

To Tsunade and Shizune it suddenly made sense. From Shikamaru's report, Naruto mentioned to them that he had been chosen. Now they knew why.

If anybody had the ability to overcome fear it was Naruto. He had that in spades.

"So what happens to Naruto now then Hal?" asked Tsunade

"That depends on Naruto." he answered.

"Huh?" was his response. The same notion was felt with Tsunade and Shizune.

"Naruto I'm not going to lie to you." Hal began "If you decide to join us you will have to leave Ajnin. Not permanently but you will have to leave to train to become a full fledged Green Lantern. And even if you succeed it's a hard life where you will be spending a lot of time on your own protecting not just this planet but this entire space sector."

"Much of it will mean fighting. Not of all of it will include violence. Majority of it yeah but not all of it. It won't be easy as I already said." he then smiled. "But not all of it is bad. You could still have a life on Ajnin. When you're off-duty you can explore worlds, come back here for rest, whenever. When you're not on missions being a Green Lantern can give you a freedom that few beings in your sector will ever have."

"But its still my choice if I don't want it." asked Naruto.

"Yes. Normally the decision would be made in front of the Guardians but I got a good feeling about you. Plus you are one of the youngest Green Lanterns to be chosen that I have seen save for one other. I feel its my responsibility to tell you what you would be in for if you choose to become a Green Lantern. And to let you know that you don't have to if you don't want to." he finished.

Naruto was speechless. About a day ago he was grieving for the loss of the woman he loved and now just like that he had the choice to join an illustrious interstellar military. One which he was sure that had already filled with heroes in their own rights. Part of him was excited at this opportunity.

He then looked at Tsunade and Shizune and realized the downside of this. It would mean leaving his home. For a long time if Hal was correct. Traveling to different worlds solving crisis after crisis on different levels of severity. Was he ready to handle that?

"I-I need some time." was all he could say.

"Naruto's right. If everything you say is true then this decision should not be made lightly." said Tsunade. Truth was she didn't know what to do about this either. Given Naruto's state of mind lately she didn't know what he would do.

"I understand and I agree. This isn't a decision that can be made overnight." he then turned to back to Naruto.

"I will give you some time Naruto but only so much. I don't want to pressure you but the Guardians can only wait for so long. I have to report back to Oa to explain to the Guardians what's happened. I will give you about five days to make your decision. Just remember it's your choice. Go with what your heart tells you." said Hal.

He turned back to Lady Tsunade and bowed. "Ma'am its been a pleasure to meet you." he said.

"Thank you Hal." she responded.

Taking one last look at Naruto, Hal had one more thing to say to the young man.

"For what its worth, part of me hopes you join us. I don't know why but I think Tomar-Re's ring chose you for a reason. I don't know how I know this but I think you would make and outstanding Green Lantern." he said.

He then turned to the window and asked if Shizune could open the window. She did so and Hal was soon surrounded with green energy and flew out the window at great speed into the sky.

Leaving Naruto with a monumental decision to make.

Finally got this out! I wish I had a good reason for taking so long with chapter 3 but truth is I have been lazy. Plus being still relatively new at this I have been having trouble with writing my thoughts down. My original intention was for Naruto to make his decision in this chapter but I figured you guys waited long enough. I do hope this was worth it. I apologize deeply for the lateness and if this chapter sucks. I hope its good I really do.

Now to point out some things: I have updated my summary but I will explain that the beginning of this is three years before season one of Young Justice. Which means by the time he meets the team Naruto will be nineteen years old. Reason I did this is because I wanted him to get trained and get himself something of a reputation. Don't worry I won't into too much info. Suffice it to say I got inspired from many things such as Mass Effect and Star Wars. So if you see instances of those that's me paying homage to those two things.

Also I will point out that Naruto's current uniform is NOT going to be his permanent uniform. I have an idea in my head already. Not going to reveal it yet but be patient. Suffice it to say I saw it from somewhere that I will not say and it is awesome!

Again thank you for any support you guys give. Please leave reviews to help me and point out my flaws. Seriously I need all the help I can get.