FWEET!

Goku lowered his hand from his forehead. Taking in a deep breath, he looked around. Before him lay a crowded street of the Hidden Leaf Village. Merchants sold goods as before. Citizens walked and swept and carried supplies in every direction, occasionally casting a fearful glance into the distance. Above, a housewife beat a rug into cleanliness with a single kick. Below, an old man on a bench reached over and petted a sleeping nineko curled up next to a ninja hound, calmly eating a rice ball as he watched a pair of friends playfully arguing at the counter in a restaurant across the street. From the next street over came a loud "I TOLD YOU I'M NOT FAT!", followed by a loud crash.

As Goku took in the scene, two children chasing a puppy ran out of an alley and turned toward him. The girl in the lead reached out to grab the puppy's tale, but tripped on a rock and plunged toward the dirt.

"Whoa, there!" Goku dashed forward, effortlessly catching the child and returning her to her feet. "That could have been nasty.

The girl's eyes widened. A brilliant smile spread across her face. "GOKU!"

Up and down the street, heads turned and faces broke into excited grins as everyone recognized the Hero of the Hidden Leaf.

"Hey, Goku's back!"

"Goku! Where have you been?"

"Good to see you, Goku!"

"Come have dinner with us! My husband is a great cook!"

"Goku, will you marry me now?"

"Hi, everybody!" Goku laughed. "It's great to be back!" Waving and greeting everyone around him, Goku, slowly made his way down the street toward his destination.

Word spread like wildfire throughout the village. "Hey, guys! Goku's back!" A citizen yelled into the Nara household. "Finally, something that isn't a drag," Shikamaru said, standing up from his desk full of war maps.

Elsewhere, a runner dashed out of the Hyuuga stronghold with several Hyuuga in tow. "Goku's here! Spread the word!" She called to another woman sprinting across the rooftops.

"Got it!" The woman broke off and ran in another direction.

Beneath the hospital, another messenger burst into Sakura and Ino's makeshift lab. "Goku just came back!"

Ino dropped her clipboard. "He is? How does my hair look?" She turned to her reflection in a lab table and started frantically running her fingers through her hair.

"Don't waste your time," Sakura said, switching off her equipment. "Goku doesn't notice that stuff, and even if he did, he's probably taken already."

"Shut up, Billboard-Brow!" Ino shouted, running off before Sakura could reply.

Gradually, Goku made his way through the smiling crowd to Ichiraku's. As he ducked under the entryway, a woman at the full counter gladly offered her stool to him. "Thanks!" Goku said, taking a seat.

Teuchi appeared from the back. "Good to see you again, Goku!"

"Good to be back, Teuchi!" Goku said. "Hope you've got plenty of ramen, 'cause I just finished training, and I'm REALLY hungry!" Three large diamonds clattered onto the counter and the words left him.

Teuchi's smile widened. "I was hoping you'd say that. Give me a minute." He disappeared into the back again, only to return a moment later. In his arms rested a gigantic ramen bowl, measuring a full meter across and piled so high it looked like it would fall over at any second. "What do you think? I call it my brand-new Saiyan-sized Ramen Bowl!"

Goku's face lit up. "AWESOME!" The bowl hit the counter. Goku's chopsticks hit the bowl. "That was great! Another one, please!"

The crowd watched in silence. "That one lasted 3 whole seconds!" Somebody said.

One by one, the gigantic bowls piled up at Goku's elbow as the crowd stared wide-eyed at the spectacle. Ino elbowed her way through to the front, adjusting her hair as she waited for Goku to turn in her direction. As she did, a splotch of sauce flew out of somewhere and landed on her head. "Guess he noticed after all," Sakura grinned as Ino fumed.

From seemingly nowhere, a friendly hand smacked Goku on the back. "Goku, it's good to see that big, ridiculous hair again!"

Goku set down another empty bowl. "Hey, Gai! How's the training going?"

"It's going great! How about when you're done here, we head out and experience the fires of youth in rigorous punching and kicking once more?"

"That sounds-"

"Alright, that's enough everyone!" A stern voice at the back of the crowd cut him off. "You can talk to Goku later!"

"Looks like Lady Hokage wants a word with you," Gai said. "Well, don't you worry, Goku! You can show me your new stuff later!" He turned to go.

"Hey, hold on a sec!" Goku reached into his pocket and produced a small cloth bag. "I got those senzu beans I promised you. Sorry again about them not being able to grow here.

"Thanks a million, Goku!" Gai said, accepting the bag. "I'll put these to good use, just you wait and see!" Before he could elaborate, Tsunade appeared through the crowd.

"Back to business, everyone!" she said to the crowd. "Goku will still be around for awhile! Go back to what you were doing!"

One by one, the crowd dispersed, many promising to talk to Goku when he was done. At last, they were gone, and Tsunade took a stool next to Goku.

"Well, hi Tsunade!" Goku said cheerfully, slurping a noodle. "What have you been up to?"

Tsnuade didn't return Goku's smile as she rested her hands on the counter. "I've been busy, Goku. Remember that war I told you about last time? It happened."

"Really? You're lucky. I don't think I've ever fought in a war. I mean, there was this one time I beat up a whole army, but that was when I was a kid."

Tsunade blinked. "My point is…" She lowered her voice. "I need your help."

"Huh?"

Tsunade slipped him the picture from the file. "Does he look familiar to you?"

Goku studied the picture. "Not really. Who is he?"

"His name is Sasuke Uchiha. He's a former Leaf shinobi, but now he fights for the enemy. A few years ago he betrayed his friends and ran off the train under one of the most vile ninja the Leaf ever produced. Now, he's running wild across the nations, murdering, destroying, all in the name of avenging some perceived wrong by slaughtering the Hidden Leaf and all her allies.

Goku swallowed. "That's awful!"

"It gets worse. As an Uchiha, Sasuke has a set of powerful eyes that give him access to jutsu the rest of us can't even attempt. Every time we try to take him down, he uses these jutsu to kill our forces before they can even get close to him. And with each battle, his power grows immeasurably."

"WHERE IS HE?" A harsh voice demanded. "GOKU!" Neji burst into Ichiraku's.

"Oh hey, you're that blind guy from before, right?" Goku asked.

"I TOLD YOU, I'M NOT BLIND, YOU SPIKY-HAIRED SIMPLETON!" Neji shouted. "Look, never mind that. Whatever you do, you must stop Sasuke, no matter what it takes. The bastard can't live after what he's done."

"What did he do?" Goku asked, but Neji had already ducked out.

"I hope you'll forgive Neji," Tsunade apologized. "He has a good reason to be angrier than usual about Sasuke, and I can't blame him."

"Big Brother Goku!" Konohamaru ran into Ichiraku's, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"Oh, hi Konohamaru!" Goku said. "Did you grow since the last time I saw you?"

Konohamaru's red, distraught eyes gazed up into Goku's, welling. "You have to help Big Brother Naruto! He needs you!"

"He does?" Goku asked, concern spreading across his face.

"I'm afraid so," Tsunade confirmed, her shoulders slumping as her eyes drifted downward. "Naruto hasn't been himself for some time, and no one in the village can seem to help him. Every day, he seems to slip further and further into the darkness, and I don't like to think about what will happen if he can't be cheered up, and soon.

"He's really that sad?" Goku asked in disbelief. "What happened?

Tsunade cast a glance toward the flashes in the distance. "It's… it's probably best if you hear it from him."