The atmosphere of Konoha was very somber as people made their way home from a long day of hard work. Just a few wandered around drunk and confused. And apart from the wails of the few children who were still trying to keep their parents from sending them home, everything looked and sounded calm for the night.

A girl with midnight blue hair that flowed down her back was walking calmly. She'd been instructed to approach the Hokage for an emergency mission. Annoyingly enough, the Anbu messenger had awakened her from a pleasant dream to instruct her of the Hokage's wishes.

She sighed as a breeze nipped at her cheeks and lips, sending out her hair behind her with the beautiful undulations of a starry night sky. She smoothed it down and quickened her pace when she felt like she might be tardy. There was no need to make people feel more disappointed in her than they already were.

She passed by people who were seemingly happy and minding their own business. She wondered what it would be like to feel that happy and at peace…to be loved? She cast the thought from her mind as soon as it appeared. There was no need to continue dwelling on the past.

"Hinata." She snapped alert and looked to her left to see Sakura approaching her. Beside her was Shikamaru, who looked like he was about to fall asleep while he walked. The Nara genius looked at the Hyuga heiress and sighed.

"You've been called too, huh?" He asked, doubtful that this mission would be any less troublesome than its predecessors. He yawned loudly, indifferent as usual to the conversation around him.

The trio made their way to the Hokage's office where they met Shino and Kakashi. For a moment, they were all disturbed at the prospect that Kakashi was actually present on time. He usually had a black cat crossing his path or an old woman to help. They drew their attention to the Hokage when he cleared his throat.

Danzo, who sat quietly at his desk, looking through a handful of papers. The old man was stoic as always, feeling obliged to remain the enigma he was proud to be. When he finally decided to give his attention the shinobi he called before them, he grunted and sighed deeply.

"I called you here for a very important reason. There is a person I wish for you five to accompany on his journey to Iwagakure. A rather peculiar mission, yes."

Everyone remained silent as Danzo related the details of their mission to the shinobi; they were to guard this man from the Land of Earth to the Land of Lightning. For both Kakashi and Shikamaru, this mission peaked their intellectual interest. Usually, a mission of this status wouldn't require a team like this. And usually, two geniuses wouldn't be thrown together on the same mission. Two geniuses meant slow decision making, which would affect the length of the mission. Despite their deep contemplations, Kakashi and Shikamaru kept their thoughts to themselves.

Danzo slid the manila envelope to Kakashi, the team leader, who calmly took up the file opened it. From the content, everything was actually normal, a simple B-rank mission. The client was a man named Kazuo Anzai, a simple civilian. If this was the case, then why was protection needed? Danzo seemed to sense the famous copy ninja's question.

"The protection of this man is key to this mission. He has information of the utmost importance that must be delivered at all costs." Danzo spoke with a smooth, yet calculated voice, as if he were informing a team of genin that their first mission involved finding a lost cat. He turned in his chair to look through the window at the village. His village. The city seemed to be sleeping, like it was under some genjutsu. His mind wandered to the white-haired sanin who was always away on self-appointed mission. Danzo had to make sure the information stayed hidden. "You move in an hour." He said quietly, his back facing them. The shinobi turned to leave and pack up for the journey.

"Kakashi…wait behind." Danzo stated, causing Kakashi to pause and allow the others to walk out. After everyone had left, Danzo turned and faced him.

"Hatake Kakashi, there is absolutely no room for failure on this mission, if not for your team's safety, then for the sake of a good alliance between Iwagakure and Konoha." Danzo's voice was rigid and serious, but he abruptly nodded for Kakashi to leave.

Kakashi bowed to show respect and left slowly. To him, this mission was something else entirely. He had an eerie hunch that the reason they were to leave at this hour of night was for it to be as secret as possible. He let the worry that snuck into his mind remain there. It would make him cautious, the key element of survival on a mission like this.

A figure stood quietly on top of a tree, checking his surrounding to see if he'd out run his trackers. He looked up at the night sky and gazed at the sight in wonder. The sky was so beautiful, studded with millions of gleaming stars. These stars were his only friends now. They never thought anything bad of him, or believed him to be guilty of anything.

A kunai whizzed and imbedded itself in his chest.

The clone exploded in a swirling cloud of smoke. Another figure erupted from the shadows of a tree with a kunai in hand and headed toward his pursuers. He sent the kunai flying but one of his adversaries blocked it…and noticed the explosive tag too late.

Debris flew everywhere as two Anbu emerged from the smoke of the explosion. They were already panting from exhaustion. They'd been hunting this person for so long that they hadn't gotten a chance to rest. A figure landed in front of them, his face covered in the shadows of the night. However, his forehead protector was plainly visible. It was slashed but it was recognizable.

"Give up already?" The shadow asked in a calm tone. He was clearly surprised by the weakness he'd brought onto his Anbu pursuers. He had one severely injured and two almost totally drained of their chakra.

He smiled. He wasn't going to kill them, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to have some fun with them. He took out a kunai and formed a seal. Two clones appeared in a puff of smoke, one on either side. Without warning, they charged toward the Anbu. The sharp clash of kunai on kunai rang out through the forest. One Anbu was soon close enough to kill one of the clones…ready to slash it away…

But in a fierce turn of events, the clone exploded, throwing the Anbu down hard on the ground. The single remaining Anbu glanced around at the others and looked at the criminal standing before him, not a single scratch on him. It seemed like he was smiling at the Anbu's willingness to still fight even though at a pitiful disadvantage.

The figure turned his back.

"I'll leave you to take care of your friends," he said and turned into another cloud of swirling smoke. He left the Anbu behind, stunned. They'd been following and fighting a clone all along.

Far from the scene of skirmish, the creator of the clones was stoic, standing stock still, and looking at the shadows around him as the memories of the clones came into his mind. He slowly removed his hood and allowed the night air to kiss his face and mousse spiky hair. Uzumaki Naruto. He looked at the sky again. Really, the sky seemed like the only friend he had.

He turned to face the road before him. His next stop was Kusagakure, and, if possible, he would make his way to Iwagakure too. Sasuke and Orochimaru couldn't run forever. Naruto would make sure of that. He smiled and within a second, he was gone, leaping from tree to tree, allowing his actions during his criminal life go through his mind. He spent every time he had chasing after Sasuke and Orochimaru trying to find them. He'd met his old friend once and the fight had not been what he'd expected.

-FLASHBACK-

Naruto stood calmly in the dark hall. Shadows of flickering flames danced across the walls. He looked at his rival, Uchiha Sasuke, who looked at him with no emotion registered on his face. He wanted nothing more than to grab the arrogant Uchiha and bash his face in. It had been a year since he left Konoha and now he was here facing the true criminal, the one who murdered his one and only mother figure he had, Tsunade. He frowned deeply.

"Sasuke, I guess you know why I'm here, right?" Naruto whispered as he lowered his hand to look at the ground before him. It hadn't been easy finding and infiltrating Orochimaru's hideout but now that he was here, he couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction.

"The reason for you being here doesn't move me in the slightest." Naruto snapped alert and looked at Sasuke. The Uchiha had his back to him and was walking away. As if he, Naruto, was nothing worth his time.

"SASUKE, DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME," he shouted, causing the Uchiha prodigy to stop. He didn't turn around.

"Naruto, you being here is an waste of time. You will never equate to me. You're an incompetent, incapable fool. Just leave before you humiliate yourself further." Sasuke's mocking caused Naruto's obvious anger to boil over. Without hesitation, the young blonde man drew a kunai, ready to attack.

"Too slow."

Naruto spun around to see Sasuke crouched behind him, drawing his Kusinagi sword. He was fast. Naruto did the only thing he could…defend. But…

"Too obvious," Sasuke whispered.

He quickly pulled back his sword and viciously attacked Naruto with a kick that sent him tumbling back with a groan. Slowly, Naruto stood up and wiped the blood from his lip with the back of his hand. Sasuke was fast…really fast. He got ready again, summoning four clones.

Sasuke just sighed upon seeing this. Naruto felt like the thorn in his side, the gnat in his ear, fly buzzing around him. He didn't even activate his sharingan, but within a second, all of Naruto's clones were gone, except one. He again removed his sword and created space between Naruto and him. Naruto frowned. He knew Sasuke was strong, maybe more than he was.

"Come!" Sasuke demanded, motioning for his opponent to attack him. Naruto charged toward him, drawing out two kunai and slashing wildly. "Asinine," he scoffed. Sasuke easily dodged the strikes and slashed at his old friend.

A cloud of smoke blinded him. It was a clone he struck at. Sasuke turned around just in time to block a kick from Naruto. He retaliated with his own fury of punches, each hit connecting with the painful sound of knuckle on flesh. Naruto winced in pain with each strike, but refused to give up. He did his best to defend himself but failed miserably. He tried to punch him, but Sasuke vanished and reappeared several yards in front of him. The Uchiha slid his sword back into its sheath and looked at Naruto.

"Killing him is useless, just render him unconscious…" Before Naruto could make sense of what Sasuke said, he felt a prick on his neck and then everything turned black.

-FLASH BACK ENDS-

Naruto smiled to himself from the memories of how weak he'd fought with Sasuke. But not anymore. He was different now. He took another leap, then vanished from sight.

He was faster now.

Special thanks goes to Daelyn Paolini for helping me get back