Chapter 1: The Return of the Prodigal Son
Konoha's Great Gate…
Kotetsu and Izumo, two lazy chunin, sat on either side of Konoha's huge gate, lazily dozing in the sun, waiting for something interesting to happen.
They were brought out of their half-sleep by a knock on the giant gate. Shooting up form his seat, Izumo looked over the side of the wall, and spotted the perpetrator.
It was a man, that much he could tell. Other than that, it was a mystery. The man wore a black, tattered cloak, a hood covering his face, open at the front, showing a chiseled chest, a seal with the kanji 'Reaper' in it, and an intricate seal on the stomach. His arms were covered in black armor, and black greaves on his legs, leading down to black boots.
All in all, a lot of black.
The strangest thing was what he carried. It was scythe. The staff was silver, but the blade was black, (Again with the black?) veins of silver shooting through it.
Ignoring the stranger's choice of attire, Izumo called out, "Halt! Who goes there? What is your business in Konoha?"
The stranger pulled a scroll from his a pocket, and flicked it up to Izumo, who barely caught it. He unrolled the scroll, and read it, eyes widening with every line, but nearly popping out of his skull at the name signed.
He looked back down, but saw no one there. It was just an empty patch of dirt.
"...Namikaze?" He muttered incredulously, eyeing the last name. "The Hokage will want to hear about this..."
The Hokage's Office...
For the first time, Sarutobi Hiruzen was happy facing a pile of his mortal enemy, paperwork. He smiled as he stamped his seal of rejection on a paper demanding personal use of ninja's abilities in the civilian council's homes. He was smiling, because a boy many thought dead was going to scare the shit out of them when they saw him.
He remembered that time, seven years ago, when a tearful Kakashi had come into his office clutching something in his hands and weeping...
(Flashback)
The door to his office slid open, and he could only hope that whoever had come had good news. His heart nearly shattered when the sounds of someone male choking back sobs reached his ears.
Kakashi Hatake, Captain in ANBU, entered the room; Dog mask gone, single visible eye red and puffy from crying.
"Hokage-sama," He mumbled, still clutching something tightly in his fist.
"What is it, Kakashi? What have you found?" Sarutobi asked nervously, afraid of the answer.
Before he could speak, a tall, shadowy figure slinked out of the shadows, talking in a deep voice.
"You need not worry about Naruto, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kakashi Hatake. He is in better hands now."
Startled, the Sandaime leapt up from desk into a taijutsu stance, Kakashi doing the same. "Who are you?" He demanded.
The figure chuckled and shook his head, then spoke in a reassuring voice. "Just know that he is safe, and that he will return in time to become a shinobi of the Leaf, should he desire."
The figure melted into the shadows, and left a pair of relieved and confused men behind.
(End Flashback)
He could only chuckle as he imagined how the village might react to the 'demon brat' coming back to life after so long thinking he was dead. His expression turned dark as he remembered how many villagers boasted about how they 'gave the Kyuubi what was coming to it'.
Oh yes, Ibiki had fun with those bastards.
"Oh, forget it!" Sarutobi declared happily, tossing his pen down with a flourish, and pulling a glass ball out of his desk. Channeling chakra into the ball and focusing on Naruto, he peered deeply into the orb, watching the events unfolding with barely restrained glee.
…
"SIT DOWN!" Iruka voice rang throughout the classroom, courtesy of his Demon Head jutsu.
As the kids settled into their seats, Iruka sighed, and shook his head. Little bastards, He thought, Can't be quite for two minutes.
He sighed again, and started class with an announcement. "Class, I have an announcement-WAKE UP, SHIKAMARU!" Iruka pelted the lazy kid with a piece of chalk, making him sit up and rub his head, muttering "Troublesome."
Iruka rolled his eyes, and started again. "As I was saying, I have an announcement to make, that a new student will be joining us today to take the genin exams." He braced himself for the storm that would be sure to come.
He was not disappointed.
"WHAT?"
Iruka rubbed his ears, and made a few discreet handsigns, then yelled, "SHUT UP!" His head enlarged to five times it normal size, scaring all the kids into submission. And silence. Sweet, sweet silence.
Mizuki snickered, and Iruka was about to continue speaking, when the door to the classroom opened, and a figure dressed in bla- Fuck it, it's the guy from earlier, I'm tired of explaining how he looks, it's a lot of black, okay?
"Uh, can I help you?" Iruka asked nervously, eyeing the silver and black scythe he was carrying.
"I believe your Hokage told you to expect me, right?" The figure spoke in a somewhat deep voice.
Iruka shook his head in confusion, then shot a shocked look at him. "You're the new student?" He gasped. The rest of the students gave him scared looks (Sasuke glared) and started murmuring to each other.
The figure simply nodded.
Iruka gulped, and licked his lips, then said, "Well, we don't allow hoods on school property, so…" He trailed off, and the figure nodded once again, and flicked the hood off.
"!"
In his office, the Sandaime chuckled. He could hear the girly screams all the way over in the tower.
What caused the screams was a mask. A full head mask of a skull. A very life-like skull. The mask covered the boy's head entirely, from his jaw to the back of his head, making it look like he had a skull for a head. The only thing uncovered were his bright blue eyes, making it look all the more creepy.
Hence, the girly screams of terror.
Skull-boy rolled his eyes, and said, "Relax, it's just a mask." He reached up, set a hand on the back of the mask, and a hand on the front, and pulled up. The mask slowly slid of his head, revealing a tanned face, three whisker-like marks adorning his cheeks. A mop of spiky blond hair sat atop his head.
Many blushes streaked across the faces of the females in the class, except one. One named Hyuuga Hinata. She simply stared at the blond hair, blue eyes and the whisker marks, remembering something that shocked her to her core.
She had only seen eyes that blue, and whisker marks like that once before. When she was almost kidnapped by Kumo.
She remembered the feeling of being stuffed in a burlap sack, and slung over someone's shoulder roughly.
Then she recalled the man who kidnapped her dropping the sack she was in on the ground and him engaging in a short fight, and a child's cry of pain, and the man's laughter. Then she had heard a surprised shout, then a thump and a gurgle. It seemed like only yesterday.
(Flashback)
Hinata curled into a frightened ball when she heard the ragged panting approaching the bag she was in. She almost screamed in surprise when the top of the bag opened, and she hid her face in her nightgown.
"Hi!"
She looked up and was surprised to see a boy her own age, smiling at her with bright blue eyes. His smile dropped when he saw her tear-stained face, and he asked concernedly, "Are you alright?"
Hinata slowly nodded her head, and the handsome smile returned. The boy held a hand out, and she grabbed hesitantly, and he pulled her out of the sack. He introduced himself as Naruto Uzumaki, and she told him her name was Hyuuga Hinata.
She blushed as he carried her, bridal style, through the forest, back towards the village. They talked about their lives, and what they were going to do when they grew up.
At one point, for no apparent reason, he looked her in the eye and declared, "Your eyes are awesome." She once again blushed, but her expression turned to confusion when she felt something warm, wet and sticky on her side. She touched it and brought her fingers to her face, gasping when she noticed the blood on her hands.
"Naruto-kun, you're bleeding!" Hinata gasped. Naruto just smiled at her and stated, "It's okay, Hinata-chan. I'll be fine in an hour or so, I'm just that awesome!" They both giggled at that, and continued making small talk.
(Flashback End)
He had such confidence in himself then, and now, he was so different. Back then, he had this aura of exuberance about him that could make her laugh with the smallest of jokes. Now he had a different aura, one that exuded calmness, and a sense of serenity.
And his body wasn't something to cough at either.
That made Hinata blush. She continued trying to mentally shake the thoughts of Naruto's body out of her head, and pay attention to him as he spoke, but to no avail.
"Can I sit here?"
Her head shot up at the voice, and she looked up at Naruto, who was pointing towards the seat next to her. She nodded, blushing again, not trusting her voice to not stutter. He smiled a small smile, and sat, murmuring, "Thanks, Hinata-chan."
Hinata gave him a look of surprise. "Y-you still remember my n-name?" she whispered. His smile gained a flirty quality to it. "How could I forget the most beautiful girl I've ever met?"
She blushed and looked down, poking her index fingers together cutely, her thoughts racing around her head. I can't believe Naruto-kun is here, and f-flirting with me! I've dreamt of this for so long!
…
The class stood outside, listening to Iruka explain the rules and tests for the Genin exam. First, they would have to run through an obstacle course in under five minutes, then hit a target in the bull's-eye five times each with kunai and shuriken, then a taijutsu spar against the teachers, were they had to land a strong hit on them, and then the ninjutsu part of the exam, a Henge, Kawarimi, and a Bunshin.
The summary is this: Naruto, Hinata and the main characters that you actually care about, along with some of the ones that you don't, all passed rather easily.
The only really interestingthings that happened was when Naruto knocked Mizuki out by poking him in the neck. That got scared the shit out the class, and infuriated an emo-king. There was a small problem, when the two teachers found out that Naruto could not perform the standard Bunshin, Mizuki tried to fail him, but Naruto shut him up by making a shadow clone.
(The reason I skip over this is because it has been done far too many times)
His new headband tied around his bicep, Naruto walked down the main street of Konoha, having a week of free time to spend getting re-acquainted with his home village.
As he walked, he heard murmurs and mutterings from villagers, saying something along the lines of: 'The demon brat's back!' 'How dare it shoe it's face here again!' that last one didn't make any sense, as Naruto had his mask back on, and his hood up, which covered the entirety of his face from view.
Naruto heard the telltale rumble of a crowd, and it came from behind him. He sighed. In town for barely four hours, and now a mob is after him.
He led the mob on, walking into a dead-end alley.
"Today you die, demon!"
They shouted various insults, and almost began throwing things, when dark laughter began to shake Naruto's shoulders. One of the villagers holding a rusty pitchfork decided to shorten his lifespan by yelling out, "What's so funny, demon?"
He found himself staring at his own ass.
The crowd leapt back in horror as blood sprayed out of the corpse's neck, and it collapsed bonelessly. They hadn't even seen him move.
Naruto turned his head slowly, the light from the torches throwing his mask into sharp relief.
The jaws of the mask were forced apart, the canines elongated. But that wasn't the scariest feature. His eyes were.
Or lack of eyes.
There seemed to be no eyes in the sockets, just black voids. A maniacal grin could be seen underneath the mask, and the crowd shuddered in fear.
"Heh heh heh. What do we have here?" He asked in a deep, dark voice. "More souls for me to reap?"
They trembled in fear, and broke ranks, attempting to flee back out of the alley. Naruto appeared in front of them, forcing them to stop.
"I don't think so!" He brandished his scythe menacingly. "Feast upon their souls! Souruītā!"
The screams could be heard through out the village; but as sudden as they started…they stopped.
Silence reigned over Konoha that night.