Wow, I'm surprised at how many people seem interested in this. Anyway thanks for the reviews. I quite enjoyed writing this so hopefully it will meet everyone's expectations.

Still don't own Naruto

What was lost and What was gained.

The morning air was cold and sharp on his skin as Naruto stepped out of the hotel they were being housed in, Temari by his side. He looked around; Konoha was much as he remembered it, there had been some changes but he could still see the places he had hidden in when he was a child. He set off, Temari matching him step for step. He watched the citizens out of the corner of his eyes, he wondered if anyone would recognise him but he doubted it, he had been known as the Whisker Demon and with the birthmarks gone he doubted anyone would find him all that remarkable.

"Does it feel weird to be back here?" Temari asked, her voice, which he found so pleasant burst through his thoughts. He turned his head and smiled at her, a smile she returned making his own widen flashing his fang like teeth. He liked Temari, well he liked all three of his friends, the people of Suna tended to avoid the Kazekage's children and as he was considered one himself, even if it wasn't by blood it meant the four of them only really had each other as close companions. However Naruto still found it strange that in Suna he had friends and most people respected his opinion on things. It was a bitter pill to swallow that he would have been denied that had he remained here.

"Thinking about what changes and what doesn't." He replied Temari's smile faded a bit. Out of all of them she knew the most about his experience in Konoha, Kankuro and Gaara weren't really the best people to talk to about that kind of stuff with after all. Mind you Temari wasn't exactly ideal either, but he felt that she should know all the same.

"You don't regret leaving." He could hear the curiosity in her voice and the undertone of nervousness. He wondered what the nervousness was about. Temari, cruelest of the Kunoichi's didn't get nervous, blunt yes but never nervous.

"Of course not I met you lot didn't I? And considering what we saw yesterday do you think I'd regret it for even a second?" Naruto's smile widened, leaving Konoha was worth it just for Temari, hell the fact that the Kazekage despite being a bastard still treated him better than his birth parents had made it worth it too and the fact that he had friends was the icing on the cake. Suna was a cruel place, they made no secret of it and to be honest it was the best place for him to be. His history meant that Suna appealed more than any other village, if only because he could appreciate the world they lived in.

He looked up, they had made it to the commercial district. He looked around for a weapons store and quickly found one, Temari walking after him. He felt slightly strange around Temari, he had for a while but didn't know what to do about it, Gaara would probably kill him if he tried anything anyway, adoptive brother or not. He figured the feelings were because they were alone for once. Well Gaara might be around, he wasn't there when they woke up, but Naruto suspected he was hunting for interesting people as the red head called it, at least he didn't kill them anymore. Suna's death rate had dropped dramatically after Naruto had arrived. People still came up of the street to thank him; it was a strange experience to be sure.

They arrived at the door and he resisted the strange urge to hold Temari's hand, she wouldn't want anyone they were talking to see her as anything but a serious Kunoichi, actually now that he thought about it, that this trip was probably the most intimate they would be for the duration of the preliminary exams upset him for some reason. Resolving to think about it later, he pushed open the door and walked to where the Kunai were, he guessed that five hundred would be enough to replenish his reserves.

XXX

Contrary to what Naruto thought Gaara wasn't hunting for new interesting people he was watching two of the three that he enjoyed watching more than anything. The sand user sat on top of a shop opposite the one that Naruto and Temari were entering and suppressed a smile when he saw them. He was pleased that his brother in all but blood and his sister were developing a relationship, they suited each other and he was confident that the pair of them could protect each other. Besides it's not like there was anyone else in the village that were strong enough for them. All four of them were powerful enough to have been promoted long ago, but then this invasion came up. Gaara didn't like it for the simple reason that he didn't want to be used as a weapon. He knew Naruto was even more cautious about it than Temari and himself were. He hadn't asked what Kankuro thought about it however so he had no idea what his brother's thoughts were.

He knew that Naruto was loyal to Suna and his concerns had more to do with upsetting the precarious balance and the peace or rather stalemate that existed between the villages. It mattered little to Gaara. He was loyal to his family and his village and through that his father, despite the dislike he held for the man.

He stood up and made to return to their Hotel, he hadn't found anyone who would be truly challenging in the exams, had they been allowed reached their full conclusion he suspected that it would be Naruto and himself. Naruto was the only one who could stop his sand effectively and Naruto was too clever to not win his own fights. He saw them come out and used the Shunshin to return to the room, wouldn't do to be caught by Temari spying on her and the boy she had chosen to be hers. He wondered if Naruto knew that and if he didn't whether he should tell him. In the end he decided it would be funnier not to, Gaara may not have had much of a sense of humor but as Kankuro said it was fun messing with those two when the subject was each other.

XXX

Naruto walked out of the shop, the Kunai lashed together with rope and floating slightly above his hands. He strode forward, his determination obvious. He hated being in the commercial district, it had been one of the worst places to be in his youth, and he could feel the hate and anger bubbling up inside him like some sort of geyser. Temari was once again at his side, looking at him with some concern, he ignored it however his only desire was to get out of the area now. He was feeling like a claustrophobic in a cupboard.

Looking ahead he missed the one eyed Leaf Jonin with the gravity defying silver hair and little dog on his head as he walked past, his noise once again in his little orange book He may have had personal problems with Jiraiya but the man was a literary genius. He walked past two blonde Suna nins, he studied them as they strode past him, they were clearly talented and the boy was wearing robes which hadn't been seen outside the village since the Sandaime Kazekage went missing prior to the third war. He frowned; He knew what the primary function of people with the thirds skills were in relation to Suna's military forces. He wondered if Mitsuko wouldn't be the only Jinchūriki participating in the upcoming exams.

The two of them were obviously close, even if that closeness wasn't being advertised; he could tell the girl wanted to walk closer to the boy but was holding herself back. No fan girl then. They had hard eyes too he thought, but then again most Suna nin had hard eyes, a symptom of their home he guessed. The entire village was a harsh place, the descendants of the desert tribesmen who founded the village could be no less. He recalled there had been a battle near the village during the war and some civilians had come out and butchered a company of the attacking nins from Taki. Still despite that it was the smallest of the great five and the one that was most likely to accept foreign recruits. He sometimes wondered whether that was where Naruto had gone. He couldn't think of anywhere else he doubted Iwa would want a child of the Fourth and Kumo would only want a bloodline, they had enough recruits already from their own village otherwise. He heard Pakkun give a yip of surprise and he made a note to ask about it later when he got back to his apartment. He had waited for the brats to come and ask for training but no one showed so he figured he could have a nice day reading Icha Icha.

Naruto glanced back and caught the eye of Pakkun. He hadn't realised that Kakashi was near, but he realised that if anyone would recognise him it would be Kakashi's primary summon. He wasn't too bothered by the whole thing, it would become clear who he was when the exam's started and if things had continued the way they had been going when he left, then Kakashi wouldn't tell the Namikaze/ Uzumaki clan or whatever his birth family were calling themselves these days.

"I'm going to have to go and play catch up with someone later on." He murmured to Temari, the noise from the crowd as they rushed from shop to shop drowning his voice out and preventing anyone but his adoptive sister from hearing.

"Who? Is it going to interfere with, that man's plan?" she asked almost spitting the last part out. No one was fond of Orochimaru's plans and Naruto couldn't throw off the feeling that they were missing something important about the man or snake, he wasn't sure what Orochimaru was these days.

"It shouldn't, I know enough not to say anything. It's just someone who was good to me years ago. I'm worried about what's going to happen though, there's every chance we'll end up starting the Fourth World War over an old man's grudge and your bastard of a father's desire to try and solve the mission crisis, and make up for the fact that Gaara makes a shitty weapon."

"Kazekage-sama." She corrected although she didn't deny the bastard comment. Her father was a bastard after all; it was even an accepted fact back in Suna.

"Do you really think he'd start a war over this?" she asked, more concerned now than she had been before this conversation, she knew Naruto and Gaara had concerns, she and Kankuro did as well. But she hadn't thought that Naruto was looking that far ahead. The idea of war scared her slightly, Suna was the smallest of the great five and with Konoha destroyed they'd be entering with no allies at all, not a good thing.

"He's a bitter old man who was taught most of his life lessons by giant snakes, and Kazekage-sama's being led by the nose. The snake cares nothing for Suna and it's that which worries me the most, if it fails we'll be the ones dealing with the consequences not him." Their whispered conversation had led them to the hotel and they quickly entered the building, not wanting to spend more time than they had too outside, people were already staring at Naruto seemingly holding half a thousand kunai in one hand.

"Keep it quiet though, if we find proof that the Snake's going to betray us them we'll tell someone otherwise it would be best if we just kept an eye out." He finished as they walked up the stairs, Temari's fan scraping along the wall of the narrow passage. She just nodded her head. This had the potential to really do their village over and it suddenly seemed like a dumb idea thought of by a desperate man rather than just a desperate plan.

Naruto walked into the room that he was sharing with the other boys. Temari had her own room and Baki was staying on a different floor. Looking around he noted that their sensei wasn't around. He turned and took in the room; the curtains were still drawn although Kankuro had woken up while they were gone. He was sitting in the corner working on his puppet as was the norm for him. Gaara had returned and was staring at the wall, his sand swirling around him. Naruto guessed he was bored seeing as his cacti collection was back in Suna and he couldn't go and fight anyone. Temari came and sat down on the mattress, she looked at her siblings and sighed, they were a week early, but there wasn't much to do. No one wanted to walk around the village and they weren't able to do anything more than prepare which got boring after a while.

"Who are you going to meet later on?" She asked Naruto, deciding now was the best time to ask.

Naruto didn't answer at first as he sat down and took one of the scrolls on his back from its place and lay it down on the ground and releasing its contents.

"Kakashi of the Sharingan." He replied as the iron powder that had been revealed started to flow around his body and the Kunai began to rise into the air. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him sharply at that.

"How'd he find out you were back?" Kankuro asked his eyes focused intently on his friend.

"His summon recognised me." Naruto replied, his tone showing how unconcerned he was, even as the sand rose up and consumed the first ten Kunai. Temari watched with a strange fascination as the sand raced along the tools, rubbing along the weapons until they began to disintegrate. It was a sight that held a strange beauty to the girl, watching as they were broken down until only their rings remained. Naruto made a gesture and the rings rose until they were level with his eyes and the sand rolled forth again, turning the rings into little floating balls before it all fell to the ground again, resulting in a slightly larger pile than there had been before.

"Is he going to be a problem?" the puppeteer asked. He wasn't sure what they could do against someone like Kakashi, but if he disrupted Suna's plans then he would have to be dealt with.

"Unlikely, he always had a soft spot for me and he's not nearly as close to the Hokage as he used to be, I doubt they repaired their relationship either and I want to find out about whom we're competing against. It'll be worth it for that." All the while he was saying that his black sand continued its assault, the Kunai floating into the air and the sand rushing forward to eat away and make more of itself in a strange cycle of reproduction.

"So that's why you're going?" Temari asked, still a little hesitant about it.

"Enough, Naruto can go if he wishes; I wish to find out more about those with whom I will be competing against." Gaara finally spoke, his eyes looking at Temari and then shifting to Naruto who didn't flinch under their intense gaze.

"I'll make sure that it's private." Naruto said he knew where he was going in any case, the same place he had spent most of his childhood when he realised that the main village wasn't exactly a safe place for him to be.

Temari and Kankuro nodded hesitantly. They trusted Naruto; it was Kakashi who they didn't trust. Gaara was as stoic as ever. While he may have recovered from the darkness that he had fallen into when their uncle had tried to kill him there were still times when that side of him came through and no one wanted to be on the receiving end of that. Naruto didn't bother to say more, there really wasn't anything else to say. And so the rest of the day passed quietly, Naruto built up his reserves, Kankuro fiddled with his puppets. Temari eventually decided to read a book and Gaara amused himself by making constructs out of sand and having them fight each other broken up with staring at the wall for unspecified lengths of time.

XXX

"So Pakkun mind telling me what was so surprising in the market?" Kakashi asked, curious as to what could surprise his summon so much.

"He's back." Kakashi stopped reading. There was no need to specify who he meant.

"Where?" He asked the excitement in his voice obvious.

"He's the one we walked past who was wearing the robes."

"Him? Huh, must be a story about how he came to earn the right to wear those robes."

"Probably, so when are you going to go and talk to him?"

"Who said I was?"

"You did the moment you found out the one Namikaze you still want to associate with socially was in town."

"So where is he?"

"Wait until tonight, he knows we'll come looking, give him time to pick a place."

"You're coming then?"

"Of course I am what kind of question is that?"

Kakashi didn't bother replying, he was too caught up in wondering just what had changed in the last six years for the son of his teacher, the child that he so wished he could have taken on as his own student.

XXX

As night came to the bustling town of Konoha which was even busier due to the Chunin exams than it usually was. Naruto quietly left the hotel room and stole out into the night.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Temari asked as she watched as her crush's figure was swallowed by the darkness.

"Yes." Gaara said before elaborating, "If he needs to he can release his Other." Temari nodded, she had seen the 'Other' Naruto in action before and it put Gaara when he was possessed by Shukaku to shame in some ways.

"I suppose your right." She said before turning and walking out of the room, she didn't need to be around when Naruto returned she knew he would tell her about it in the morning.

"She really needs to tell him you know?" Kankuro said as he watched his sister leave. Gaara didn't bother replying, his sisters love life held little attraction to him aside from creating amusing situations to watch, beyond that he didn't really care, content with the knowledge that both Naruto and Temari would soon stop dancing around each other soon and accept that they both wanted a relationship.

XXX

Naruto moved silently through the village. The air was a lot colder than it was during the day, a strange sensation after all these years of living in the desert. He had grown far more accustomed to the intense dry heat that made up the climate of the land of Wind, than the humid region that he had been born in. Still despite the years he had spent away he still remembered the path up to the one place he had felt comfortable in his youth. It took him nearly ten minutes to get up to the top of the Hokage monument, as was his ritual he kicked the back of the carving of his father. Of course his strength had grown over the years and he was rewarded with a small chunk becoming dislodged and falling off it. He heard his 'Other' what had once been the Kyuubi no Yōko chuckle in the back of his head. Naruto smiled slightly the Kyuubi made for a powerful ally even in its current form and he would even have even gone so far as to say that they were friends. He turned and walked to the face next to his bastard father who he knew was worse than the Kazekage, despite his adoptive sibling's inability to comprehend that fact.

He turned and sat on the Thirds head. Waiting for the man he knew was coming, unbidden his iron sand rose into the air and danced around him, invisible in the night, but a comforting presence none the less. He wasn't sure how but the Kyuubi had retained some control over the magnetic forces that it had gifted Naruto with. It wasn't nearly as much as the Shukaku and by extension Gaara had, but it did mean that there was something to stall long enough for Naruto to respond. He liked to think of it as a sign of the Kyuubi caring for his well being but he suspected it was the Kyuubi's way of retaining at least some independence from the human it had bound itself so tightly to. He watched as the lights around the village winked on and off, it was a beautifully haunting sight and one of the few things that he had actually missed in Suna, it paled in comparison to what he had gained but still it was nice to see it again.

He felt rather than saw Kakashi come and sit next to him and the wet nose brushing against his hand let him know that Pakkun had come as well. Absently he scratched the area behind the miniature pug's ears and looked out over the village with Kakashi, neither saying a thing for a while. Kakashi however was the first to break the companionable silence that had developed.

"You got rid of the birth marks." He finally said. Naruto paused in scratching Pakkun before he resumed at a somewhat slower pace.

"Kazekage-sama thought it would be better if I had them removed, to eliminate my ties to the Namikaze's, it was quite symbolic." He added, still not looking at Kakashi, his feet dangling over the edge and into the air.

"You know the Kazekage?" Kakashi asked, curious about what had happened to the boy in Suna.

"I'm his adopted son." Naruto replied a small smile decorating his face, but going unnoticed in the darkness.

"Ohh, how'd that happen?" Kakashi asked blankly, not really knowing what to think of the Kazekage raising the outcast son of the Hokage.

"You know people were terrified that I was being controlled by the Kyuubi, even Kushina who really should have known better." Naruto said darkly before continuing, "But in the end it gave me more than either Minato-teme or her were ever willing to." As he finished speaking he allowed the Iron sand to drift over to Kakashi and wander over him before flowing back.

"Ahh, he took you in because of that?" Kakashi asked, surprised that the fox had seemingly given Naruto a bloodline and a powerful one at that.

"A few other reasons as well, I think there was a certain satisfaction in taking in the son of a man who he didn't particularly like." Naruto said absently, Kakashi filed that way for later.

"So I hear that you're a Jonin-Sensei." Naruto asked phrasing the question as a statement.

"As much as I loathe it yes that's true. You know I blame you for that in a way." he said, waiting for Naruto to respond. That was the thing he liked about the boy, he was far less volatile than anyone in his family even his father, Not that Kakashi and his old sensei spoke much these days beyond matters pertaining to their official capacity in the village's military forces.

"Why's that?" Naruto asked, although he couldn't see his face, Kakashi could feel the amusement in his voice.

"You could have been my apprentice you know." Naruto didn't respond for a while. The only sound in the air the crickets and his hands scratching the dog's soft fur.

"I doubt Minato-teme would have let that happen. And considering what I found out about the seal he used on me I doubt I would have been accepted in Konoha. What he did would have damned me had I stayed here as a civilian." He said sadly, as much as he tried to hide it, the fact that his parents had willingly sacrificed him hurt despite the hate he harbored for them because of it.

Kakashi didn't know what to say about that. The sad thing was there was every chance that things would have turned out that way, despite his protests. He wondered what Naruto meant when he said that Minato had damned him, but decided to leave it, he'd find out eventually.

"What can you tell me about the Uchiha and Mitsuko?" Naruto finally asked, after the silence had stretched out for what seemed an unbearable length of time.

"You don't call her your sister?" came the response, Naruto smiled, amused at Kakashi's attempts to avoid answering his question.

"The Namikaze's are no family of mine." Kakashi was startled by that statement; he wondered what they would think to learn that their son had willingly cast himself out of their family and by extension the Uzumaki clan. It was a serious thing to do and he couldn't help but wonder if they would feel hurt by that despite the bad blood between them.

"Your sister struggles. It seems she got a whole heap of problems from the Kyuubi's chakra and apart from a healing factor no benefits aside from huge reserves that she's made no attempt to control. She relies on you… sorry her father as well, thinks he'll come and save her when she needs it. Sasuke, he has his Sharingan and while he's no Itachi, it would be wise not to underestimate him."

Naruto nodded, he knew that he wouldn't get anything more out of the man. Despite his dissatisfaction with the Hokage, he was loyal to the leaf. Naruto had to admit he was impressed by Kakashi's loyalty.

"It's a shame things turned out this way really, I think sensei made a mistake all those years ago." Kakashi stood up, followed by Pakkun. "I'll see you around Naruto, good luck in the exams." Naruto nodded, forgetting that Kakashi couldn't see in the dark and stayed sitting there. Staring blankly into the night, thinking about what could have been. Finally after several hours he rose and began the journey back to his room.

Things had turned out for the best really. There was no point regretting leaving. He had done so and found happiness. Despite Kakashi's promises Konoha held nothing for him, neither back then or now. In fact the more that he thought about it, he probably would have pulled an Itachi Uchiha and massacred his family before running away. His last thoughts before sleep took him were whether the words that Itachi had spoken to him that night so long ago had been a precursor to what the Uchiha prodigy would do two years later. Had the massacre been Itachi's release?

XXX

"I still don't get why you wear it, it has to be the most disgusting thing I've ever seen anyone wear." Temari said to Naruto as they walked towards where the first stages of the Chunin exams were supposed to take place. Naruto grinned, Temari had never liked his robes, personally he was rather indifferent to them, but they had been a gift and he kept them because of that simple fact.

"Why does Kankuro wear his cat suit?" He heard spluttering and Kankuro turned around to face him, his freshly applied face paint shining in the early morning sun.

'It's not a cat suit! It's a traditional Suna Puppeteer corps battle costume. It's just as traditional as those robes you're wearing!"

"I still don't see why you were them Naruto, Kankuro sure, I mean he's a bit of a loser anyway. But those things are older than the Kazekage!" Temari exclaimed, ignoring the now red faced Kankuro. Absently Naruto noted that it was getting hard to see where the paint ended and his skin began. He also noted that Temari hadn't called the Kazekage father. None of them had done that in a while he reflected.

"They were a gift alright! They came with the Jiton scrolls Kazekage-sama gave me!" Naruto exclaimed, uncomfortable about being put on the spot like this. No doubt Temari could have found him better clothes, but he liked the fact that the Kazekage had seen him as worthy enough to get such a gift.

"Enough Temari, what he wears is Naruto's own concern." Gaara drawled out in his usual monotone, not even bothering to turn and look at the two blonde Suna nins. Naruto smiled, Gaara understood the significance of getting a gift, after all their lives had been remarkably similar until they had met six years ago. Gifts were rare and you learnt to value them because you never knew when you would be getting another one. He knew Gaara felt the same way even if he had never articulated the sentiment.

They continued walking in and soon saw the room that they were supposed to be waiting in, or rather they would be had it not been on the second floor rather than the third. Naruto didn't even need the Kyuubi, not that it called itself the Kyuubi these days, the pair of them were still working on a name to call the former Biju, to tell him it was a Genjutsu.

Wordlessly the four of them continued their journey, there were few if any people around aside from the two disguised Chunin who were trying to intimidate as many Genin as they could. It had little if any effect on the Suna nins. After all they weren't normal Genin by any stretch of the imagination. Walking into the room, they saw many people already there, including the spy Kabuto Yakushi. Naruto bared his teeth at the boy. He despised Orochimaru and his toadies and should they prove traitorous, something he knew would happen; he would have no problems eliminating them.

Naruto was surprised when he felt the killing intent everyone leveled at the four of them, it was nothing compared to Gaara when he let go, but still it was a surprising response to their presence. He wondered about flaring his own but the decision was made for him when he felt the pressing feeling of the insanity and bloodlust that came with Gaara releasing his own killing intent. He smiled when everyone suddenly turned back to what they were doing and ignored them.

He watched the door for a bit, ignoring Temari as she tried to wind Kankuro up. He watched as more Konoha nins came in, strangely enough they seemed to be remarkably uninterested in observing their opponents and instead played catch up. Naruto guessed that they were rookies although he was surprised that they were entering as well. He had guessed Kakashi would have entered his in an attempt to change their attitudes and open their eyes a bit. Thus he wasn't surprised when they entered. This time Naruto joined in with the Killing intent and allowed his own KI, which had acquired according to the remnant of the Kyuubi that was within him a distinct Biju flavour, to mix. The anger and bloodlust he released making more than a few people shiver he was pleased to note.

"What are they doing letting stupid baby faced Genin in here?" He heard Kankuro mutter. He ignored it; he suspected that Kankuro's problems with people younger than him probably had something to do with living for nearly two years with an unstable Gaara. And the three years after Naruto himself had come where Gaara still wasn't entirely recovered from his bout with insanity. Both those events had left their mark on everyone; it was just more obvious with Kankuro.

He watched as Kabuto talked to the Rookies. He smiled when he saw them look his way, no doubt one had asked about one or all of them. The two teams that they made up, himself and Gaara as Team One and Temari and Kankuro as Team Two had fairly impressive mission stats, all the more so when you considered that Gaara had never been hurt. He turned away bored when he saw the Sound team go in. He wasn't sure but he guessed that they were Snake toadies too.

Suddenly he felt the crushing Killing Intent of someone who was obviously trained in it. He flared his own to counteract it and turned to face the man who had arrived. Looking at the clearly battle hardened Konoha nin, it was clear that the Chunin exams were about to begin, and Naruto's great return to Konoha was about to get underway. He smiled savagely, his fox like teeth flashing; he was going to enjoy this.

So tell me what you think.