AN:ok, first of all thank you for reading. next, i want to say that yes, this story begins alot like the original shippuden storyline. however, if you continue reading i think you will be pleasantly surprised. of couse, please review at the end of the chapter and tell me if i did anything wrong. specifics, please. no random vague complaints that you dont like it but dont know why. finally, i want you to tell others about Uzumaki: tale of the hero, but only if you like it. if not, then that defeats the purpose, now, doesnt it.

and now...

Standing high above the village, Naruto took a long look at the home he had missed for the last three years. Very little had changed, of course, except for the expertly-chiseled face of Tsunade hewn into the cliff-side. She looked a little too serious for Naruto's tastes, but she fit in well with the previous Hokages. He made a mental note to tell the artist, when he became Hokage, that he was to be carved with a gigantic smile on his face.

"Sorry, Baa-chan, but I'm gonna be taking your job as soon as I'm strong enough!"

That day didn't seem too far off for him. Over the time that he had been training with Jiraiya he had gotten much stronger, and though he admitted to himself that there was still plenty of room to grow, he felt that he was far more powerful than he had been when he left. Of course, he would have to test that power out, but he had the feeling that he would have plenty of time to do that. After all, everyone else had been training too. Perhaps first he would challenge Bushy-Brows to a sparring match.

The ambitious ninja's contemplation was interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice calling his name.

"Narutoooooo!"

He turned, and upon seeing the familiar cherry blossom-colored hair he let out an exclamation of joy.

"Oi, Sakura!"

Sakura watched as he leaped down from his vantage point, landing with so much force that the pavement actually cracked somewhat. She considered yelling at him for destroying something he should be protecting, be she decided against it. After all, she hadn't seen him in three whole years. Besides- knowing Naruto- there would be plenty of time for yelling later.

"Naruto, you're back! It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Now that they were nearer to each other, Sakura was able to take a closer look at her former teammate. He was taller than he was before, and his face proved that he was older; his whiskers were thicker and his eyes were (if possible) even bluer then they were before. His hair was the same as always: bright, wild and untamable. Just like Naruto. He wore no shirt, just an orange, sleeveless hoodie with the uzumaki clan symbol on the back and a pair of long black pants. She sighed. He would never change. On his arms he wore wrappings similar Lee's, but these were a deep blue, providing a pleasant contrast against the orange.

More importantly, he was surprisingly muscular. He wore his hoodie wide open with no shirt underneath, and so showed off his impressively built torso. The sight was nearly enough to give her a nosebleed, and she found it hard to shift her focus from his abs to what he was saying.

"Yeah," Naruto replied, "I couldn't wait to get back and see how everyone was doing. At first I wanted to get back and take the chuunin exams, but I've decided not to take them at all. I'll just be a genin like everyone else "

Sakura was surprised to hear that he didn't want to take the chuunin exams, but first she had some news to break to Naruto.

"Well… you see, Naruto… we're all already chuunins."

Naruto just gawked at her for a moment. Then he smiled. And laughed.

"Hahahaha! Actually, I had a feeling you'd say that. Ero-sennin told me that you all might have gone on with them while I was gone, but even he thought that at least a few of you would still be genin. So everyone's already chuunin, huh?

Again, Sakura hesitated before speaking. "Actually…"

Naruto froze, unsure of what would come next. After a moment Sakura let go of her reluctance and told him up-front.

"Actually, Naruto, Neji became a jounin last year. Everyone was really surprised, because it was less than a year after he made chuunin."

This time it was Sakura's turn to be surprised. Naruto laughed, saying, " I figured he would be. Everybody always talked about him being a genius, and it's true- he is. I should know, after all. Fighting him was a real pain in the a**!"

Sakura laughed at that, then noticed that Ino hadn't met up with them yet. She turned back to the direction she had come from and saw her staring at Naruto, mouth agape.

Naruto saw her too, oblivious to her expression, and called out to her.

"Oi! Ino! It's me, Naruto! Well, what do you think of me now, eh? I'll be hokage in no time!"

Ino stared at him for a moment, unsure of herself. Slowly she started walking over to where they were standing, speaking in a tiny voice. "N-Naruto! Is that you? You look so… so…uh… different. Yeah, different."

Naruto's signature smile spread itself ear-to-ear across his face. "Well, both of you look the same as always! Which reminds me. Ichiraku Ramen! Do you guys want to come with me? My treat!"

Sakura had no idea how that reminded him of ramen, and she never had a taste for it like Naruto did, so she decided to turn it down. "No, I think I'll-"

"We'll go," Ino cut in, "we'd be glad to."

Sakura turned to Ino, curious about what had gotten into her, and saw her nod discreetly down the street toward where the ramen shop stood. There, outside the shop, stood Shino, Kiba, and Hinata. Realization dawned on Sakura and she signaled her understanding to Ino.

"Yeah, of course we'll go!"

Naruto, completely oblivious to the collaboration of the two, gave an "Alright!" and marched off toward the ramen stand. Ino and Sakura looked at each other, sharing a devious gleam in their eyes, and followed after him.

Halfway there, Naruto saw the former team 8 and called out to them.

"Kiba! Shino! Hinata! How are you guys?"

Hinata turned, looking to see who had called her, but before she had turned all the way around Naruto had rushed over and given her a big bear hug. A confused look crossed her face. It wasn't until he let go of her that she finally got a good look at who was accosting her.

She froze, staring at him as if she was unsure of whom she was looking at. Then, slowly, her eyes drifted down until she saw his heavily muscled- and bare- torso.

"N…N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N…N-NARUTO!" Suddenly overwhelmed by his masculine appearance- and the fact that when he had hugged her she had come in direct contact with that masculinity- she got a small nosebleed… and then fainted.

In a flash, Naruto caught her before she had ever really fallen. Holding her in his arms, he turned to Kiba and Shino with a confused expression on his face.

"I guess she hasn't changed any either. Hehe! She must have been overwhelmed by my manly good looks," he joked. The others just stared at him.

Kiba deadpanned. "He really is an idiot. It must be permanent, like brain damage."

Naruto's smile vanished. " H-hey… I was just kidding! I didn't mean anything by it! Y-you're not going to tell her what I said when she wakes up, will you?"

Shino just looked away. "We probably should… but if you still don't understand, then I don't see any reason aide you in your state of helplessness."

This time it was Naruto's turn to stare. "You're still weird. If you don't work on that you'll never get a girlfriend. I can help you with that, though."

Sakura's, Kiba's, and Ino's jaws dropped, and all three looked at Shino, eager to see his reaction.

Unperturbed, Shino replied, "That's quite alright, Naruto. Actually, I'm engaged to a girl from my clan. Its an arranged marriage."

Naruto's jaw joined the others', whose jaws dropped even lower.

At that exact moment Hinata woke up and found herself in Naruto's arms, face tucked in closed to his chest. For the slightest moment she panicked, but then her fear was overruled by her sudden realization that she was exactly where she wanted to be, and she snuggled in closer, burying her face in his chest.

Naruto looked down at her, concern etched into his expression, "Hinata? …Are you okay?"

She bolted up, jumping out of his arms. Now bright red, she refused to look at Naruto. Instead she ducked into the ramen shop and quickly ordered some food, hoping to drown her embarrassment in noodles.

Unfortunately, Naruto chose that time to remember that he had originally come to eat at Ichiracku's anyway and, entering the shop, sat down directly next to Hinata.

"Oi, Jii-san! It's me, Naruto!"

Teuchi looked up, having previously been occupied with some noodles behind the counter, and saw naruto. He stared for a moment, unsure. Then…

"Oh, naruto! I almost didn't recognize you! You're quite older than you were when last I saw you. Besides, you have a very different look now."

"Thanks, Jii-san! Its been so long since I had your amazing ramen that I had to come see you first!"

Teuchi looked pleased. "Well then, naruto. Since you were so looking forward to my cooking, I'll give you this one for free. On the house!" He laid a steaming bowl down in front of the hungry ninja.

Naruto's face lit up. " Free ramen! Believe it!" without the slightest pause or hesitation he dug in vigorously.

His feasting went uninterrupted until Ayame, who had just returned from the store, walked in. Naruto paused only a second to say a quick "Hi!" and quickly returned to the food. Ayame, who had not recognized naruto, squealed in surprise when she understood who exactly was talking to her. So overwhelmed by his appearance and the shock of seeeing him again, she was unable to speak. A single glance at his bare abdomen and blushed uncontrollably, then ran out of the shop, thoroughly embarrassed. Once again, naruto was completely unaware of the reaction. Hinata however, sympathized with the young ramen cook. The same thing had happened to her all the time, after all.

Sighing, she watched Naruto eat for a moment- captivated by his presence- then remembered her own food. She delicately picked up a pair of chopsticks, snapped them, and began eating. She was quite hungry from the training she had done earlier in the day, and only then did it catch up to her.

Naruto, having come up for air after nearly drowning in bliss and ramen, noticed hinata ravenously consuming her food. She was still red from being so close to him, and her fatigue was obvious now that she had dropped her guard. He thought for a moment, face screwed up in contemplation, then finished his ramen quickly. Standing up, he dug some money out of his wallet and laid it onto the counter.

'Thanks for the meal, Jii-san! I owe you one!"

Teuchi, seeing the money, stopped him.

"Wait! Your meal was free, remember?"

Naruto smiled. "Yeah, I know! But hinata looks really hungry and tired- she fainted outside- so I figured she needs a free meal more than I do. Anyway, bye! I gotta go say hi to baa-chan!"

Turning, he barged out of the ramen shop, leaving behind a bemused shopkeeper and a bewildered hinata.

The white-eyed Huuga girl sat frozen in her chair. He… paid for my meal. But- doesn't that make this…a-a… A DATE?

Dumbfounded, she stared at the counter in front of her… and fainted.

Outside, Naruto found Kiba and Shino still standing around and talking but the girls had already left.

"Hey, guys, where did Sakura and Ino go?"

Shino answered, saying, "I would assume that they've gone out to spread the word to the others that you made it back."

Naruto nodded, thinking that it was probably the case. The two were always gossip-queens, after all.

"Yeah, that's most likely it. By the way, usually team 8 hangs out together. Why aren't you guys in there eating with Hinata?"

"Hinata was training with Hiashi-sama at the hyuuga compound today, and since only hyuuga are allowed to know what she's learning kiba and I had to train on our own today. We have already eaten, so we're not hungry. Hinata, however, has not eaten anything today, and so when she met us after her training we decided to come here so that she could get something."

Satisfied, Naruto turned away, headed toward the Hokage's tower.

"Oh, okay. That makes sense. Well, I've got to go. Bye, Shino! See ya, Kiba, Akama…"

Something clicked in his head, causing him to pause and turn.

"Eh… Kiba? Where's Akamaru?"

It was true. The two were never separate, and seeing one without the other was actually quite shocking. The real mystery, however, was how Naruto could have not seen the fact that half of the dog-man duo was missing.

Nevertheless, now that he had noticed, Naruto was concerned. "Uh… he's not… hurt- is he?"

Kiba laughed loudly. "Hahaha! Yeah, like anyone could hurt Akamaru! Naw, he's just over at my place grabbing some things that I left behind on accident. Actually, he should be here any moment now."

As if on cue a massive roar erupted from around the corner. Startled, Naruto fell on his butt and looked around frantically.

"Help! Killer lion! It's gonna kill us all! RUUUUN!"

He yelled for a full minute, hysterically waving his arms. When his cries were met with laughter, he stopped and looked up. Kiba and Shino were both doubled up on the ground, holding their sides and trying to stop laughing.

Naruto wore a hurt look, and tried unsuccessfully to hide his injured pride. After a while Kiba managed to stand up straight, but he remained unable to talk past his mirth. Shino, meanwhile, was still down, cracking up like an evil hyena on laughing gas.

Now Naruto was starting to get irritated.

"Come on, guys, what's so funny? Hey! I'm talking to you!"

The dog-ninja struggled to control himself and- slowly but surely- succeeded.

"That's no lion, naruto. See for yourself." Kiba pointed.

Naruto followed his hand… and found a humongous white beast standing not three feet from him. He nearly jumped out of his skin in fright, but for the sake of his dignity he took the blow to his courage.

"A…a…a-a-a-a-akamaru?"

Proudly, Kiba nodded. "yes, it's akamaru, you dimwit! Who else did you think it was?"

Naruto recovered quickly and chose that time to make his exit.

"Yeah! I knew it was akamaru! It was a good joke, though, wasn't it? Well, I better get going or baa-chan'll come down and drag me to her office personally!"

Without a second look, thought or word, he darted off.

Kiba watched him speeding down the road and then disappearing around the corner. Shino, who had by managed to stand up by that time, hesitated for a moment. Then spoke up.

"…He went the wrong direction."

AN: ok now, review. i tried to put some comic relief in this one, partly to build up characters but also just because its supposed to be funny. for those of you waiting for the differences in the story, i promise that halfway through the next chapter you will be going insane. or you will be murdering me. your move, reader.