Chapter 34: The Return

(Italics:Thoughts/Flashbacks/Dream sequence. Bold: Title and Kyubi's/Demon's/Inner Naruto's/Inner Sakura's Speech. Underline: Time Skips

Six Months Later...

An ANBU leapt gracefully into the proceeding darkness, her long blonde hair flowing through the air, she was clad in customized female, black body armor. Her personal squad following her every move. All dressed in various animal masks and basic ANBU gear. As the twilight illuminated their vision they found themselves in an open field. As they came to a halt they noticed a single, lone shadowed figure. The figure wore a simple dark brown traveling cloak, his hands raised in the air as a sign of surrender.

His cloak exposed his arms revealing bright crimson tattoos spiraling down his shoulders to his wrists. "I'm tired of running, I'll come along quietly now..." The man said as he turned around, revealing spiky blonde locks and ocean cerulean eyes. The blonde haired ANBU Captain rushed forward, swinging her fist forward as she attempted to punch the man square in the face. Naruto simply stepped to the side at an abnormal speed. Grabbing her wrist. "Ino?" The man asked. Unfortunately the only reply he received was a powerful punch to his stomach. Now he was sure... It was definitely Ino... Those were his last thoughts as he lost consciousness.

The familiar man snapped back to reality with a sudden rush as a bucket of water was poured over his head. "Get up Prisoner. The Hokage would like a word..." His blindfold was removed as a nameless ANBU guard led him up the long spiral staircase. Ending at a large wooden door. The guard knocked loudly. After a moment of silence a response was heard from the other side of the door. "Come in." The Hokage announced. The door swung open and the guard shoved him inside, closing the door behind him. As the man got up to his feet his gaze drifted upward at an older-looking Tsunade. "So what does the almighty Hokage want with a lowly criminal like me?" The man asked sarcastically. Tsunade smirked in response. "You know exactly why I summoned you here Naruto... When most shinobi of your criminal status run away from their village they remain hidden, after six months of no trace of you why choose to reveal yourself now?" Tsunade asked in reply.

Naruto grinned and shifted his gaze out the window. "Isn't it obvious? I've completed my training." As he effortlessly slid his hands out of his hand-cuffs he slid off his prisoner shirt revealing multiple tattoos on his body, crimson flames spiraling upward from his wrists all the way to the front of his neck as well as a detailed, glowing ball of icy blue flames covering the entirety of his chest. Tsunade stared in awe at the tattoos, her eyes widening in shock. "You can't take the scrolls away from me anymore, I've tattooed their secrets to my body." Naruto explained as he slid his shirt back on. Tsunade closed her eyes. "I see... So you don't want revenge on the village?" Tsunade asked out of concern. Naruto looked at her like she was crazy. "I explained to both you and Jiraiya six months ago that I only obtained this power to protect this village... Besides after studying my family scroll I have succeeded in repairing the fox's seal by sealing up a portion of the Fox's power into these crimson flame tattoos running down my arms." Tsunade nodded her head in understanding. "I see... Naruto as a recognition of all your hard work and dedication to the protection of this village I will allow you to return to the village, although you will be under the watchful eyes of a dozen squads of ANBU until you prove your true loyalty. You are dismissed."

Naruto pushed open the large, wooden doors of Hokage Tower, the first sunlight he'd received in days blinding his vision. As his vision returned him he once again returned to the long main road of Konoha. I place willed with so many valuable memories, yet at the same time unspeakable things that would forever scar his memories. As he walked casually down the main street countless eyes watched his every step. He didn't mind though he was used to it, besides his actions labeled him a traitor. How could he ever expect them to understand? The very thought was ludicrous. As his long walk came to an end he found his way to his older apartment complex. As he ascended the stairs he noticed there was hateful graffiti written on his door. He was used to it so it didn't effect him much. Naruto made a few quick hand signs and an illusion manifested, his door looking good as new. Genjutsu wasn't his best subject but he knew enough to perform a simple illusion. As he walked into his house he shut the door behind him. Not more than a few feet into his house he sensed the presence of another... He turned around suddenly, two Kunai's immediately in hand. "Who's there?" Naruto voiced into the proceeding shadows. A moment later a long, blond-haired woman emerged from the darkness. "It's been a while, huh Naruto?" The woman asked.

An enormous shadowed figure sat atop a throne carved from solid stone. His body twice the size of an average human being, the entirety of his form wrapped in bandages with the exception of his demonic-looking eyes. Incomprehensible seals placed on all of the bandages. In front of him was an enormous oval-shaped table with sinister-looking shadowed figures sitting around it. "I have gathered you all here because all of you are considered the best at your... Profession... This one must be brought to me alive but be warned, his power is great but he has one fatal weakness... He has a lover..."

Ino...

Naruto thought as he gazed at her, she had grown even more beautiful than the last time he saw her. Ino was growing annoyed with his lack of response. "Aren't you going to say anything!?" She yelled. "I'm sorry..." Naruto replied. Ino's facial expression hardened and she grabbed Naruto by the front of his shirt, shoving him against a wall forcibly. "You're sorry? You betray all of us and disappear on me and that's all you have to say!?" Ino finished, an intensity building in her eyes as she spoke.

Naruto looked her right in the eye, his gaze piercing the emotional armor she had built around her, formed by her anger and resolve towards him. "I was an idiot to not explain to you what was happening... I was afraid of how you'd react and I wasn't sure how to make you understand..." Naruto tried to explain. Ino loosened her grip on Naruto, dropping him to the ground as her gaze avoided him."I know about the Fox, what makes me angry was the fact that you wouldn't think I'd understand... I do understand I realized how hard your life was growing up but despite all that you turned out the way you were... There was no way you were a demon yourself..." She said as her gaze drifted back toward him. Naruto's facial expression hardened as he turned his back on her. "You're wrong... You may know about the fox but you have what it's like to grow up hated for something you had no control over, even you yourself participated in the hell I grew up in. Beyond that you no idea of the situation I'm in right now... How could you ever hope to understand? I'm sorry I need to be alone for a while..." When Naruto turned around, she was gone.

"Why would he say that? I'm trying my hardest to understand... God that guy is a hopeless case!" Ino almost yelled as she downed a shot of Sake. "Ino even though he took those scrolls and disappeared that doesn't make him a traitor. He came back didn't he?" Sakura said from beside her in the Sake bar. Ino didn't reply as she stared into space, downing a second shot. "Say something Ino!" Sakura said, annoyed at herself being ignored. "Alright! He did come back, but I'm still angry he couldn't tell me why..." Sakura sighed at her friend's ignorance as strong as she was. "Ino can either of us ever understand what it's like to have a demon sealed inside of us growing up alone and hated by everyone our entire lives? Even though we should have been thought of as a Hero..." Ino was silent as she sipped her third shot... Was I really being that insensitive? How stupid could I have been? Ino thought to herself, a sudden feeling of remorse spreading throughout her entire body.

Naruto sat cross-legged in his bedroom, a simple single-bed he found on a street corner moved into the corner as he sat in the middle of his floor. Incense burning as his eyes remained closed in concentration, a feeling of relaxation affecting his mind and body immediately as he fell into a trance. The world dissolving around him in a blur of shadows and colors. Finding himself in a dimly-lit circular chamber. Bloodlust and Light Naruto both gazed upward at him, Kyubi Naruto sealed away in the last cage in the room. Screaming and thrashing in rage as he attempted to break free from his internal prison. A being born out of rage and lust for power would do nothing but fuck him over in the end. As he walked closer his Ego Clones began to speak.

"We have become powerful in our training in solitude and tattooing the forbidden secrets to your body was pure genius but we feel as though you are limiting yourself... This village is insignificant we should broaden our horizons and-"

Bloodlust Naruto tried to explain but was sharply cut off. "With all of your power you have yet attained enough wisdom to understand, without something to protect... All the power in the world is meaningless..." Light Naruto explained to his alter-ego. Blood-lust Naruto fell silent. "If I truly wished to leave this village behind and control others with my power I would have done so, there's a reason I've returned, something is going to happen, something big, something that only I may be able to stop... The responsibility of the Future Hokage is to protect this village, even at the cost of my own life..."

Tsunade sat in her office, sipping her home-brew Sake in celebration of another hard day's work, it was her usual ritual after tackling an enormous pile of paperwork. She sighed in relief as she guzzled down a good portion of her bottle's contents. As she felt the alcohol's effects settling in she pulled out a blank scroll, bit down on her thumb and quickly performed a series of hand-signs.

"Sealing Arts! Storage Scroll Jutsu!"

She whispered to herself, the incantation echoing as the bottle vanished in a cloud of smoke, the bottle sealed into the blank scroll. Rolling it up as she stashed it away in a drawer of her desk. A moment later a light knock sounded from the other side of Tsunade's office door. Tsunade cleared her throat. "Come in!" She called out in an audible tone. The door swinging open as the form of Ino emerged from the doorway. "Hello Ino is there something I can do for you?" Tsunade asked in a curious and helpful tone. "Well I wanted to talk to you... About Naruto..." Ino said slowly. "So you disapprove of me releasing him from the dungeon?" Tsunade asked.

Ino nodded her head gently in response. "I understand he hurt you when he left without telling you or even why but let me ask you Ino, why do you think he returned?" Tsunade asked her. Ino bit down on her lip gently, she knew the answer but couldn't find herself to speak the words. "It's because he loves you Ino, and he loves this village and wants to do everything in his power to protect it. I have him under constant ANBU Watch and I'll lock him up if he exhibits traitorous behavior. Just trust my judgement on the matter, alright Ino?" Tsunade finished. Ino nodded her head in response and bowed slightly. "Forgive me for questioning you Lady Hokage, I have some matters to take care of please excuse me..." And with those words Ino vanished in a cloud of smoke. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop as her mind wandered. She trusted the Hokage's Judgement but she couldn't forgive him, nor could she forgive herself for how she acted towards him...

A/N: If you've been waiting for this chapter I apologize, it's not that I lost interest in the story I've just been stuck on the storyline for months, I've written an entire story from beginning to end and started on a new story that adopts the Kekei Genkai from this story and that alone inspired me to write this. Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter old reviewers and of course newcomers unfamiliar with my work I hope you enjoyed it to. REVIEW if you care! Peace! - DL555