Chapter Text
They were pinned down. Enemies were attacking from all directions. Rookie nine, well eight, looked around the room. Losing hope. “There’s no chance,” Sasuke said bluntly looking at the rest of the squad. He then continued speaking, “There’s too many to take on.” Everyone nodded in agreement. Of course, they were all extremely capable shinobi. But they were still humans with limits. The place was completely silent, but everyone was thinking the same thing ‘guess this is the end.’ But then, as if Kami had sent them a gift. A group of people showed up. Each one of them was wearing a black cloak with a few red clouds dotted on them. They all stood on top of a cliff, looking at the teams calmly.
“What is he doing here? And who are those guys?” Sakura pointed up at the group of people, in awe. Although one of them. Stood out more than the others. In the middle there was a teenager, no older than 18. He had burnt yellow hair and whiskers on his cheeks. He was none other than Uzumaki Naruto. Rookie eight looked at him in disbelief. No one had seen Naruto in a decade. But there he was, standing right in front of them. to his left, there was Pain, Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki and Sasori. To his right was Konan, Tobi, Deidara, Kakuzu and finally Hidan.
Naruto wasted no time, dropping down in front of them. He walked towards the group. He carried himself with authority and a demeanor that demanded respect. He looked over his shoulder towards Pain for a moment, who had already sent the rest of the Akatsuki to deal with the enemies. He then turned his attention back to his former friends, if he could even call them that. He spoke up, “Start heading back to Konoha. We will take care of this and meet you there.” His voice was cold and emotionless. Sasuke opened his mouth and was about to protest but before he could. Naruto looked at him with a glare that could make even the Devil tremble in fear. Everyone else had received the message as well. They quickly got up and left.
The trip back to the village had been quiet. Uncharacteristic from many of the group. Of course, Shino and Hinata had always been silent and reserved. Sasuke was being his brooding self. Shikamaru hadn’t had much to say, he considered it a ‘drag.’ Meanwhile Ino, Sakura, Choji and Kiba hadn’t said a word.
The silence was broken half way through the trip by Ino. “What happened to him?” She asked, her tone was filled with worry and a slight hint of fear. She knew no one would have an answer. Sakura added to her question. “Yea, I mean he seems so different.” The pineapple haired boy chimed in “Well, it’s been more than a decade since we last saw him. He was bound to change.” They all knew that, but it almost seemed like Naruto had changed too much. He was no longer the knucklehead, prankster, ‘nuisance’ that he had the reputation for.
Once they had arrived back at the village, everyone headed towards the Hokage’s tower. Once allowed in they stood in front of the fifth Hokage. She was one of the three legendary Sannin. Tsunade Senju. They presented the mission report and the surprise appearance of the Jinchuriki. The medical-nin sat at her desk, rubbing her temples. If only her grandson hadn’t appeared out of nowhere. She felt the need for a drink. She then dismissed the rookie eight members, who quickly left the room.
Naruto appeared, again, seemingly out of nowhere once the eight shinobi had left. He was sitting down on the window sill. “Hokage-sama.” He said curtly. Tsunade quickly turned around looking at him as if she had seen a ghost. ‘How the hell?’ She thought to herself. She hadn’t even heard him approach. Tsunade personally had never met Naruto. But she had heard about him. He was made out to be dead last, the loser of the class. But now, she was having doubts about how true that reputation was. “We need to talk.” He spoke up once again after a few moments of silence. His voice remained monotone, void of any emotions. She nodded, inviting him into the office.