Naruto 1. Prologue

The Pisukage was taking a stroll through the Pisukage Temple, despite the late hours. The Pisukage had never been one to sleep well, or at all to be honest; however, the recent series of storms had made sleep near impossible. The storms always started at exactly nine o' clock, always nine o' clock. 'Why?' asked the Pisukage inwardly, carefully avoiding speaking aloud.

He was always careful not to let the slightest sound escape his lips since he had taken a vow of silence. The Pisukage continued his ponderings as lightning struck and thunder boomed in the background. The thunder was loud, louder than anything he'd heard before, so loud, in fact, it would cause a normal person to jump, but then again he wasn't normal. He had never seen such powerful storms… Well at least not in while... At least not since…

"That's it!" He exclaimed inside his head, being extra careful not to let the slightest peep escape his lips. "They've returned" A wave of fear flooded over him. He felt his heart race and his knees weaken as he continued pondering, "Then that means that these are only the beginning, and that Legion will come back in full force. How could this situation get any worse?" Irony struck.

As soon as he had completed that thought, he heard someone shout "Pisukage!" The Pisukage turned around to see a pale scrawny shinobi awkwardly running to him. "Pisukage! The Nohana is blossoming!"

The Pisukage felt a sharp pain on the right side of his head, "Not these headaches again." He looked up towards the sky and prayed to every deity there ever was or will be, "Why me? Why now? Why them? Now I have to take care of Legion before the tournament. Which we will have to start in a about a month and a half, but last time we battled Legion, it took three months alone to track them."

The Pisukage nodded at the attendant whom gave him a worried glance "You're thinking the same thing aren't you?" asked the attendant. The Kage of the storm-riddled village gave a simple nod. The attendant put up the hand signs of tiger, dragon, and rat, quickly shouting, "Mental Link Jutsu!" The Pisukage gave a slight smirk and proceeded to bring the attendant up-to-date.

"To conclude, I need you to bring me the descendants and the survivor," he ordered. They were only thing standing between this village and total eradication. The return of Legion and the blooming of the Nohana...why did they have to coincide now? Why? "And quickly," he added, "Very quickly."

The attendant nodded, "Right away sir." The Pisukage watched as the scrawny attendant raced to bring the team back to the Pisukage. The Pisukage made his way to his office and sat down at his desk. He began to write letters to notify the other Kages about the tournament. He wrote five letters, each labeled with the symbols of the five major villages. He signed with his own village's mark, a stylized owl. His head pained him again, and he pressed his fingers to his head.

It pained him again, and he took some headache medicine and moved on to other business. He began preparations for the tournament: sleeping arrangements, food supply, rules and regulations, and, worst of all, getting the arena ready again. The attendant and the four members of the team knocked on the door, but the Pisukage was too far gone in his work to hear them.

The attendant took the silence from the room as permission to enter, and lead the team into the room. The five awkwardly stood waiting for the Pisukage to notice them; eventually the attendant cleared his throat nervously to get the Pisukage's attention, "Pisukage, sir." The Pisukage was currently writing his village's name Shizukagakure, "Village Hidden in the Silence", on an official paper.

The Pisukage stopped what he was doing and looked up at the team. The attendant activated the Mental Link Jutsu so the Pisukage could communicate. The Pisukage took a deep breath in and slowly brought the team up to date.

He began with the chuunin, "You three are all sixteen years old, and as you all know from village history sixteen years ago, on the exact day you three were born, the village was the victim of a group of terrorists called Legion. Well, your parents died trying to take Legion down, and they succeeded for the most part… I believe you three are some of the only ones who can help take down Legion for good."

The Pisukage looked at the sensei of the three chuunin, "You are the only survivor of the Legion attack sixteen years ago. You can help put them down for good." He looked at the entire group again, "As you have probably figured out by the way I have been talking, Legion is back; I am assigning you four to track and take down Legion. Be careful; you are going up against a force unlike any other." The special team of four nodded and took off out of the village.

The attendant turned and looked at the Pisukage, "Do you think they will be okay?" He replied with a nod, "Each of them are tougher than all of their parents combined." The attendant sensed the conversation end, and left the Pisukage in peace to work.

The team jumped from rooftop to rooftop attempting to reach the edge of the village as soon as possible. Once at the entrance gate, the team leader looked at his team of three chunin and smiled. He turned to the first one who was wearing a blacksmith apron and a pair of goggles on his forehead. The blacksmith nodded, straightening his goggles. "Your father built my weapons. He was my most trusted friend; I miss him dearly. You have spent a lot of time trying to rebuild your clan, and I applaud you for that. You are one of the most powerful of your clan. Probably the most powerful member of them all; however, this is the force that killed your father. You will need great caution. I need your strength… Your father's strength. Only you have the ability to finish the Legion."

The blacksmith tightened his grip on his Warhammer and rested it on his shoulder. Then ran a hand through his thick red hair. His well-tanned, almost burned, skin glistened in the moonlight. The leader looked into the blacksmith's brown eyes; he gave the kid a smile. "You can count on me, sir" said the blacksmith simply.

The leader then looked at one covered by a long coat, not unlike what the Fourth Hokage wore but only green. The one in the long coat was the last of a group of powerful monks. "You are the last of a powerful order. All of whom died trying to protect this world. I watched as each and every one fell by Legion's hand. They illuminated the way to find legion and... Please be careful. Very powerful men have died doing your job."

The monk drew his bo staff and lifted up his lantern. The monk had symbols drawn all over his body, most of them resembled stars and dragons. A gust of wind blew through the village it ruffled the monk's medium length hair which was tied back into a ponytail. He gave the mentor an understanding look. "As you wish, sensei."

The final member waited for his speech silently. When the leader started to speak he felt a lump in his throat. He was severely choked up thinking about the last member's father, their relationship, and the father's death, "Your father… Your father saved me. I was in a dark place… I was alone on the streets… Your father took me in, helped me become a ninja. He died standing in between me and certain death. You will bring the Legion into view. Your eye is the only thing that can see the true form of Legion and your ninshu will share this power with us."

The last member wore a hood that partially covered up his masked face. There were bandages that were sloppily wrapped in different places around his body. It always reminded their leader of a mummy. The mummy felt his eye tear up at the mention of his father. As long as he could remember, the mummy saw the dead, and he was the only one of the three who knew their father. When he was little the mummy met up with his father every day. The tear began to fall down his face. He slowly wiped it, and grabbed his hooked sword, in the spirit of correctness: khopesh, and his short sword.

Another tear fell down his cheek. These weapons were his father's… He slowly looked at his arms, covered in bandages. He moved his head downward to let his hood hide his face. He didn't reply, as the leader expected. The mummy never even responded verbally to any communication; at best he would reply with an extremely minor nod.

The blacksmith stepped forward. "Sensei, may I ask a question?"

The leader, gave him a smirk, "You just did." The blacksmith was taken aback, not knowing how to respond to his mentor's joke. The mentor never made jokes- ever. He was the epitome of serious.

"May I ask a different question?"

The team leader raised his right eyebrow and chuckled, "Just did."

The victim of the leader's newfound playfulness sighed, "Do you think we're ready? Do you think we'll be okay?" He had his reasons to be unsure if they were truly ready. Even though their entire lives had been preparation for when they would face Legion, it was still a tremendous and dangerous force that even surpassed S-level threats.

"I have faith that you three will be able to stop Legion," he told them, answering only part of the question. The leader knew that all four of them would probably not survive, and with that they took off toward the worst part of the storm.


	2. Chapter 1: A Missed Appointment

**AN: Sorry it took so long. I have a busy schedule, but worked hard to put this out so here it is.**

Naruto's alarm screamed and beeped loudly for the thousandth time this morning. Exhausted, he let out a groan and started to bat at the snooze button. As he did so, he focused in on the clock, rubbing his eyes with the other hand. He finally hit the snooze button forcefully and slowly read the time to himself. "HOLY CRAP!" he yelled as he fell out of the bed, "There's no way it's already noon. Crap, Tsunade wanted everyone for a village meeting at 11:45!"

He leaped off his bedroom floor and raced to the bathroom where he quickly applied deodorant and brushed his teeth at the same time. He put on his Konoha headband and his orange jumpsuit and then smiled in the mirror.

Once he was finished getting ready, he sprinted out of his room toward the kitchen; once there, he grabbed an apple off the table and opened the fridge. He looked around. He wasn't sure if he was in the mood for orange juice or milk. He began to think about what he wanted to drink. He gave a harried glance over at the kitchen clock; the time was now 12:14. He had to hurry otherwise Tsunade would kill him. He could see it now. _Dammit Naruto! Can't you ever be on time? This was important. _What would follow his late arrival would be a very thorough and intense beating from both Tsunade and Sakura. He needed to hurry. He grabbed the milk and, without thinking, started chugging it. He was met with an extremely bitter taste, and immediately spewed out the milk. 'Dang, I need to get some fresh milk.' he thought to himself. He munched on the apple as he sped towards the village meeting area.

He was running as fast as he could, hoping that if he got there he could hide in the crowd and pretend he was there the entire time. He turned corners when needed and zig-zagged to avoid hitting various objects and people. He quickly turned a corner and bumped into someone. "Sorry," he apologized hurriedly, "I'm late." He began to leave the accident.

"Wait, Naruto" said a very familiar voice, dry and deep. He glanced back and saw a red-haired boy around his age standing with a faint smile on his face. "Long time, no see."

"Gaara!" exclaimed Naruto, grinning, "How've you been?"

"Busy. Being Kazekage is a lot of work."

"Yeah, well, I can't wait till I'm Hokage."

"Well, if you win the ninja tournament, you may very well be Hokage."

"Ninja tournament?" repeated Naruto in confusion.

"Yes. It's what the meeting is about. This ninja tournament only takes place once every one hundred years. The winner gets to eat the blossom of the flower that blooms at the time of the tournament."

"Why would I want to eat a flower?" It didn't particularly sound appetizing to begin with. Flowers were starchy, dry, little things. Don't ask how he knew.

"It gives you power beyond imagination." Well, that certainly changed his tune.

"Wait what type of power? If I get power beyond belief I can become Hokage a heck of a lot easier. I have to win this tournament. I'm going to win this tournament. Believe it!"

Gaara gave a throaty chuckle and nodded his head, "You would be the one to do it; however, you may want to develop some new jutsus. More power certainly wouldn't hurt."

"I'm plenty strong enough!" argued Naruto.

"Naruto, you know shadow clones, how to summon, and an arrangement of rasengans. A well-balanced fighter could easily counter that. Try to learn at least one more jutsu."

Naruto crossed his arms stubbornly, face set. He thought about what Gaara was saying; it certainly was true. He really didn't know anything besides what Gaara had listed. He bit his lip and squinted at the red-head. "Fine," he finally conceded, "You have a point."

Naruto and Gaara chatted for another five minutes before the quiet village street was ambushed with a wave of laughter and chit-chat from those leaving the meeting.

"Guess the village meeting is over," Gaara stated.

Naruto nodded in agreement. "What would you recommend?"

"That is your decision."

No sooner had Gaara finished his sentence, Sakura had punched Naruto on the head, sending him to the ground. "Lady Tsunade is furious! You were supposed to speak. Do you know how embarrassing it is for the Hokage to get up, call someone's name, and they not be there?" Sakura picked up Naruto by the collar, glaring deathly at him. "I'm going to kill you and bring you back to life, so Lady Tsunade can kill you as well."

Gaara gave another throaty chuckle at the pink-haired ninja's anger. She turned and smiled angelically, at odds with a bruised Naruto in her clutches. "Oh, hey, Gaara." She then started punching Naruto.

Gaara watched the extremely one-sided battle with a tilted head, and once he was no longer amused by it he decided to interject. "Hey, Sakura."

"Yeah, Gaara?" She said, happily punching Naruto one more time.

"Let Tsunade do that."

"Yeah. She'll beat him much worse than I could ever do." She dropped the blonde unceremoniously to the ground, and he groaned and scowled up at Gaara.

"Thanks, Gaara," he said sardonically.

Sakura knocked him on the head. "You have no right to talk." Naruto gave a frightened nod. "Go to Tsunade," commanded Sakura. Naruto gave another frightened nod, and took off down the street running as fast as he could. He gave one last glance back and saw Sakura chatting with Gaara and his two siblings who had just shown up.

He slowed down once out of Sakura's line of sight, and walked his entire way to Hokage Tower, dreading the entire walk. He knew that Tsunade was going to kill him. He stopped and looked up at the tall tower, giving a sigh as he begrudgingly dragged his feet up to Tsunade's office. He counted the steps until his slow and painful death. 1,050... 1,051... 1,052... He continued to count the entire staircase, until he reached the top. "10,532 steps. I've always wondered how many steps there were." He chuckled, and then looked down the long narrow hallway leading strait to the Hokage's office.

He gave a long drawn-out sigh but picked up the pace. He felt like he had postponed his brutal punishment as long as possible. He sprinted toward the door of the office, and with trembling hands, he grabbed the handle. His heart was beating so hard it felt as if it was going to rip through his chest. Opening the door he walked into a darkened room. The doors seemingly closed behind him; he struggled to find the Hokage's desk.

"Naruto..." Tsunade growled intimidatingly. Naruto couldn't help but flinch.

"I'm so sorry, Granny Tsunade. My alarm clock didn't go off, then Gaara stopped me and we started talking about the how difficult a time he was having with being Kazekage and then about the ninja tournament."

Tsunade sighed softly. "So you've heard about the tournament." Naruto nodded, not that it mattered much at the moment. "Naruto, I don't know if I should tell you this... Nevertheless, you are the Leaf Village's best chance of winning this tournament. I'm not sure you are aware of this fact, the Leaf Village has not once won this tournament. I personally believe that, because of you, the odds are in our favor." A wave of relief flooded him as he heard Granny Tsunade say these words.

"So I'm not in trouble?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

"No, Naruto, you are not in trouble," replied Tsunade understandingly, "Before I became Hokage, I was late to all kinds of appointments because of..." she cleared her throat, "well... to be honest, hangovers." Naruto chuckled at her comment and Tsunade came across her desk to whack him. Despite the darkness of the room, she managed to hit him over the head with perfect accuracy. Putting his hands over the rising lump, he let out a pain-filled groan. Tsunade returned to her seat and then asked Naruto, "Do you have any questions for me?''

He nodded slightly and then heartily said, "I need to learn some new jutsu if I'm going to win the tournament. Who do you think I should go to learn new jutsus?"

Tsunade took a moment to consider his question and then replied with, "If I were in your place, I would consult with Kakashi, and then I would go to Guy to perfect your taijutsu. Finally, ask TenTen about bukijutsu. Maybe relearn the basics, like chakra control and actual deception."

Naruto thought for a minute, mentally noting all the suggestions, and then loudly replied, "I'm gonna win this tournament, Believe it!" Tsunade chuckled and shooed him out of the office. Naruto left the office with a smile planted on his face. "I have a long month ahead of me, but it will be worth it!" he said to himself.

**Later That Day**

Naruto sat at Ichiraku's, an untouched plate of Ramen in front of him. "Naruto, are you okay?" asked Teuchi, "You've hardly touched your food." Naruto hadn't heard a word that Teuchi had spoken. He was lost in thought. He couldn't stop thinking about what he wanted to start training first. He really did need to do everything that Tsunade had mentioned.

He would need to work with Kakashi to develop a new jutsu, Guy to perfect his taijutsu, and TenTen to develop skill with a weapon. Learning and perfecting a new jutsu would probably require the most work and time; however, taijutsu and bukijutsu would be easier and he could learn them at a relatively similar time. Guy and TenTen would be training together anyways.

He began to weigh the pros and cons of learning each first. The jutsu like previously stated would take longer to learn and honestly could easily be perfected quicker; however, it would take away from the time he could use to learn the other two. If the jutsu was the only thing he could work on, then if he were in a battle with someone who took away chakra he would be defenseless; however, if he learned the taijutsu and bukijutsu, he still has the problem of being limited to close range. He continued to ponder the implications of learning a new ninjutsu or bukijutsu and taijutsu.

He decided to talk to Kakashi about learning a new ninjutsu, and let his leader pick which jutsu to teach him. Then, he would talk to Guy. Guy's training would probably be the hardest on the body, so it makes sense to work with him next. While doing Guy's body-breaking training and Kakashi making his decision, he would finally talk to TenTen and develop skills with a particular weapon.

Since he had come up with his solution, he shook his head to break his thought process. He looked down at the now cold bowl of ramen and sighed. "How about we get you a new bowl," said a young woman from behind the counter, "This one is cold." Naruto shot a thankful smile towards the woman.

"Thanks, Ayame" Naruto thanked the girl.

"It's no problem for our favorite customer."

Naruto chuckled, "Oh stop. You'll make me blush." Ayame let a giggle escape as she prepared him a new bowl of ramen.

"So, Naruto, you excited about the ninja tournament?" asked her father.

"Of course," Naruto shouted happily, "It's another chance to prove my stren-" His statement was abruptly finished as a new bowl of ramen was placed in front of him. He yanked a pair of chopsticks out of the container and enthusiastically dug into the hardy meal. In approximately five seconds, the bowl was emptied. "That was amazing as usual guys, thanks." Said Naruto as he walked out.

"That boy is something else," said Teuchi to himself.

Naruto glanced at a sundial that he was passing; the time read five o' clock. He had just enough time to talk to each of the tutors. He ran to the Leaf Memorial, sure Kakashi was there. Naruto ran as fast as he could, hoping to have enough time to go to the library after he was finished talking to the tutors. He ran nonstop for fifteen minutes until he reached the memorial. He saw Kakashi reading the last issue of _Icha Icha_; Naruto smiled as he gazed upon his sensei. "Kakashi-sensei!" shouted Naruto, "Kakashi-sensei! Can you teach me a new ranged jutsu for the tournament?"

Kakashi gave an exhausted sigh, and closed his book. "I guess, let me think of which jutsu to teach you. We'll meet here at eleven o' clock tomorrow morning."

Naruto gave an enthusiastic nod and smiled, "Thanks, Kakashi-sensei." Kakashi reopened his book and continued reading.

Naruto took off running to the forest opening where Guy, Lee, Neji, and TenTen were training. "Kakashi told me to be ready to train at eleven o' clock, which means that I have till at least three until he shows up." Naruto snickered. He ran and ran and ran; it seemed like he ran forever until he found the opening. Looking at the shadows, Naruto estimated the time was about seven thirty; Naruto growled. That meant that he had thirty minutes before dark.

He looked up to see Guy and Lee matching blows. "Guy-sensei! Can I ask a favor?" asked Naruto loudly. Guy and Lee stopped, and then looked at Naruto.

"Sure what is it, Naruto?" asked Guy.

Naruto looked down, "Can you teach me the basics of some taijutsu?"

Guy chuckled. "Practicing for the tournament, I see." Guy stopped talking, irritating Naruto. He waited, for it was best not to anger those you're asking favors of. He waited and waited, but the tension felt like it was going to make him pop. There was silence between the three for about five minutes. "CAN YOU GIVE ME A STRAIGHT ANSWER FOR CHRIST'S SAKE?" Naruto blurted out, and instantly covered his mouth. He slowly lowered his hands, "I'm sorry Guy-sensei."

Both Guy and Lee burst out laughing. "Sure, Naruto, I'll teach you."

Naruto smiled widely, and yelled out, "Thanks Guy-sensei." Naruto looked around for Neji and TenTen, but didn't see them. "Hey where's Neji and TenTen?"

Lee tightened his bandages, "Well, all of the Hyuuga are training together, and TenTen is currently learning new bukijutsu."

Naruto nodded, "Where is she?"

Guy thought about it. "I think she's at the blacksmith, sealing more weapons away."

Naruto gave another quick nod, "Alright!" He turned around and started off toward the blacksmith.

"Oh, Naruto!" Guy called out. Naruto turned around. "Put these on!" Guy commanded as he tossed one hundred pound weights at Naruto. They each hit Naruto in the gut and caused him to fall down.

"Where do you keep those things?" exclaimed Naruto as he saw Guy put a summoning scroll back in his leg warmers. "Put them on now and don't take them off. Oh, and be at this very spot at 4:30 tomorrow morning," he told Naruto.

"4:30! What the crap?! Why so early?"

Guy furrowed his uncannily large brow, "Do you want help or not?"

Naruto looked down with a sigh, "Okay, Guy-sensei."

He could barely lift his legs with these weights on, slowing his pace. Naruto checked the time to see he had about twenty minutes till dark. He sighed as he ran at a pace that was comically slow. He sighed and looked down at them. "I've got to find a better way to do this!" He declared to himself. He could use his chakra to increase strength in his legs, not that would take up to much chakra to do. An impish smile became plastered on his face.

He moved his hand into a handsign, "SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" He screamed and five perfect replicas of Naruto appeared. "Alright guys, pick me up and carry me to the blacksmith." The clones nodded simultaneously and picked the abnormally heavy original. The clones were struggling; the extra two hundred pounds was not a big help. They neared the city with five minutes to spare. "Come on guys; pick up the pace!" Naruto exclaimed as he raced through the city towards the blacksmith shop on the other side of town.

The clones all fell to the floor exhausted as the shop came into sight. Naruto crashed head-first onto the concrete. He let a yelp of pain escape as his hands raced to cover a rising lump on the top of his head. He stayed there until the pain faded and looked up at the darkened street, TenTen standing in front of him.

"Hey Naruto!" She smiled.

"TenTen, you're a weapon master, correct?"

"I would hope so," She replied, twirling a kunai around her index finger.

"So can you teach me how to use a weapon?" Naruto pleaded.

"Is this for the tournament?" Naruto nodded wildly; she looked at him thinking. "Sure, what do you have in mind?"

Naruto thought for a minute. "A sword would be awesome!"

TenTen shook her head, "A sword takes years of practice. Try again." He stuck his lip out, pouting; she didn't appreciate this so she grabbed his lower lip and pulled.

"Ow! What are you doing?" He asked without proper enunciation.

"Don't pout when I correct you. Try again." She let go and waited for his response.

"How about…" He was cut off, "How about you learn whatever I decide to teach you tomorrow morning." Naruto started to pout about not getting to choose his weapons, but he remembered what happened last time.

"Okay. I'm training with Guy at 4:30 tomorrow morning and Kakashi at three o' clock. What time do I need to be here tomorrow?" TenTen thought about it and turned around, "Be here at ten," and with that she returned home.

**Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed it. Training is next chapter. Lots of fun.**


End file.

Naruto, Adventure, Drama