Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It will always belong to Masashi Kishimoto, and I will always be just one of his many loyal fans.

A Bright Future?

Chapter 1: The start of trouble

It was a beautiful, sunny morning in the hidden ninja village of Konohagakure. The sun was shining and shinobi's and civilians were happily going about with their personal business, especially one kunoichi who was on cloud nine.

It was Hyuuga Hinata, former heiress of the famous Hyuuga clan and currently the soon-to-be-bride of village hero and her long-time love Uzumaki Naruto. The lovely woman was currently in her compounds garden, feeling a great sense of joy and tranquility for everything that was going on. Their village was finally at peace and soon she would be married to the man she has loved since she was a little girl.

Could it get any better than that?

"Oh, I wonder what Naruto-kun is up to right now?...'Hinata said softly as she watered some sun flowers and thought about her future groom.

It was early and Hinata imagined he was either out doing some early morning training, getting a ramen-theme breakfast or maybe just sleeping in since it was Sunday. Such thoughts made Hinata giddy and giggly. They were certainly in character of her beloved.

A few months ago Naruto-kun had proposed to her and later he would come here so they could continue to plan for their wedding. She could still recall that beautiful, wonderful night when he took her to a nice restaurant called Narusegawa'a Lounge, it was a little pricey but Naruto insisted on splurging there. The food was delicious and Naruto ordered a large tray of cinnamon rolls, her favorite, for dessert. On the first one she picked up, Hinata saw the engagement ring and Naruto proposed to her right there.

It was simply wonderful.

That was almost two months ago and with her father and clan's help, they will hopefully be able to have the ceremony be ready in just a few short weeks at the most. Which is why the young woman was in such high spirits.

"Oh Naruto-kun…"Hinata blushed as she thought of her beloved.

Ever since she was a girl, Naruto had been her most precious person. She used to always long to be with him, to talk, train and befriend him and tell him just how important he was to her but she had been so very shy as a girl, something she was still ashamed about since she knew how lonely he had been during those days. But things were different now, she was no longer that shy child and she and Naruto were in love with each other. Soon she would become his bride and later wife and live happily with him for the rest of their lives.

She could hardly wait for this afternoon so that he could come and continue with the planning for their wedding. The sooner they plan, the sooner they can be married. And Hinata was counting the days until she would finally become Uzumaki Hinata. Until then however, she would wait patiently and prepare for what would be the most important day of her and Naruto's lives. Also, she had a few important questions that she simply must ask him in regards to the ceremony.

'I wonder if Naruto-kun would be alright if our wedding cake was cinnamon flavored…"Hinata thought with a giggle as she thought about her favorite treat.

The lovely young bride went back to water her flowers and thinking about her one true love and how soon, they will be married.

At the training fields

At the training fields, a certain blonde young man was currently doing some heavy training. This was Uzumaki Naruto, age 19, who has been here since very early this morning. Hinata had been right as her groom in question was currently doing some training. The blonde young man was sweating and panting but still going at it.

"Alright, a little more…"Naruto muttered as he summoned more chakra.

"Rasengan!..."He shouted upon creating the powerful orb and obliterated a nearby tree.

"Glad to see I'm not rusty…"He thought proudly.

With all that's been going on lately, he rarely had a lot of free time to train, what with all the missions along with planning his wedding. It was a little stressful, which was why he needed a little release in the form of hard work and elbow grease. As the ninja in question continued to work out, he didn't notice that he was being watched. It wasn't an enemy, if anything it was the polar opposite that had attentive eyes on the village hero.

"HI-YA!..."Naruto shouted as he threw some shuriken's, hitting his target perfectly.

"HI-YA!..."Was suddenly shouted and the blonde turned around to see Some kids, academy students all in similar poses as well.

This caused the blonde man to grin.

"Hi there.."Naruto said as he recognize these kids.

There were about three boys he recalled from his last lecture he gave at the academy. Seiji, Chan and Toru who were first year academy students and big fans of the village hero.

"Good morning Naruto-senpai…'The three boys said in union as they did a bow to their idol.

"Mornin' guys, what's going on?..."Naruto asked the kids.

"Just training to be awesome ninja's like you senpai!...'Chan, a dark hair boy with goggles said enthusiastically.

"Is that so?...'Naruto said with a grin.

"Could you spar with us Naruto-senpai…"Toru asked with bright eyes to the adult.

"We wanna be like you Naruto-senpai!..."Seiji, the shortest of the kids said excitedly to the village hero while his friends nodded in agreement.

"Eh, I'd love to give you guys some help but I'm doing some training and I have plans for this afternoon…"Naruto said carefully and noticed the wilted looks on their face.

"Please Naruto-nichan! Show us!..."The kids begged once more to their hero.

"Alright…Alright…I guess I can give you guys some pointers…"Naruto said with a sigh and saw the kids lighten up in excitement.

"Alright! Naruto-nii is going to show us how to kick butt…"Chan shouted while his friends cheered as well.

"Kids…"Naruto thought in amusement as he saw how excitable they all were before he went to teach them some taijutsu and show him some jutsu's much to their amazement.

Later

Naruto was now on his way home to take a quick shower and later meet up with his fiancé to plan the wedding. Naruto grinned at the thought of that. This week alone was pretty tiring, what with the missions and everything but now Naruto had his day off, he got a big payoff for his last mission, which was a trip to Suna in order to maintain peace and he was now going to see his beloved, beautiful bride to plan their wedding.

He still couldn't believe that in just a few weeks, he and Hinata were going to be married. His single days would be over and he'd get to spend the rest of his life with the sweetest, most beautiful, amazing woman on earth.

It was like a dream.

"Hmm…I wonder if Hinata-chan would mind adding ramen as a wedding dish…" Naruto thought with interest as he continued his walk.

"Naruto-nichan!...'Was heard and Naruto turned around to see Konohamaru running up to him.

"Hey Konohamaru, what's up?..."Naruto greeted.

"Fine, I heard you just got back from your mission…'Konohamaru said with interest.

"Eh, it was nothing big, just a routine visit is all…'Naruto shrugged.

Soon the two ninja's continued to walk and chat together, about life, missions and of course, the wedding itself.

"I still can't believe that you and Hinata-sama are getting married…"Konohamaru commented to his friend and idol.

"I know…I still sometimes can't believe it either…"Naruto said with a grin as he thought of his bride.

As the blonde, young man kept walking with his younger friend, he was greeted by more and more villagers, his fans and kept thinking about his beautiful bride and their wedding that would be soon. He was counting then days away until the wedding and how soon he will be able to call her his wife and come home to her every day for the rest of his life.

"It doesn't get any better than this…"Naruto thought to himself.

He was happy and why shouldn't he be. He had everything that he could ever want when he was growing up…except for the Hokage title but he was still as determined as ever to get it one day. But right now, he had the admiration and respect of the entire village that had once shunned him, he had many close friends that he knew he could trust his life with, he had become stronger and most of all, he had the love of a beautiful, amazing woman who he would soon marry and start a family with.

Absolutely nothing could spoil this for him!

Suddenly an ANBU came up to them and he mentally cursed.

"Naruto-san! Hokage-sama is requesting your presence in his office right now…" The ANBU said.

'What does Kakashi-sensei want?..."He asked to the masked ANBU.

"It's something to do with that old teammate of yours, Uchiha Sasuke…"He answered, surprising Naruto and even Konohamaru in the process.

"I'll see ya later Konohamaru, I gotta take this…"Naruto said before leaving with the other man to the Hokage's office.

All the while, he was hoping that his friend was alright. Sasuke was still on his journey, he did occasionally come to the village ever so often, so Naruto wanted to know what was up. Despite how they always used to butt heads when they first became members of team seven…and the falling out they had when he left the village, Naruto always cared about Sasuke as his best friend, even when he was being a jerk.

He sure hope that he was okay.

About 6 1/2 years ago

It was an uneventful day in the village, as 12 year old, Uzumaki Naruto, almost 13, was at the training field, working his butt off to improve his skills. It's been about three months since he and his new mentor Jiraiya or ero-sennin as Naruto so eloquently calls him, managed to track down and convince Tsunade to come back to the village to become the new fifth Hokage. Since then it was endless missions and training.

Such as right now.

"Come on!..."Naruto said as he threw more shurinkens to his target but missed the bull's by a bit.

Naruto grinned as he was only off by a few inches and he was a lot closer than his last one…that meant he was improving. Now all he had to do was keep practicing and he'll be able to get it. He knew that he would.

"Just a little more and I'll beat Sasuke's score…"The loud, hyperactive blonde said confidently as he kept his private training.

That had been what the fight had been about. As always Sasuke got a perfect score, managing to hit the bull's eye perfectly with not one, not two but three shurinkens like it was nothing while Naruto had only managed to land one while the other two missed it by a bit.

It wouldn't have been so bad if that jerk didn't make that comment of him lacking focus and Sakura gushing over how amazing he was.

He wasn't jealous…Okay, maybe a he was a little but he just wanted to show them that he was getting better. He knew that he was!

Anyway, after the fight, Kakashi-sensei dismissed them for the day and left for home to go read his perverted book and Sasuke left to go who-knows-where with Sakura following him. He had ask her if she wanted to get some ramen with him but she said no. That left him all alone and he was determined that for the next training lesson, he would be able to get a perfect score and show Sasuke that he was just as good as he was! Maybe then he'll finally have his respect.

"One day you'll respect me…when I become Hokage…"Naruto thought before continuing his training

One day Sasuke and everyone in the village will respect and acknowledge him. One day Sakura would no longer see him as some nuisance and she will like him. One day they and the village will see him as a strong ninja and a part of this village and not the monster they believe he was due to the beast sealed within him or the inept ninja they viewed him as. One day he will prove to everyone that he was a good ninja and then he would become Hokage and lead the village to its golden age.

One day Sakura will pick him over Sasuke. One day he will make Sasuke admit that they are friends and rivals…that he wasn't a dead last dobe.

He would make sure of it.

Unknown to the young boy, a certain pair of lavender, pupil-less eyes was watching him from a distance with a mixture of sympathy, admiration and also some longing. It was Hyuuga Hinata, heiress to the village's prominent Hyuuga clan who could only stare at the boy who was special to her. She had been on her way to the training grounds to do her own private training but overheard some ruckus and then saw Naruto training as hard as he ever has.

Hinata couldn't help but smile at how hard he was working right there.

"Naruto-kun…you already are so strong…"Hinata thought as she continued to watch him from a distance.

She wished that she could go up to him and talk and maybe even train with him now that his team had left to do their own thing. But she was too shy to even do just that.

She hated that about herself.

She cared deeply about Naruto, she admired his determination and his never-give-up attitude…She liked him a lot and that made things hard for her.

"I'm going to work hard too…You'll see Naruto-kun…One day I will be stronger, like you…"The dark haired girl thought as she continued to admire the boy.

One day she would tell him how special he was to her, she vowed that she would.

Present time

Uzumaki Naruto, age 19, has just arrived to the Hokage office and saw both his old sensei and comrade there, looking as serious as ever…or it was implied given that one of them was wearing a mask after all.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei…Sasuke…It's great to see you…is something wrong? Did something happen?...'Naruto asked.

"Yes…or something might happen…"Sasuke said with a sigh…"During my trip, I discovered something that I believe might have some link to Kaguya…"Sasuke answered, surprising the blonde in the process.

"Kaguya!...'Naruto exclaimed. He had hoped that after the war and defeating her, they would have been done with her trouble but it seems not.

"What is it?..."Naruto asked to his dark haired teammaete.

Sasuke immediately pulled out a scroll and summoned something out. Once he was done, he pulled out what looked to have been an old hourglass. It was made of brass-like metal, glass and it looked normal, except that he saw the symbol of the Ōtsutsuki engraved into it. Naruto was getting a very strange vibe from it.

"An hourglass?...'Naruto questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I found it in the ruins of some old temple, likely from the days before the shinobi way and all around were symbols of the Ōtsutsuki clan. The surprising thing was that while the entire place was in ruins, this was on a pedestal, as if never touched by the change of time…and that makes it strange…"Sasuke answered…. "The place was booby-trapped and I saw numerous skeletons all over the place, all reaching out for it…but I managed to get out and get this…"Sasuke explained to his blonde comrade.

"Booby-trapped…the Ōtsutsuki clan…yep, definitely don't see anything good coming from this…so what does it do?..."Naruto asked.

"That's what I came to try and investigate, I sent a letter a few days ago to Kakashi-sensei about my discovery and he told me to bring it to check it out…'Sasuke continued before turning to the masked kage.

"One thing is certain, that if it belongs to the Ōtsutsuki clan and someone else wants it, it can't be good…"Kakashi said and Naruto knew what he meant.

He had seen enough during his entire shinobi career to know that things aren't always as they appear to be. He got a feeling that this hourglass wasn't just what it appeared to be. He was getting all kind of strange vibes from it.

"I'll be keeping it in the vault and later will have the ANBU try and analyze it, I just wanted to let you know Naruto…given that you had as much experience with that clan as any…"Kakashi said to his former student who nodded in understanding.

Suddenly about three masked ANBU ninja's came in, one with a crow's mask, another with a tiger mask and the tallest one was wearing a rabbit mask. Kakashi ordered them to take the hourglass away to the vault. After some more talking, Kakashi dismissed the two young men who were now alone, talking.

"So what do you think it really is?..."Naruto asked.

"I can't say for certain…but I sense a strange energy from it when I came across it…as if it was generating its own chakra…"Sasuke said.

"Yeah, I feel it too…"Naruto said.

"If there's any trouble about to happen, I want to be there to stop it…"Sasuke said to his old friend who nodded in agreement.

The two were about to leave to go on with their business only to suddenly flinched as they suddenly heard some sort of commotion and they both knew well enough what it might be. Both raced to where they sense the trouble and came to the Hokage's vault which was were all of the important scrolls, relics and so many other potentially dangerous and valuable items were held. Once there, they saw the two ANBU from the office knocked to the ground, one was bleeding and the other was just barely clinging onto consciousness.

This did not look good.

"Are you alright? What happened?...'Naruto asked in concern to the injured ninja.

"An…an imposter! The one with the rabbit mask!...H-He took the hourglass…"Crow said before passing out.

Naruto turned to Sasuke who nodded, they knew what they had to do now. There was an attack, a theft and an imposter rogue on the loose and that meant that whatever that hourglass truly was…it was gonna cause trouble.

Naruto immediately turned to sage mode and immediately got a lock on the rogue's chakra. They weren't too far from here.

"I got him…Let's go…"Naruto said to his friend who nodded before running outside.

Needless to say, it looks like Naruto would be late to Hinata's this afternoon.

-To be continued-

Next time on A Bright Future

Time's Collide

A/N: Hello everyone. First I want to apologize for taking so long to post this story. The reason I was a no-show was that I was without power for over a month due to Hurricane Maria. I have my full explanation on my profile page.

Anyway, I'm back and I'm ready to start this story. I want to give a shout out to everyone who voted for this story. Thanks for the love everyone :)

:) Till next time beautiful people, remember to read and review :)