The world shifts, turns, and moves on its own rhythm, and one could do nothing but adapt. Adjust, and change, because if you didn't the world would soon leave you behind.

It only takes a moment to be left behind, only a second to be no more. An unfathomable amount of variables that leads to the exact moment, where you can do nothing but run.

And run you should. Run, and run as fast as you can, as far as you can. And try to outrun the world, because if it catches up to you, you will be left behind.

A big world, a small village, a smaller child, with the biggest dream. It happens every decade, every century, there appears a person, who will bring a change to the world, make it his, have the world obey him, turn on his whim, adapt to him and his rhythm.

Because if it didn't, the world would be no more.

Once it was a man, a legend, who became only a myth, a story, a god. He was special, special in a way that none ever was, and none ever would be. He brought life, he brought harmony, he brought peace. And as much as he brought, he took away the same.

But this is not a story of this man, not even his child, or his child's child.

This is a story that takes place hundreds of years after Rikodu Sennin.

A child's mind is a wondrous thing, it should not be fuddled with. It should be left alone, left to explore, discover and understand. For that child might learn more, than we could ever know.

"Chakra?" said a voice, and befuddlement was the nature of this voice. "What can it do?", curiosity, interest, and just a bit of mischievousness.

"It can do anything you can think of, and more than that." answered a voice, older, wiser, calmer.

"Hmm, I don't believe you." said the curious one.

"Oh, but you should. You definitely should" said the wise one.

"Can it make me stronger? smarter? faster? taller? smaller?" asked the curious one.

"It can do all that. Chakra can teach you, you only need to listen. And perhaps, that's the greatest thing it can do." answered the wise one.

A moment of silence, just a second of thought, and an immediate idea.

"Can you teach me?" asked the curious one.

"Chakra will come, you only need to reach out, and from there on, it will teach you more than I ever could." answered the wise one. "Naruto, do you trust me?"

The answer was obvious, but hearing it would have been nice. But was only left with a shy nod.

"Close your eyes." and Naruto did as he was told. "Breathe, until you and your body are left alone, you will understand."

"And now pull, pull on the power, pull on the chakra that exists in you." the wise one stopped only for a moment. "and now, bring it out, let it breathe, let chakra dance across your skin."

And dance it did, Naruto could only watch in amazement as the faded blue light ran on his body, and soon it was gone. He didn't feel any stronger, nor taller or faster, it hadn't talked. It simply was and was not.

"It didn't teach me anything, or at least I don't think so" said Naruto, a bit sad that the chakra had gone.

"It will, once you listen, and you will need to listen, you will need to understand, and you will need to learn." the wise one said, though a bit more serious now. "Chakra shall help you live, it will nurture you, and make you into whatever you dream of, you will only need guidance, as many others before you."

"You really should look at the graduating class this year."

A large, white haired man stood in a room, defiantly looking at the older shinobi. He crossed his arms, "You said the same a long time ago."

"And was I wrong? Did I mislead you Jiraiya?"

"No you weren't, and you know you didn't." said Jiraiya, still not pleased at all.

"This year is remarkably similar, but also a lot more different."

"And still, why are you telling me all this?" Jiraiya had a lot he could be doing right now, he was merely back in the village for some time, and wasting time near the academy that he loathed, simply was not his ideal way to spend time.

He could've taken a trip to the hot springs. No, he should've taken a trip to the hot spring. Relaxation and entertainment would come easily, he would rest and be on his way to do his job, or was it duty? A requirement maybe. Jiraiya couldn't remember after so long, it had all become one giant memory, everything seemed to flow. Was he becoming complacent, or was it just the nature of who he was becoming.

Who was he really becoming? The answer was buried deep inside his mind. And it seemed that he himself didn't want to seek it out.

Maybe that's the reason that right now he was stuck with his old sensei, looking at bunch of graduates.

And still, looking at this. The academy was still in prime shape, and there certainly was a sense of nostalgia that accompanied it. Some profound sense of his youth was awoken every time he saw the building. His teammates, their training, their bonding, the full trust they had in each other. It all seemed like another world, an alternate history. He didn't like to dwell on the past, but that doesn't mean that he didn't.

The graduating class was in no way unremarkable, heirs and heiresses of all major clans, some impressive civilians that should not really be there, but have managed to graduate simply by hard work. And something else.

Someone else. A blur. A twisting sensation, and the feeling of being sucked out of the world he resided in and being thrown in the past, when he was the man everyone believes him to still be.

Memories long forgotten had flooded his mind, a yellow flash of light, a red flicker of flame, a genius to destroy all geniuses. It all came rushing back, and Jiraiya remembered every detail, every moment that he had spent with the boy that would later become the Yondaime Hokage.

"And, who is that?" Jiraiya asked, a bit jittery, and his eyes followed every movement of his subject.

"Oh, so you've noticed." said Sarutobi, looking all bit the great leader he was, confident and proud. "That, is Naruto, that is the boy, who crushed any and all expectations that I and everyone else had."

The Hokage and the Sannin watched the boy as he trained, or warmed up, Jiraiya honestly didn't know. He ran, jumped, spun, and landed with the grace that not even a chuunin would have. No wasted energy, or none that he could see from the distance.

Jiraiya fixed a hard look at his sensei. "I can't"

"And you won't." said Sarutobi.

That was surprise, for quite some time now, he was sure that his old sensei was trying to get him an apprentice, and while not happy with the idea, the Sannin knew that his opinion wouldn't matter that much.

"But, then why?"

"Why bring you out here when you could be doing something more productive?" Sarutobi expanded on the question. "To help you remember. After all these years, you, my dear student have forgotten a valuable lesson."

Jiraiya said nothing, his concentration had split in half.

"When you were out there, spending money on booze and getting her out of debt, you forgot that the world still moves on its own pace, and you, are being left behind." said Sarutobi, with no ill intent, stating only the fact. "And while you have stopped, others have caught on. Naruto, has not only caught on, he has run forward, he ran away, and left everyone else behind - to watch the dirt he kicked in their way."

"I see." said Jiraiya, finally looking away from the blond boy, who still hadn't finished his exercise.

"No you don't, but you will soon enough."

For how long Jiraiya didn't know, but a deafening silence filled his mind, he couldn't focus on anything in particular, his mind was in a state of mild disarray. He needed to go for a long, long walk.

"I'll be back in six months, Akatsuki has been quiet, and Tsunade hasn't appeared anywhere yet."

Sarutobi took a good look at his student. "Off you go then, I have a class full of graduates to sort in teams."

And Jiraiya was gone, no extravagance, not now.

Naruto was excited, how could he not be. Today was the day he finally graduated, four years of hard work had paid off, though he had expected no less.

Ever since finding out what chakra was, Naruto was determined to become a shinobi. It was a goal that planted itself in his mind. As if his whole being was centered around becoming as shinobi and serving the village that he came to love. It seemed that everything pointed towards becoming a shinobi. Every time he saw the revered fighters his mind would become entranced, and his thoughts would only be preoccupied with being a shinobi.

Become the greatest there ever was, that was the reason he pushed himself every day and night, reading, running, throwing, it all amounted to this.

He was the top scorer by far, Taijutsu, Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, he had aced all of his exams. He easily passed the writing exam, and had acquired a record of a kind.

The third, or fourth highest scoring totals in the exams. The academy was not so sure, Kakashi Hatake graduated in a time where not only the academy, the whole village, and by extent the whole elemental nations were highly disorganised. Letting a five-year old become a genin would not have been the best decision at the time, but obviously it had paid off. His name was known around the world, and his battle prowess was spoken in hushes.

Nevertheless, Naruto had already put his name on the list. He had dreamed, and thought, and imagined, and expected to end up in that position, but he was aiming higher, he was aiming the be the best, not the third or fourth.

Still, while he was happy, sitting in the class and waiting for their teacher was slowly getting to his nerves.

Very slowly, but still.

"Hello class."

There he was. Iruka Umino, their teacher for the last four years. His face was beaming with pride, the students he taught had one the biggest potentials in recent years of graduates, and he helped them, introduced them to the world. He was the gateway towards the harsh shinobi life, and he was proud of all his students who had managed to stick out this long, he was happy that they chose and managed to become genin of the village they all served.

"Today, is the day a lot of you have been waiting for, you finally get to graduate and stand beside other genin. You will be the future generation that shall lead Konoha to an age of prosperity." he stopped for a second, letting the words sink into their minds. "But remember, being a shinobi is a dangerous choice, you will witness death, you might be captured, you might be hurt. And in that time of need, it will be your teammates that will help you, save you, and in doing that, risk their own lives. So, learn to appreciate each other, learn to work with each other, for if not your team mates, not many will stand by you."

"The will of fire burns brightly in every single one of you, so go on, become the shinobi you were always meant to be." Iruka pulled out a scroll, and started listing the names of his students and their teams.

Naruto pondered, he knew the team he was supposed to be in. The Hokage had told him only yesterday, and he figured it only a day before that. But now he wondered if the old man had gone out of his way to make him think so.

He wouldn't be surprised at all, Hokage was a good liar, and a better actor.

"Team seven: Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto..."

So he hadn't been wrong after all, a heavy assault team, with the potential to be anything else the village needed.

"...Their teacher will be, Hatake Kakashi"

And the Hokage hadn't lied to him, his sensei would be the fourth or third highest scoring graduate, genin only at five, chunin a year later.

This would be interesting.

Sasuke Uchiha was annoyed, he had been annoyed lots of times, but today was especially annoying.

He was a genin, and now his sensei was late, late and nowhere to be seen. How, just how would he train and improve if his sensei refused to come.

It wasn't all bad really as annoyed he was, he also was relieved. His team mate was good. And it took a lot for him to say that, but he couldn't deny it any more. Naruto was good, and probably the only one in the academy that would not stall his advancement.

The other team mate however, she was less good. Bordering on not competent, he thought. But still, she was chosen to be his team, and Sasuke would not let a girl, a civilian, ruin his goal.

Sasuke would manage what he set out to do all those years ago. And he would not stop until his ambition was fulfilled, and not a lazy sensei, and not even a shy pink-haired girl would slow him down.

He was an Uchiha, and the Uchiha managed with what they had.

And what he had was a girl, who was smart, or at least knowledgeable, he wouldn't argue otherwise. She knew history, theory and everything in between that they taught in the academy, and a bit more. She was good with genjutsu, though she never seemed that motivated to learn.

What he also had was a boy. Naruto was a phenomenon, he imagined Itachi being like him, but better. He was after all the second highest scorer in the academy, and he graduated at an age 3 years younger than Naruto. But even with that, Naruto was scary good. Fast, faster than anyone else in the academy, faster than a lot of shinobi he had seen in the village. . He was strong, not just hard hitting, but durable as well.

Lastly what he had was himself, and he knew himself very well, better than anyone else. Sasuke knew his strengths and weaknesses, and most of all, Sasuke knew his own potential.

He was good at taijutsu, probably his best strength. Ninjutsu came to him easily, fireballs or general techniques, he learnt them all, and executed them just as well. Genjutsu was not perhaps his favourite, but he could detect one, and with his bloodline limit, he would be able to create one easily. But that would have to wait.

Sakura was having a lovely day, perhaps as lovely as it can be.

She had graduated the academy, not with the perfect scores, but good enough to be placed with the rookie of the year and her crush. And that, she thought was good enough.

Of course, she would not delude herself, so much so to imagine that she would be safe and protected behind her team mates. Sakura knew that she would have to train, and train hard, to not pull her team members down. That realisation had hit her hard, just some twenty minutes ago. When her team was finally announced, she was delighted, but very quickly that delight turned into fear, and finally she had understood her role.

Sakura had a goal, and she would achieve that goal, even if it meant working tirelessly for months or even years. That though surprised her, as for the last couple of years, she hadn't dedicated nearly enough time to being a proper shinobi. Yes, Genjutsu came easily to her, was it because of her chakra control, or her relatively creative way of thinking about many things, she was not sure. But in the end she never tried to expand on it. Never tried to improve herself. And that was what mattered the most.

Though that was the old Sakura, the new Sakura would train, she would work hard.

The new Sakura had listened to Iruka, and had heard what he had to say. Being a shinobi was dangerous, and simply going with the wind would not do her well, if she wanted to survive in the world. She knew how hard it was to survive when you were a shinobi, history had been her forte. Sakura knew that war was always on the horizon, and that danger lurked in every corner.

Of course she knew, she was a shinobi. And all shinobi knew that, even the green, fresh out of the academy ones.

She once again looked over the class. They were the only ones left now, everyone had left with their jounin-sensei some twenty-thirty minutes ago.

Naruto was sitting calmly, looking out of the window. He did seem very focused right now. Though, he always was, she supposed. Focused on everything that happened around them. Focused on his studies, on his training.

Naruto had been no slouch, he had worked hard for as long as she could remember, going faster, hitting stronger, throwing better. He was the epitome of what a shinobi was meant to be.

Sasuke was leaning back on his chair, and he as well, was relaxed. Sasuke was the shinobi that Sakura looked up to. If not for Naruto, Sasuke would be the rookie of the year, and even knowing that, Sasuke held no bad feelings towards their blond team mate. And she admired that.

She allowed herself to relax, as Sasuke was in front of her.

Everything would be great.

Naruto was quite focused still.

Naruto was confused. Not because of his team, and certainly not because of the numerous glances he noticed from his team mates. No, Naruto was confused because he could sense someone near the academy.

And he was even more confused, because he knew the chakra signature of whoever was there. And perhaps, he was not only confused, but dumbfounded, because Kakashi Hatake no matter how relaxed, should still be able to hide from him.

Even if Naruto was a good sensor, Kakashi was a jounin, and a great one at that. A jounin of his skill would have no problem whatsoever hiding from his senses. And Naruto knew that because he had experienced it with jounins who had skills that wouldn't come close to Kakashi's.

And so Naruto wondered, was this some kind of test, and if so, what were they being tested for?

He spared a quick glance to his team mates, Sasuke, while not showing any great interest or skill,was nevertheless able to sense chakra. Was it his own prowess, or something he inherited from the Uchiha clan, Naruto wasn't sure. Sakura, had never really displayed any sensing abilities, maybe because she never required them, or simply didn't have them, it didn't concern Naruto. Himself and the Uchiha heir should be more than enough for most missions.

If this was a test for sensing, then should he somehow signal their teacher, that he knew what was happening?

Or maybe that would fail them instantly, maybe it was a test for patience, how long could the new genin last before succumbing to the mundane, and giving themselves away.

That certainly would explain some things. Shinobi as a rule were supposed to stay in a single place as long as it was required of them, making no movement or sound. As any extra variables might put the mission in danger.

Shinobi of course, were also supposed to be able to handle every situation, be it with traps, combat or anything else. Maybe their sensei was testing them on their strategy, or planning ability, how well they would be able to do in an unexpected situation.

Naruto was also becoming agitated, he knew that keeping composure was of utmost importance, but come on, even he couldn't sit back and wait, while knowing that their teacher was simply watching from the shadows.

To ease his anxiety, the genin thought about his team.

Sasuke, the Uchiha heir, great Taijutsu ability, very good at Ninjutsu, learning and performing came easily, Genjutsu he was knowledgeable on, although he expected as much, Uchiha without genjutsu was unimaginable. He was calm, unexpectedly so, never rose to provocations, and kept his composure even in quite stressful situations. A great shinobi, and a good teammate.

Sakura, a civilian. Not motivated to be a shinobi, though she did manage to pass the exam with not bad scores, Taijutsu was nothing exceptional, she could hold her own against most of their graduating class. Ninjutsu was not for her. Never had displayed any interest in it, though she could perform the academy techniques well enough. Genjutsu was her strong point, always managing to know when she was in one, and according to teachers, she made some impressive illusions.

For now, Naruto sat back and thought about his situation, he could let his team know that their teacher was waiting for them, or at least observing them.

Well, that was better than anything else had come up with.

Kakashi was having an interesting day. Mostly because of the team that he was appointed only a week before. He liked observing, looking underneath the underneath, seeing what people would do even before they did it was a point of pride for him.

He watched as his genin quietly shuffled around in their seats, and realised that Naruto had ratted him out.

Though ratting him out was probably the best course of action. Kakashi was ready to sit in the tree for hours upon hours, watching, waiting for his genin to do something before finally introducing himself.

He supposed it as a test of sorts, seeing if they would figure out that he was watching, sense him jumping around the academy, or simply preparing themselves for anything that might come their way.

Kakashi noticed Naruto watching him some time ago, and for couple of minutes, the blond genin would not let him out of senses. Naruto's eyes followed, but everything else stayed in place. No action, no words. Nothing.

He was patient, that much Kakashi realised. And soon he was getting disappointed, that Naruto was not informing his team mates that their sensei, who was late, was observing them, watching their every movement.

Thankfully, Naruto crushed that disappointment. He told his team mates about the situation, and they hadn't burst with anger or disbelief.

Another plus - a shinobi should always expect the unexpected.

Kakashi had left them out of his sight for only six seconds, and of course, that had been just enough for the three genin to make themselves as ready as they could be. Naruto was confident even though he didn't show it easily.

'It will be long before you can hide that from me Naruto.' thought Kakashi. 'Time for introductions I suppose. Let's see how you will deal with this, my cute genin.'

And he vanished.

Naruto expected as much.

What he didn't expect was for the Jounin appear in their room, as if he had been there all this time.

"Well, hello there." said Kakashi in a bemused voice, he noticed Naruto's surprise. "You're team seven? I'm Hatake Kakashi, your sensei." he appeared in front of the door, with the speed that Naruto and Sasuke barely managed to perceive. "Let's meet on the roof shall we?"

And he was gone.

A/N: I'd like to say, that first of all, thank you for reaching the end of the first chapter of my first published fanfiction. With hopefully many to come, and some interesting ideas thrown in, I hope you will enjoy the story I have planned.

Second of all, I'd like to mention that a part of this fic has been very much inspired by JMenace's brilliant work Don't Blink, and as an homage - the beginning of this chapter is similar to the beginning of his incredible work. If JMenace has any problems with the text that is at the start, I am 100 percent willing to change it up. This will be the only part of this story that will be intentionally reminiscent of any other work published here.