I don't own Naruto, though it would be kick ass if I did...

(AN: Hello readers!Thank's to one of my reviewers comments,who had so kindly put out a flaw here, you do not have to read this chapter. IF you still want to go ahead but it reveal nothing of the plot. This part is just saying some spoilers up to chapter 282 in the manga. So if you want no spoilers, or if you already know everything up to that chapter, then skip a head thank you for your time.)

A single man walked down the great forest of the Fire Country, just one of the many provinces that make up the Shinobi Continent today...though it is the most powerful country out of all of them, barely winning over the Wind country by a slight margin. Recent history had made sure that this place will always be remembered, even after when time would turn this majestic land to nothing but dust.

The traveling man came upon a village, a well-known village that held countless legends and mysteries, clandestine secrets that only a select few of the important higher-ups know, and other world-shattering secrets that will never meet the grace of passing through persons' lips. This is the place where entire thing started for him, and it is where it ended as well.

The man smiled as he saw the village, calming memories and serene thoughts entered his mind. This is one of the few places in this world where he could truly relax and smile. He smiled even more when he was inside, he doubted anyone would recognize him, he had not shown his face here in over twenty years, and a lot can change in that time. Just like that building over there...

He remembered when it was nothing more that a ghetto-style apartment complex that was run by an old man that hated everyone and everything, bar the Hokage of course. Without another thought going through his mind the man entered the building to seek lodgings.

The man at the desk was younger than he remembered, he then realized it was not the old man he was expecting, sadness filled his heart when he expected what had happened to the old coot.

The said man on the desk looked up when he heard the door open, he was expecting one of his friends to yell out his name, but instead found a stranger looking at him oddly. "Oi! Oi! Who are you? I've lived here all my life and I've never seen you around before!"

The visiting stranger just smirked in his own mind at the other mans reaction; he dared not openly show his reaction, for caution warned not to make anyone in this village suspicious for any reason. (I knew they wouldn't recognize me, this just might make my stay all the more interesting...)

"Its all right, I have not come to this village to cause mischief. I doubt anyone is fool enough to, I'm sure the famous ninja of Konoha would cut me or anyone else down before anything happens." He observed the man carefully, he saw a glint of pride in his eyes, and he smiled at the man's affection for his home. "What I am looking for is a place to stay for the night, but since I'm not welcome here, I guess I'll take my money elsewhere." The man jingled his money sack as leverage; no sane merchant would pass that up.

"Wait, did you say you wanted lodgings here?" asked the man eyeing the bag. "Well then, welcome to the Naruto Inn! The best lodgings in all of Konoha!"

"Naruto Inn?" inquired the man. "That is a peculiar name; tell me, does it have a story behind it?" The man knew of the story, of course, no one in the entire ninja continent couldn't possibly not know that story. Besides he had a part in it...He just wanted to see how far it had grown in the last couple decades he was gone.

"Is there a story behind it? IS THERE A STORY BEHIND IT?!" The man behind the counter shook. "You, young man have to be taught in the very history of this continent! No one should live their lives without feeding their minds this story; anyone who has is completely insane! But I have to admit, your clothes look very foreign, I would guess that you are from the lands to the west, where the soldiers roam in metal suits of armor. If that is true then it's no wonder that you haven't heard the story." The man behind the desk then slammed his hands on the desk and pointed to the stranger. "Very well, I claim it as my eternal duty to tell you of this epiphany of literatures! This mastery of history! This god among other stories! Or my name is not Rock Rai!"

The visiting young man felt the largest sweat drop that had ever graced his head slither down the back of his neck, it really shouldn't be as much of a shock as it was, considering this man did come from the Rock clan...But it still sent shivers down his spine as he imagined an entire legion of men in green leotards.

The desk clerk had jumped to the door and turned over the 'open' sign to 'closed', he then closed all the curtains and turned on all of his lights. He dragged the visitor with ease outside of the building, and ran all the way to the Konoha City Park. The visitor saw many familiar sight blurred by the speed he was going through, he saw the young ninja training academy that was still undoubtedly run by the same teacher he had come to respect all those decades ago, the ramen bar that had once been a small stand had grown to a full blown franchise that had spread all over the continent; but with its original founders still cooking up the same boiled noodles and the rickety old stand, the coliseum which he demonstrated to nearly the entire world just how powerful he was stood rebuilt and glamorized with spectacular decorations and reinforced walls and beams, finally the once-destroyed Hokage monument was re-carved into the repaired cliff side not only depicting the faces of the Hokages, but each with their own personal stance as well.

The stranger only realized he was in the park when everything stopped moving and his blurry vision cleared, Rai had set him down on a bench that faced the busy streets of Konoha's market district rather than the calm serenity of Konoha's illustrious park. Rai cleared his throat, and great concentration for dramatic effect, the man named Rai started his story.

"It started about fifty years ago, the nine tailed demon fox had let its fury out on the world. Villages, cities, and armies alike fell to its power. Until it came here; Konoha was just going to be another mark on the wall for the great beast, but our fourth Hokage, the Yondaime, would not let that happen. So he made a pact with the Shigikami, to seal the fox into a newborn baby, whose umbilical cord was freshly cut. You see, it had to be a baby or else the demon would just escape and destroy everything all over again. Before the Yondaime died, this baby was asked by the fourth to regarded as a hero by the village, since he carried an incomparable burden. You would think the villagers would hear his plea but they didn't. The villagers hated the boy, but more specifically the demon he held, thus the village saw him as the actual demon, and not the demon's vessel. The predecessor of the Yondaime, the Sandaime, created a law to never hurt the vessel or even speak about the demon he carried. To take out their frustration of being unable to kill the boy, the villagers did the next best thing they could do; they isolated the boy, and subtly treated him like the demon he wasn't. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, the boy suffered in his own personal hell the villagers made for him. What went through a mind like that? A childish mind who didn't know why he wasn't punished, most likely for something he didn't do. But the boy held on, hoping for something, anything…that would pull him into the light of life."

Both men noticed the sounds of smallish feet patting the ground hurriedly towards them, but most of them were no more than gentle pats on the ground, but that was to be expected. The youth of this village were taught how to be silent at very young ages, to prepare them for their future lives. As the children started gathering around, the stranger could not help but muse the number times they heard the story before, but he guessed, to them; and to many adults as well, it never got old.

"The opportunity showed itself at his third failure from the ninja academy, as you know Konoha is a hidden village, a village of ninja. Though how a village could be hidden when it is on a map I'll never know." Rai's audience laughed at his joke, many felt the same way too. "Anyway where was I? Oh yeah! The baby's name was Naruto Uzumaki. Weird name huh? 'Fish-Cake Whirlpool' that's quite the name..." He was complimented with another round of laughs. "Well Naruto found his first true friend there and something like a father as well. His teacher Iruka. Iruka was a very kind man, and had a quote he lived by every day. 'A regular teacher teaches, a good teacher explains, a better teacher demonstrates, but a great teacher inspires.' And did he inspire, in that year that Naruto failed for the third time, remember how I told you the villages hated the boy? Well so did the ninjas, they refused to acknowledge the boy and decided to always hold him back. They always decided the final exam on his worst techniques so Naruto would never pass. In that year Iruka also graduated eight others. All of them with the potential to become the greatest shinobi (ninja) this village has ever seen."

"All of them were good friends, some of them even married each other, and all were allies of Naruto. Allies that he needed and would need at the right time. They pulled him from the path of the nuke-nin (missing-nin) and helped him to achieve his life long dream to become a Kage (Ninja lord/ literally translates to shadow). But how would Naruto become a Kage if he did not graduate from the academy? Well, on his third failure he was tricked by a traitor, a man named Mizuki. He told Naruto to steal a secret scroll from the Kage tower, amazingly Naruto succeeded. And soon learned what would become his trade-mark technique, the Kage Bunshin no jutsu. (Shadow clone technique)"

"After he learned that technique his sensei (teacher), Iruka appeared, and told him to return the scroll he stole. Naruto first ignored his teacher and decided to show him his new technique instead. After he did, Mizuki showed up and tried to kill Iruka; Naruto saw this and asked why. Mizuki told him it was because he wanted to become the strongest ninja ever, and he needed that scroll to do that. But Mizuki did not stop there, soon after Mizuki told Naruto why everyone hated him. He told them of the Kyuubi no Kitsune (Nine-tailed fox) sealed inside him. Naturally this did not go well with Naruto, so he ran away, thinking his entire village betrayed him. Iruka eventually caught up to Naruto, and was able to convince Naruto that he was with him all the way, even if he did have a demon inside him. Thus Naruto achieved his first friend...and beat his first enemy, Mizuki, who tried to kill Iruka. Naruto used his new shadow clone skill to kick Mizuki's ass to next Wednesday, and became a new shinobi of the leaf with future missions to lead him to the Kage tower."

Rai and his new guest smiled as they saw some of the children attempting the shadow clone skill, with some of them succeeding. Kage Bunshin had now become one of the most elementary attacks of Konoha, and was absolutely needed to pass the level of chunnin (Middle-ninja).

"But to truly become shinobi, Naruto had to pass another test. A much harder one at that, Naruto along with new team mates Sasuke and Sakura, had to beat their sensei Kakashi in a duel. At first they lost, but after a secret test made by Kakashi, they had all passed and became true shinobi. I heard they did a pretty famous thing in wave country, but I'm a bit sketchy on the details, all I know it was a C-rank mission gone A-rank. You have to ask the Tazuna family for details, they're always up to tell anyone the exploits of Naruto. If you want a better story though, you should check the arena records of the Chunnin exams of about thirty-eight years ago. Then you'll see why he's a legend, beating the sand demon Shukaku, also known as the Ichibi, the one-tailed beast, will give you that title."

"A demon?" Asked the newcomer, "I thought the last of the demons was Kyuubi, and you just said he was sealed inside Naruto."

"That is true, but I guess I have to pick my words wiser next time neh? Orochimaru, one of the three Sannin of old..." Loud booing and hissing interrupted the story teller, who just laughed in amusement, while the visiting traveler just raised an eyebrow.

"As I was saying, Orochimaru, one of the three Sannin of old had created a new hidden village, Otogakure, the Village hidden in the Sound. Otogakure had allied itself with Sunagakure, the Village Hidden in the Sand, so the two villages could attack our Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, to try and claim its lands and rise in power in the world. The Ichibi was sealed inside one of the sand gennins and was released to fight; Naruto fought and conquered Shukaku, the Ichibi, right after the Chunnin exams, and saved the village. Sadly, Konoha still lost its Sandaime Hokage and had to rebuild itself. Naruto, and his new temporary sensei Jiraiya, (the second of the three legendary sannin of old) had a mission to retrieve Tsunade, the last of the three legendary sannin of old. He ran into Orochimaru when he found her, and his lackey Kabuto, as well, he was another traitor to the leaf. The two traitors tried to seduce Tsunade with false promises of bringing back her loved ones with a forbidden jutsu, key term: tried. Tsunade tricked Orochimaru, a huge feat in itself, and with the help of Jiraiya, Naruto, and her own apprentice Shizune; sent Orochimaru and Kabuto back to Otogakure with a limp, a very bad limp."

The children cheered at the victory, their guardians smiling at their actions. Though only a handful of them were there, most were not born yet, or too young to remember. The life of a shinobi can be cut sort at any time, so it was always great to hear a victory of the leaf.

"Soon after that it seemed that Naruto's life was looking up for the first time ever in his young life. He was getting stronger by the day, he finally had friends, he was getting closer to his dreams, and he finally had the respect and recognition he so desperately wanted since he was just a baby. Then tragedy struck. Naruto's best and closest friend was Sasuke, and he was a shinobi of many names: number one rookie, loner, heart-breaker, but most importantly to Naruto, he was a friend and rival... To Sasuke however, his most important title was the avenger. He had lost his entire clan to his brother's sick mind, and swore revenge upon him. Thus he was not only the last true Uchiha, but the lonely avenger of the Uchihas.

"Sasuke's ambition would prove to be the one reason Naruto left Konoha. Sasuke had betrayed Naruto for power, a power offered by one of Naruto's worst enemies no less! Orochimaru had acted like the snake he was and placed a curse upon him, because of this curse Sasuke went insane and tried to kill his friend. Naruto, now heartbroken over loosing his own 'brother', lost to Sasuke and broke his promise to his other team-mate Sakura. You see, Naruto promised Sakura that he would bring back Sasuke, for she loved Sasuke with all her heart. But he was unable to keep the promise, and his soul finally broke.

The girl portion of the children started to cry a bit, while the boys were struggling to hold the same tears back, it was one of the more sadder parts of the story. The entire village could sympathize with Naruto when he lost his best friend; too many people in this village had lost their heritage, their families, and their friends to that snake, for one reason or another.

"He left after that, not for too long though, just about two and a half years. When he came back he looked like his old self again. He even had a mission to rescue the Kazekage in the Land of the Winds! I believe that he defeated one of the legendary Akatsuki as well...Yes, Deidara was his name. Deidara was defeated by Naruto and his gennin sensei Kakashi. This weird guy had freaky mouths on his hands which ate up clay and did weird stuff with it. Like make explosions and create living clay animals. Even though he did not die, his partner, Sasori of the Red sands did. Sasori was killed by his own grandmother, Chiyo, and Sakura, who was trained by Tsunade during the two and a half years Naruto was with Jiraiya. After the Kazekage was saved Naruto and his allies went back home, by the way the Kazekage was Gaara, the gennin from the chunnin exams who had the Ichibi sealed within him."

The stranger understood it was his cue to look astonished, even though he already knew. He was annoyed that he had to change the expression on his face every so often to make it look like he has never heard the story before, but he had only himself to blame. It was his fault and no one else's that he was in his predicament. But the end would justify the means, or so he told himself. He could not wait for the moment that he would reveal his identity…he had to remember to bring a camera for the occasion; he knew their expressions would be priceless.

(Kodak Moment) he thought mischievously.

The stranger looked up for a while and noticed it was getting dark now, the sun began to set and the adults picked up their children. The children didn't want to leave and begged to stay so they could listen to the story more. The newcomer saw this and decided to help the little ones, besides, his ass was falling asleep.

"Hey Rai, do me a favor huh? Hold off the story for now and tell me it tomorrow, its getting quite late and I'm feeling very tired."

Rai also noticed the disappointment in the children's eyes, and decided to help as well. "All right, I guess we should go, I'll tell another chapter of the story tomorrow. How about noon tomorrow? You should know when the time is because the academy gets out at that time."

The visitor nodded and started walking away, when Rai asked him where he was going, the visitor just smiled and gave his riddle of an answer. "To where greatest of people share the Earth with those who are unknown."

But first, he had to stop at a liquor store, the old landlord would yell at him in the afterlife for not bringing him some sake.