Hey everybody, and welcome to the very first chapter of my story, the Winds of Change! First off, I thank you kindly for checking it out, even if you don't continue reading after this chapter. It's nice that you would even consider reading my work, and for that, I'm thankful.

So, I'd like to tell you a little bit about this story, as I'm currently writing this authors note while on chapter forty-three of this FanFiction. There's quite a bit to tell you, so this authors note is going to be pretty long. So, I'll give you a quick version, and then a longer version down below, so if people just want to read the short version and skip to the story itself, that's fine.

So:

Characters ages have been increased from twelve to fifteen (sixteen for Team Gai) due to wanting to write realistic romances. This still keeps to the canon timeline, meaning that Team Seven through Ten all graduated the academy when they were fifteen, but all events leading up to the start of this FanFiction (about a week after Orochimaru's Invasion) have all remained the same.

There will be a few AU elements. For example, a certain character has had something major happen to him. It doesn't detract from his character in any way, but it does change things. This has happened for a few other characters, as well as a few plot-points. I've also taken the liberty of filling out some characters backstories, or fleshed them out more, like Shino, Kiba, Tenten, Neji and Hinata, to name the main ones that come to mind. Also, from the start of this fanfiction, stuff is going to go wildly AU. There will be canon elements from time to time, with certain events being rearranged around.

Pairings. Since a lot of people read fanfiction for the pairings, I'll list them here:

NaruHina, ShikaIno, ShinoKiba, LeeTen, NejiTema, KakaAnko, SakuOC, HanaOC, OCxOC, and a little JirTsu and AsuKure.

So, first off, you may have noticed the yaoi. If you don't like yaoi, that's cool, I can understand some people dislike reading it. However, none of these pairings are the 'main pairings' as it were. They will all at some point or another get some major scene-time, but I'd like to think it's pretty spread-out. So, if you like a couple pairings in the list I've put, but dislike a few others, that's cool. I would just recommend perhaps skipping certain romantic parts. That being said, I would strongly discourage you from not reading anything to do with the certain pairing whatsoever, due to backstory stuff. Without reading at least some of it, you won't understand much of what might happen. That being said, I will place a warning for any yaoi romantic scenes, so people can skip them if they wish, without any loss to the plot.

OCs: A lot of people dislike OC's, and for good reason. Most of them are terribly written, used to fill out peoples fantasies, and are just generally perfect. Now, the OC's in this FanFiction will have a starring role, but only in the exact same way as everybody else will have. Everybody in this FanFiction will be treated equally, so there is technically no main characters. If I were forced to pick some, they would most likely be Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, Kakashi, Sakura, (Name omitted due to spoilers) and perhaps a couple of the OC's. But I'm never going to push any character into the background if I can help it. As for the OC's appearing, they actually don't appear much. They have a couple of chapters dedicated to them, but it mainly focuses on the original cast quite a lot. So, I'd like to think of it as a story about the original cast, with OC's mixed in, with an original plot and a direction I've personally never seen a Naruto FanFiction go before.

But, before you do get on to reading, I do have one thing to tell you. The arc that starts with this chapter is still ongoing. So, that means, we've had forty-three chapters (as I am currently in the process of writing the forty-third) of the same arc. I imagine the arc will be finished by chapter fifty. Now, I would say that it moves along at a steady-pace, there's not a lot of repetition, I try and keep things interesting and dynamic, a good mixture of plot, action, romance, humour, and character development. I've had plenty of people say it's not a bad arc at all, just long. And I can completely understand if it's so long that you don't want to read it. Honestly, it's my fault entirely. I got a bit carried away, and now I've got a super long arc, and I really apologize for that. If, somehow, you do manage to get through to chapter fifty, or around there, the next arcs will only got up to about twenty-twenty five chapters, all in all.

And, finally, I am in the process of going back and editing previous chapters. Fixing spelling and grammar, extending scenes and adding a couple (nothing that will mean you, the reader, will miss any plot, just something to keep things more interesting). So, if you read one chapter, and then come back a month later, stuff might be improved or changed around, and there might be another scene somewhere in there. So, I do apologize for any spelling and grammar mistakes you find, but I encourage you to keep reading. It'll get better as you go along. Well, it should, anyway, haha.

And I'm sorry this damn authors note is going on for so long, but I feel likes it's needed. So, I'll explain a little bit about myself.

My name is Zerojackson, or Jackson, whichever you prefer. I'm sixteen, English, home-schooled, currently studying sociology and psychology, and I'm not sure exactly what I want to do yet. Probably become a professional author or a psychologist, we'll see. I want to write more FanFiction for Naruto in the future, as well as some other anime/manga, like Attack on Titan, Haganai, One Piece, ect.

So, for the final thing, I'd like to talk about reviews. I do like getting reviews, everybody does, and I don't want to come off sounding like a giant dick, because I really really like you readers, whether you review or not. However, if you do review, and you do point out my grammar and spelling mistakes (which is fine. I would prefer if you PMed me about them, but it's cool if you just leave it in a review), please also say what you liked and disliked about the chapter as well. Just pointing out mistakes is a tad bit disconcerting for a writer. I really don't want to sound pretentious or arrogant, I'm just asking politely. If you don't, I'm not going to jump down your throat, you're free to review as you wish, I just thought I'd add what reviews really make my day.

So, this is finally done! If you're still here and reading, well done, thank you for sticking by! I hope this chapter is up to your standards, and that you continue reading. So, without further ado, I bring you chapter one, of the Winds of Change!

Chapter 1

The pitter-patter of the rain on the window was soothing to some, but not to Kakashi Hatake. This was one of those days, the type of day when you just want to curl up into a ball and rock in a corner, spooning ice cream into your mouth while you watched a romantic movie.

Kakashi had never done that, nor would he start now. I mean, think of it. A grown man, watching a romance movie. How ridiculous...

He made a mental note to hide the collection of movies he owned somewhere safer.

As he continued to scrub at the dirty dishes that had been sitting in the sink for close to a century, thoughts of all the people he has lost crossed his mind: Rin, Obito, Minato-sensei… Kakashi's visible eye slanted, he fought to keep the sigh that threatened to escape from his lips at bay. However, the temptation to release it proved to be too great, and he allowed it to happen.

Finally having given up on the dirty dishes, (He would do them later. Much later.) Kakashi slowly opened, gazed into, and then closed his cupboards, looking for something to tide him over for the morning. And, of course, he had forgotten to buy some food. Great.

Opening the fridge and scanning its contents, he reached in and grabbed the last two eggs from the egg box. Damn, that really was what was left? He made a mental note to go shopping, too.

Taking out the kitchen utensils, Kakashi absently ran his hand through his grey, gravity defying hair; he was getting old. He was only twenty-seven years of age, what most civilians would consider relatively young. For a ninja, it was a massive achievement to even reach your twenties, let alone live to twenty-seven. And yet he felt like he had lived for a lot longer. How he wished it weren't so.

Still, he did have things in his life that he looked forward to somewhat. But they were few and far between, interspersed between the dreary days and darkened nights that punctuated his life.

As he finally finished whisking the eggs into oblivion, Kakashi gazed over towards a picture on the mantle-sill, a feeling of warmth spreading through his body. The rain definitely empowered the sombre mood, fighting back against the warmth and winning. Sighing, Kakashi realized there would be plenty more days like this, as long as he kept living. One, if not the only solace was the fact he'd raised a decent group of ninja...well, more or less.

And there they all were, smiling and laughing. Well, two out of the three. Sasuke never really smiled, not that it was a problem. He rarely smiled genuinely nowadays.

One boy that continually kept smiling, was Sasuke's teammate and rival, Naruto Uzumaki. He grin he constantly upheld on his face was both endearing and, quite frankly, annoying at times. Still, his unmanaged charisma and will to succeed was everlasting. Beside him, sat his supposed crush, Sakura Haruno, her pink locks long and bright. She was smiling coyly at the camera, her jade eyes twinkling, looking towards the ever brooding form of Sasuke. The pinkette was twirling a lock of her pink hair in her hands, cheeks brighter than her hair. Sasuke Uchiha remained calm as always, an impassive stare mixed with a soft scowl. This was probably due to the fact that the man himself, Kakashi Hatake, was rubbing his student's odd hair. He could see the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned under the fabric of his mask. Of course, this was due to the fact that he was on a rather delightful part of Icha Icha.

The Copy-Ninja sighed to himself, tapping his chin in thought. It was amazing to think that they were fifteen years of age now. Fifteen years on this earth. And what a life it had been for them so far. Times truly had changed since Kakashi was a genin, although the thought discouraged him a bit. It made him sound as if he was as old as…

Well, now the genin graduated at fifteen, rather than twelve. It seemed a good idea. More time to be taught and trained, but the downside was the lack of field experience. Then again, most didn't live past age fifteen if they were a Shinobi, so at least they were old enough to deal with their hormonal urges.

Kakashi cracked a grin. How foolish of him. Of course, their hormonal urges only seemed to get worse. A vision of his pink haired student floated into his mind, and her rather, if he was frank, annoying infatuation with Sasuke. Still, they were old enough to follow orders, for the most part. Some of the time. On occasion. Well, except for Naruto, because he barely ever followed orders. And yet, somehow, this always seemed to work out for the better.

So, Kakashi sat down and quickly looked from left to right suspiciously, before pulling down his mask and shovelling in scrambled eggs as quickly as his reflexes would allow him.

He finished off the bowl in no time, and rubbed his stomach as it grumbled with anger; he really hated eggs.

Sighing, he threw the bowl over his head and went to go and get a hot shower. He needed something to wake him up from this rather morose day. There was a knock on the door, however, causing him to pause.

Kakashi froze in place, instinctively reaching for a weapon. Although, a lamp wouldn't help much if there was an enemy attack.

"Come in." he called out, the door swung open.

The figure in the doorway was cloaked, shielding them from the now thunderous weather, and the pouring rain. The cloak, dark grey, was dripping wet, leaving a thick puddle of sky water in the doorway. The figure was definitely female, with her petite frame and small shallow breaths escaping from her lips. Plus the lock of pink hair coming out of her hood, of course.

"Good morning Kakashi-sensei." Sakura lowered the hood, smiling softly.

Her eyes slanted slightly as she turned to face Kakashi, a curious glint in the pools of jade. "Why are you holding a lamp?"

Kakashi just sighed, putting the lamp down and rubbing the back of his head, giving one of his signature 'I got lost on the path of life' grins. "No reason. Come in."

The pinkette nodded and slung her cloak over the coat rack, revealing herself wearing a thick woolly pinkish red coat, and a pair of white soft trousers, and brown boots with fur around the tops.

She scanned around the apartment quickly, and sighed when she noticed the mass of dishes in the sink.

"Really sensei? Is it that hard to wash up?"

Kakashi just smiled sheepishly. "Well, I've never had a chance. What with you guys taking up most of my time." Sakura snorted loudly as she shut the door.

"We never take up any of your time! You're constantly late and you never do anything worthwhile. Sensei, at least you could be doing your washing up and some chores instead of lying lazily in a tree reading that perverted book!"

"Oh, I see you have noticed my fondness for Icha Icha, my young genin. Would you, perhaps, like to borrow it?" His tone was teasing, but despite this, Sakura blushed bright pink, much like her outfit.

"No, I would not like to read that filth, you pervert!"

Kakashi laughed as he sat down lazily and reached into his pocket, taking out his signature book and flipping through it. "So, did you want something Sakura? Or did you take time out of your busy schedule to visit your wonderfully charming sensei?"

"Oh yeah, right! Uh, I was sent by Asuma-sensei to tell you that you're needed at the council chambers shortly for an important meeting. And, he explicitly stated, 'You can't be late!'". She smiled with glee as she gauged her sensei's reaction.

"Right," Kakashi said, rolling his visible eye with disdain. "And what are you going to do after this?"

"I was going to try and find Sasuke and Naruto. They were down at the training fields. Although I would like to help rebuild, if that's all right…" she trailed off slightly, sending her gaze towards the nearby wall, a pleading look in her jade eyes.

"Not today Sakura." He sighed, and rubbed at his visible eye. "You need to train. If the Sound Village attacks again then we need as many fit and able bodied ninja as we can muster."

She sighed, nodding her head glumly. "I… understand sensei."

"Good. Now run along and find Sasuke and Naruto." The pinkette nodded and grasped at her cloak, slinging it around herself.

"'Kay, see you later Kakashi-sensei!" she said, her smile not reaching her eyes. He made a mental note at some point to help her with hiding her emotions. She seriously didn't have a poker face. And he was making a lot of mental notes.

"And Sakura," he began as she went to leave. "Tomorrow we'll take some missions to help around the village. But today, just train, all right?"

The smile that was sent the Jōnin's way was almost blinding, and Sakura gave a cheer. "Thank you sensei!"

And with that, she took in a deep breath, placed the hood over her head, and stepped outside into the cold air and the pelting rain.

Kakashi chuckled as the pinkette shut the door behind herself. She definitely was an interesting girl, one that would grow into a strong ninja. And it was all thanks to him.

The Copy Nin shook his head at himself. No, it had nothing to do with him. Team Seven had grown together, as a unit and a family. And it made him glad, glad that they had someone to share life with.

Briefly flicking through the last few pages of the sixteenth chapter, Kakashi rose, put the book down and went to go get that cold shower.

And then the doorbell rang once more, interrupting his hopeful ambitions of getting a shower. The Copy Ninja sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose, before he yelled "Come in!"

A female flung the door open with such a force that anyone within a miles radius would cringe at the noise, and most likely fall over.

"Hello Kakashi," she purred seductively, taking off her furry jacket to reveal nothing but a fishnet suit. A suit that did nothing to hide her, ahem, assets.

Kakashi shook his head at Anko's antics, a small smile playing on his lips, before saying. "I'm going for a shower. Do with that what you will."

And she did just that.

"Sasuke, you're not tired are you!?" Naruto exclaimed, pointing at the genin as he sat on the floor, panting slightly.

The question angered the Uchiha greatly, although he knew it to be true. He was tired, deeply tired. Sleep hadn't been coming easy to him these past few nights. His dreams, well, more like nightmares, had kept him clutching at his covers and shivering with sweat.

Naruto rubbed his stomach as it grumbled hungrily, letting out a groan. "Let's rest. I'm hungry!"

Biting back a retort, Sasuke nodded and allowed himself to relax for a little bit, resting his head on the cool grass, obsidian eyes staring up into the cloudy sky.

The duo had been training non-stop, desperately trying to forget everything and anything to do with the Chunnin Exams and the invasion. It wasn't working.

Sasuke shook his head unconsciously as he reached into his pack for a bite to eat. An energy bar. He looked at it with disdain, peeling away the wrapper before taking a quick bite. As much as he despised these things, Itachi al-

He roughly crushed the bar in his hand, the bits crumbing under his fist, before they fell to the floor. Naruto looked at him curiously, but didn't comment, just handed Sasuke his cup of ramen. Sighing in annoyance, The Uchiha did a small fire jutsu, heating it up enough. Naruto grinned in thanks, digging in viciously, eating as if it was his last meal.

Sasuke stiffened at the thought.

To say that he was feeling horrible would be the understatement of the decade. No, the century. What that freaky child molester Orochimaru had done to him, and said to him shook his core.

With a deep and creepy laugh, he whispered in the Uchiha's ear. "Sasuke, I can make you powerful enough to kill your brother."

Sasuke froze in place. Could he?

"All the power that you seek is with me," he hissed. "Only with me can you defeat Itachi."

Sasuke shivered slightly, digging into his ramen ravenously. Naruto looked at him curiously.

"Oi, are you okay?" he questioned as he ate his own steaming ramen. Sasuke nodded glumly, pictures flashing in his mind of Orochimaru. Such power. And Itachi.

Before Sasuke could respond, the sky opened up, beginning a vicious downpour that thudded against the ground, trying to break through the earth itself in a desperate battle for supremacy. Leaping up quickly, the two comrades soon found themselves under a nearby tree, large in magnitude, it's mighty branches protecting them from getting soaked through.

The rain poured in buckets as the two sat under a tree, silently watching the drops hit the earth. With the grey backdrop and the rain, it just added to the dreary and dark atmosphere.

"Teme, do you wanna train?" Naruto questioned after he finished slurping down his sixth bowl of cold ramen. Sasuke shook his head.

"We just trained."

"Yeah, but the rain stopped us. Come on! Let's train!" the blonde whined as he leapt up, raising his fist in the air. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk.

"You are a freak Naruto." He announced but rose to his feet nonetheless. Maybe training would take his mind off of a few certain things.

"Hey! Am not!" Naruto yelled angrily. "And no using that Sharinngen or whatever."

"Sharingan." The Uchiha sighed. "And why not?"

"'Cause I don't think you can beat me without it."

Sasuke scoffed. "Really?"

Naruto smirked. "Just wait until you see what the Pervy Sage taught me! I'll kick your ass, believe-"

Sasuke brought his fist down on Naruto's head, silencing him. "Quiet Dobe."

The blonde grumbled angrily but followed the raven haired boy out into the thick rain.

Sasuke got into his taijutsu stance and waited. The rain was the only sound that could be heard for miles around. The constant tapping and rapping was peaceful, but it held a darker meaning. Peace before the oncoming storm, as they say.

Naruto slipped into his taijutsu stance and smirked, mouthing "Get ready to lose, Uchiha."

Sasuke shook his head, before counting down silently. "Five, four, three, two…"

And they were off. Sasuke lunged forward at lightning fast speed and sent a kick towards Naruto's head. The blonde ducked, returning with a punch of his own towards the chest of the Uchiha. Sasuke blocked the strike, grasping onto the wrist of his teammate, before sending his foot crashing down onto Naruto's head. The blonde was dazed for a moment, wincing in pain, allowing Sasuke to smash his other foot directly into the jaw of the Kyuubi container. The boy was sent flying backwards, skidding across the dirt. He growled to himself, flipping back over to get to his feet. Sasuke charged forward, fist cocked back as he leapt at his rival. Naruto had recovered quicker than anticipated, however, and swung around, the back of his fist squarely connecting with Sasuke's face. He landed with a loud thud, and through instinct alone rolled out of the way of Naruto's punch that cracked the earth.

Leaping up, Sasuke bit his lip in annoyance, dark eyes brimmed with rage. Naruto was coming back towards him now, a renewed vigour in his steps, a confident look in those cerulean eyes.

But Sasuke was ever the more confident.

The Uchiha weaved through hand-signs, before yelling, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

A blast of flame, not enough to seriously injure, but enough to cause discomfort, burst from his mouth, heading straight towards the shocked blonde. He only just managed to leap out of the way, the roaring flame dying out soon after.

Naruto scowled. "Hey, you asshole! What the hell was that for!?"

Sasuke let out a small chuckle. "You didn't say anything about using Ninjutsu, did you?" He smirked.. The blonde nin growled, eyes flashing with anger, and made a hand-sign.

"Fine then. Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Ten Naruto's poofed into existence next to the real one. They took one look at Sasuke, growled, and they all bounded forward, yelling battle cries of rage and destruction.

Sasuke didn't wait, leaping upwards and withdrawing multiple kunai and shuriken from his pouch. He threw them down, the barrage of metal hell-bent on sending some shadow clones out of existence.

With a pop, eleven clones disappeared.

Sasuke furrowed his brows in confusion when he felt a hand grab onto his foot. Still suspended in mid-air, he looked down to see Naruto clinging onto his leg, smiling gleefully.

"Oh sh-"

Naruto pulled the raven haired boy down with him, twisting himself so he was higher than the teen.

The blonde smirked proudly, before bringing the back of his foot down onto Sasuke's chin, a small amount of blood bursting from the Uchiha's lips. The black haired boy landed with a thud on the ground. jolting his entire body.

Naruto landed on his feet, laughing hysterically at his strategic victory. Then he heard a hissing.

Looking down at his own leg, there, stuck to the side, was a paper bomb.

"Crap!" he yelled and yanked it off quickly, throwing it to the side with no abandon. It exploded and knocked the blonde backwards, sending him careering into the air. With a loud crack of bark, he collided with the tree that the duo had been sitting under not too long ago.

Sasuke rose back to his feet, smirking. However, internally, he was frowning to himself. That was perhaps a little bit too overboard. Then again, Naruto didn't need to know that. "Naruto's plan was clever, but not as clever as mine."

"You asshole, are you trying to get me killed!?" The blonde yelled angrily. Grimacing, he touched the back of his head gingerly, swearing under his breath.

"That was the plan." Sasuke smirked triumphantly.

"You-"

Naruto sighed, standing up and rubbing the back of his head. "Okay, that was a good spar." He announced sadly, scowling to himself. Damn it, he still couldn't beat Sasuke! Even without the Sharingan, he had beaten him soundly. Even with the Pervy Sage's help…

"That plan was decent, Naruto. You really, ugh, took me by surprise."

Naruto's head shot back up, and snapped to the side to stare at Sasuke. "What did you say?" he asked incredulously.

"Nothing. Stop staring at me you freak." Sasuke grumbled, turning his head away from the blonde, allowing the corners of his lips to upturn slightly.

Naruto smirked. "Were you saying how awesome I was?" He teased.

"No. Like I said, I have no idea what you are talking about dobe."

Without waiting for another word, Sasuke walked back towards the tree, slung his pack over his shoulder, and walked away silently.

"Hey, where are you going!?"

"Somewhere away from you and your annoying questions."

Naruto just shook his head, and waved at his friend/rival. "See you later Sasuke!"

Naruto grinned mischievously once the dark haired boy had disappeared from view into the forest.

Laughing, the blonde reached into his pack and took out his lunch. "Hehe, the Teme doesn't know that I stole the rest of his lunch." He muttered to himself gleefully, his stomach yearning for something to fill it after that intense battle. Opening the lunch box with glee Naruto's face froze. There was nothing in there. Well, except for a note.

Thanks for the food dobe.

Naruto screamed.

Sasuke heard the sound of Naruto screaming and smugly smiled. That will teach him to steal an Uchiha's food.

Naruto cursed to the sky, which was coincidentally now not raining, but still had that thick grey hue of clouds. "Bastard…" he muttered as he stood up, putting his hands in his pockets. He strolled casually away from the tree and into the forest, albeit an opposite direction to Sasuke. "And screw those lunchboxes!" He didn't want to see that ass, or those containers, anytime soon.

With his stomach groaning horribly, Naruto started to stagger forwards. "I've only had five cups of ramen! How will I survive on that?!" The blonde shook his head sadly and continued through the thick underbrush.

After walking a ways, he heard the distinctive sound of fighting in the vicinity. Automatically Naruto crouched down and slowly manoeuvred through the forest. As the sounds of fighting got closer, Naruto could distinctly hear barking and panting.

With Naruto being the stealthily person that he is, he decided 'hell, why not?' and jumped out of the forest into a small clearing. Right into the arms of a Hyūga.

And there we go! So, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's been fun going back through it and editing it, though, nice to relive old memories. In any case, stuff will start to pick up next chapter. So, thank you for reading, I hope to see you for the next chapter! Have a fantastic morning/afternoon/evening/night, and I look forward to hopefully entertaining you with this FanFiction, and taking you on a journey. Thanks again!