Disclaimer: I don't not own any media, franchises, songs or titles in this story. This is purely for entertainment of the public through non-monetary means.

Read the "Renewal" section down below for what was changed. Alright? Alright.

Chapter 1: His Name is…

~X~

"Please Naruto, bring Sasuke back!"

…

"I promise that's my ninja way!"

…

"Kiba, Chouji, Neji and Shikamaru…I won't let you guys down! I'll bring Sasuke back if it's the last thing I do!"

…

"Did you know Naruto? This place is called the Valley of the End. This is the last place where two great shinobi clashed and rocked the ninja world!"

…

"I don't care about that! You may think nothing of our relationship, but I…I see us as brothers! If this is what it takes, I'll break every bone in your body and DRAG you back!"

…

"I guess this is it, Naruto"

"Graah!"

…

"NARUTO!"

"SASUKE!"

~X~

His eyes slowly opened. He looked over to his side at the tree walls, expression slightly bitter, before he released a sad sigh.

That dream again, no, that memory of what he was. What he'd originally had.

Gone.

He couldn't believe how long it'd been. So many years since he gave up on a dream, and any notion of getting back.

13 long years.

~X~

He looked towards the ever mysterious foliage, of Everfree and took in the clearing.

Everfree was not a safe place for the inhabitants of Equestria. Regarded as an area of danger and mystique, this forest was definitely NOT on someone's place to be list. Much less the areas he was in.

Living in the more dense portions of the forest, he was far more in-the-know about it's more…dangerous classification of inhabitants. It was like being in the Forest of Death all over again, just…magical.

His large yellow, canine like feet* pressed softly against the grass, as his, (awesome) orange with white tips, fox tails kept low to the ground. His position in the bush kept secret from the creature in the middle of the clearing.

It was bug-like, with a dark green exterior. Shaped like a dragonfly in almost all its entirety, save for the weird bulbous orb on its tail end. The orb seemed, to release a soft light every few seconds.

He reached into his full body, sleeveless jumpsuit pockets, his hands rummaging around in the depths of the blue, and orange, clothing as he pulled out a rectangular object.

It wa in., the color being a light teal, with the carving of a spiral in red on its front. He clicked it opened via a button on its side, and peered into the pages within. Multiple scribbles of various make came into view before he skipped several pages and landed on one with a half-finished picture of the insect. His blue eyes, with black slit-like pupils, trained in on the bug Beast before they glowed a light green.

As this happened, lines of blue light traced down to the upper right quarter of his face. His eyes trailed over the bug's form for 10 seconds, before he closed them. With the image in his mind, he held his hand over the page.

His clawed hand glowed a dull green glow before it died down. Removing it from the page, he took in the now complete image of the bug on paper, and the slew of information jotted down by its side.

General

Height: 2'0

Weight: 18 kg

Attitude: Docile/Wary

Classification: Beast

Habitat: Everfree Forest (Middle)

Frequency: Uncommon

Skills:

Sensory (Mid)

Flight (Low)

He nodded his head, the blond hair on top of it moving to and fro in accordance. He made sure to always keep it cut to his favored length, never too short but never too long. He pocketed the device, as he pulled up the hood of his jumpsuit to cover his head, his brown and white rabbit ears popping through the holes in the top. With a nod of his head he took off.

He launched himself from tree to tree, careful to avoid weak branches and low hanging obstacles. It reminded him of his past days, and so he kept doing it so he'd never forget.

"To be the Hokage is my life dream!"

He laughed to himself, "That was a good find. Though it was a low class, its fine for what it was"

He tossed himself bodily out of the canopy as he reached an unusual portion of the forest.

It was a river of sorts, spread wide at about 10 meters across. The most notable characteristic of the stream was that about it had a large black stone in the center.

A 3x3 sphere, it merely seemed to stand on top of the water with no form of assistance whatsoever. Though the most notable piece of the riverbed, another aspect of this piece of Everfree was that, looking from where he was on the riverbed, the other side of it looked faded. Like a faded pair of pants' fabric, and the weird effect seemed to originate from the center of the river where the big obsidian stone was. It was like a weird genjutsu, but he knew better, after all…

He'd crossed it many times before, and he'd do it again.

As a whole, it was a big piece of Everfree that was so surreal, he couldn't help but stop every time he came to cross it.

He set himself on the tip of the riverbed before a brief glint of light covered his feet, and he launched himself over the river. Mid way as soon as he entered the air over the river, where the wavy was, he plowed through and found his breaths becoming lighter, along with the rest of his body.

Reaching the other side of the riverbed, digging his feet into the forest floor on contact, making a slight trough in the ground where he stopped.

He looked back, taking in the picture of the river again, but unlike the view before. It was a different view that would greet him. The other side looked distorted, instead of wavy. The vision of the other side far more intense and darker in contrast from the view on his side.

He shook his head and turned away, before moving onward farther into the "lighter" territory.

~X~

His feet took him away from the forest of natural, unnatural, environments to a field filled to the brim with apple trees. Far as the eye could see, apples littered every branch and space between leaves.

His eyes roamed the trees in appreciation before running through the orchard. His eyes danced over each tree before he found the one he was looking for. This tree was one of the bigger ones in the orchard. Ranging from maybe 10 to 15 meters tall, and a full 2 meters in diameter, it was a heck of a good tree. Yet, one of the most eye catching things about this tree was a certain carving he etched into the bark.

It was a Pinwheel of sorts. Though each of its "blades" were formed from names, save for the center piece. Going full circle one would hit: Applejack, Big Mac, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith; Going from West, North, East and South respectively. Though the "center" of the pinwheel was made of a big circle with 6 question marks in it. Two of which were crossed out to be replace with letters: "r" and "o"; taking the place of the 3rd and 6th question marks respectively.

It was also where he planned on waiting for them, so he jumped up from one of the nearby trees before launching himself onto another. He continued this 3 more times before he reached the first branch of the bigger tree. From there he swung up higher and higher until he found a nice crook to wedge himself into.

From his perch he waited.

~X~

"…and thank ya kindly! Come again!" Said a tall, orange mare, waving from her stall on Ponyville Square, to the leaving customer.

She let out a smile as she set about to the packing up of the day. That last sale being the final bushel of apples for the day. Wiping away the sweat from her head, being mindful to take her hat off her head, revealing blond hair ending in a ponytail before replacing it.

She went about dusting off her orange plaid, button-up shirt, the short sleeves cuffed. Finishing off her dusting by patting down her pants, jean shorts that came down to an inch past her knees with frayed ends. Coming out at an even height of 6 feet even, Applejack was one of the more exceptional examples of an Earth Pony.

"I'm telling ya Big Mac, that's gotta be the fastest we've ever sold those apples," Applejack conclude

"Hmm, nope," responded a rather large, red stallion. If Applejack was an exceptional example of an Earth Pony, than Big Mac was the very epitome of what every Earth Pony wanted to be. Beating even his sister in height at 6 feet, 6 inches, he was one the tallest ponies in Ponyville. Only beaten out by Bulk Biceps' 6'10. With short blond hair and donning a red long sleeve, dress shirt, with the arms cuffed up to his elbows showed well-defined arms. With his dark blue worker jeans, Big Mac sat in a chair by AJ's standing form coming up to past her waist.

"Really? Ah'd think Ah would remember that," countered the farm mare, quite sure of her assessment.

Big Mac shrugged, before he began to help pack up the stall for the day. The two finished by early evening, just in time for them to catch sight of a certain purple unicorn, and her dragon assistant, walking down the street.

"Heya Twilight!" Exclaimed Applejack, catching the attention of the Element of Magic and her little brother figure.

"Hey AJ!" The small drake by Twilight's side respond with enthusiasm. Being about 4'6, Spike was short for his age, being a few years older than Apple Bloom. Wearing a purple sleeveless jacket, with no shirt revealed his light green underbelly. The low portion of him disappearing into his purple shorts, with a hole in the back for his tail.

"Hello to you too Applejack, though Spike you've got to remember that we've got to get ready for the reorganization of the library." Twilight greeted the Stetson wearing mare, before turning to her scaly assistant. Twilight herself was currently in an ensemble of white dress shirt, brown skirt & vest. Her hair, dark blue with purple highlights, straight and neat.

"Oh come on Twi, we've already organized the library three days ago!" Whined Spike.

"True, but we recently just got the new shipment of Daring Do books, and I want to have those added to the system as soon as possible," the librarian retorted, making the small drake slump in defeat.

Applejack chuckled at the studious mare, before putting the last empty barrel into the cart. Big Macintosh, holding onto the front ropes, ready to pull.

"Oh so you're finished for today?" Questioned Twilight, nodding to Big Mac who responded in kind with a "Howdy".

"Yeah, we had a pretty good sale today and they sold faster than a Pinkie hopped up on Maple Syrup!" Boasted the Element of Honesty. Twilight, while confounded by the analogy, couldn't help but to smile at the pride Applejack seemed to radiate.

"Hey you okay Big Mac?" They heard Spike asked the red stallion, whom was looking at the sun with a contemplative expression on his face. The two mares shared a look before motioning over to the front of the cart.

"Everythin' okay over here Mac?" asked AJ. The large stallions seemed to hum for a second before giving her a look of confusion.

"Hmm, ya get the feelin' that we're forgettin' something? Ah just can't put my finger on it" He frowned.

AJ blinked before scratching her head.

"Well let's list off what we have to do today. Plowed the fields?"

"Eeyup"

"…Cleaned the barn…"

"Eeyup"

"Dropped off Apple Bloom?"

"Eeyup"

"He's in the orchard!" shouted a voice.

"Eey-uh?" Big Mac stuttered, before he and the rest looked to where the voice came from.

Coming down the street was an earth pony filly. With vibrant red hair, tied back in a small ponytail with an orange bow, wearing a yellow shirt with blue jean overalls. She seemed to be waving both arms as she ran, before coming to a stop in front of Mac. She came up to about 4-5 inches short than Spike, and looked at them with an urgent expression.

"Bloom?" wondered Big Mac and Applejack.

"It's Friday, Ah got out early, but that's not important! He's waitin' in the orchard for us!"

The two farmer ponies looked confused for a moment before realization broke out upon their faces. They made haste with AJ and Bloom jumping into the cart before Big Mac started running.

"Sorry Twilight, we gotta go! Faster Big Macintosh, we'll get him this time!" She urged her brother forward. The group disappearing in a cloud of dust, leaving two shocked beings in their wake.

"The heck just happened?" Questioned Spike. The drake left wide eyed as the farm siblings ran off towards the Acres.

"I'm not sure, Spike," answered Twilight, but before they could get their bearings, they caught sight of duo of fillies. One an orange Pegasus with dark magenta hair in a short cut with a curl near the end, and a white unicorn filly with purple and pink hair ending in curls. The small Pegasus seemed to stop at the two with the unicorn filly pulling up the rear.

"Scootaloo? Sweetie Belle? What the hay is going on here?" Spike muttered, catching the pair's attention.

"Oh hey Spike, you haven't seen Apple Bloom have you?"* Questioned the orange Pegasus, Scootaloo, while Sweetie Belle tried to catch her breath. Backpacks, on both their backs, with Scootaloo holding onto another one, which Twilight assumed was Apple Bloom's.

"Well they just went all crazy and sort of took off towards Sweet Apple Acres. What's going on anyway? It's like Acres was burning or something"

"We're not completely sure, but we think it has something to do with some guy stealing their apples," supplied Sweetie Belle as she finally brought her breathing under control.

"Wait what?!" The librarian and her assistant exclaimed in unison.

~X~

"So wait, they have some guy that comes to steal from them every other Tuesday?" Asked a rainbow haired, blue Pegasus named Rainbow Dash. Floating with light flaps besides the group of 5 mares, a dragon and two fillies. Wearing a blue and white, short sleeved jacket over a white tank top, along with black spandex shorts. The Magenta eyed mare, that stood at 5'5 seem to look forward to the entrance of the Acres with some excitement.

Twilight, after hearing the news from Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, had gone and gathered the rest of her newly made friends to come and help Applejack with her, apparently recurring, Apple Thief.

"Sounds like he could use a good, old-fashioned Dash-whooping, and I'm just the mare for the job," the Element of Loyalty boasted. Scootaloo rallying behind her, with a complimentary "Hoorah".

"Ooh, ooh, ooh, is it someone I know?! Wait, that can't be, I know everypony in Ponyville! *Gasp* Do you think it might be someone new?! Yay! I get to throw another "Welcome to Ponyville!" Party! And so quickly too, considering you just barely came here Twilight!" Rabbled on a pink mare. With a poofy pink mane, and fur, this mare seemed to extrude the concept of happy bubblegum. With yellow jean shorts that came to her knees, and a white and blue striped shirt that revealed slight amount of her navel. Standing at a slightly below average 5'4, with blue eyes that shined with glee, this mare seemed particularly energetic.

"Dearest Pinkie, I don't think Applejack would appreciate you throwing a party for the thief of her produce," sounded a white coated unicorn mare. With pristine white fur, polished nails/hooves, and extremely well taken care of hair, anyone could tell this was a mare that enjoyed the classy things in life. With a black skirt that reached just above her knees, a long sleeved black dress shirt and a white vest with gold buttons to finish off her look, this was a mare who adored fashion. Standing as the second tallest of the group at a good 5'9, her dark blue eyes watched every step she made, as they walked past the gates into the farm property.

"Oh I hope they're nice," whispered a butter colored mare, as she walked beside the fashionista. Her posture, seemed to curl in herself slightly, a more submissive feel being emitted. With her Green turtle neck sweater, and long brown skirt that reached the end of her calves, this mare wanted little attention placed on her, though with a height of 5'8 (making her the third tallest) that didn't make it easier. With light pink hair that came down to her back and curl slightly in the front, and teal eyes, she moved with a sort of sluggishness of one less likely to get involved in others business.

"Oh, well maybe I can throw them a "Don't Steal Apples Anymore" party!" rebounded Pinkie, as she hopped along to the orchard. The group looked towards the Apples' home taking notice off the fact that no one seemed to be in. Granny Smith wasn't even at her usual place. Heck, neither was her rocking chair.

Where were the Apples?

Before the question could be vocalized they all stopped as they saw something in the distance. Five figures, one short one, another in a chair and the last three standing being of similar heights, save for one who was leaning against a rather large tree.

"Maybe that's them and whoever this thief is, can anyone see whose with them?" Proposed Twilight, as her purple eyes zeroed in on them.

"I'm on it!" Announced Pinkie, as she cupped her hands over her eyes and peered into the distance. Strangely enough every time she seem to rotate her hands clockwise and vice-versa, they heard a strange "whirring" sound. With a couple more twists, she let up, though she came back with a sort of bemused expression.

"So what's the verdict? Whose butt am I kicking today?" pushed the boastful Pegasus.

"Yes, what pony ruffian, will Miss Dash be tossing to the wayside this evening?" Asked the prim mare.

"Unless ponies have rabbit ears, fox tails and wolf feet, I'm not sure Rarity" said the Element of Laughter, as she shrugged her shoulders.

The others looked at for a second, before their brains caught up to what she said.

"Pinkie what are you talking about, there's no such creature in existence," stated Twilight's number 1 assistant, as the rest of them seemed to show some form of agreement to the spoken statement of the drake teen.

"Pinkie are you feeling alright?" Voiced Twilight. The bookish mare giving Pinkie a weird look as of her previous statement.

"Perfectly fine, why?"

"Because what you just said makes no sense. The only creature that even comes close to that description is the Chaos Spirit Discord, and he was taken care of by the princesses some thousand years ago," the very idea that he came back, being downright ridiculous in Twilight's mind. As if.

Pinkie pouted at her friends' apparent disbelief before her face bore a determined visage, "Than go see for yourself!" She announced before she disappeared in the direction of the Apples+1.

The group having no other course of action followed after her. As they got closer they heard the voices of the Apple Matriarch, Granny Smith.

"…and that's the conditions ya hear? Do both sides agree?" the elder Apple announced.

"Eeyup" Big Mac.

"Darn tootin'" Applejack.

"I was fine before, but this just sweetens the deal, I'm in" Said the unknown thief?

When they were close enough, they ducked behind some bushes before finally getting a good view of the gather ponies.

Or at least what they thought was just a gathering of ponies.

"What, or Who, in Equestria is that?" Whispered Rainbow, as the group couldn't help but tilt their heads at the sight that greeted them.

Firstly was the Apple family. With Granny Smith being in her usual attire of orange and green dress, with white collar, but in her hand was a stopwatch.

The Apple siblings seemed to change out of their normal clothes, and into far more athletic attire. With a sort of uniform consisting of dark blue tight top and dark spandex bottoms. Though Apple Bloom wore shorts, while Applejack and Big Mac wore spandex pants and cargos shorts, respectively. AJ having a rolled amount of rope at her right hip.

Lastly was the apparent thief, who took the cake in the unusual looks department, leaning on the large tree in the orchard. Wearing a full body blue jump suit with a hood and no sleeves, the jumpsuit sides were borderline with a thick orange line going from the hood rim down to the pants' cuffs, the lines swirling inward on the back becoming a spiral. The hood sat firmly on his head, with two white rabbit ears poking out the top. A pair of orange fox tails came out of a hole near the back of the pants, and his feet were canine like. Possibly wolf like, if a comparison had to be made, being yellow and slight large. His arms uncovered, and his hands were clawed, though unlike them (the ponies) he had five fingers to their four. Also the fur around the appendages was scarce, but the skin beneath was black.

Overall, a serious case of "what the heck was he?" ran through their minds.

~X~

The jumpsuit clad being seemed to grin, before he got off the tree and walked over to them. Hands in his pockets he brought out an item. Bringing it to his lips, he blew into it, allowing the object to expand before he stopped and the object gained shape. A ball, red in color, with yellow stripes.

"You have to take these bells from me, before the time limit is up. No bells, no passing."

"So ladies and gents, stallion and mares, the name of the game is "Keep Away"! The rule of the game is to basically get the ball from me. Rules, I have to have the ball by the time the alarm goes off…" Granny Smith raised the watch in her hand, while the thief nodded, "…to win while all you have to do is get the ball away from me for five seconds or have it by the end of the game. Handicaps! I'll will refuse to use my hands," he said, to the astonishment of the crowd in the bushes.

"What?! It's like he's basically saying that he could beat them with his hands tied behind his back!" Rainbow whispered hotly, while glaring at the dual tailed thief.

"Maybe he's just cocky, this seems to be something that he's done before, considering that apparently he's stolen from them more than once," theorized Twilight, as she watched the proceedings play on. Rainbow seemed to glare harder.

"I hope they put this guy on his rear! Then I'll give him the ol' one-two," She said while grinning, as she pantomimed said actions. "Then we'll see if he ever comes back again."

"Additional rules!"

"What?!" A muffled voice, shouted.

The group looked around wondering where that sound came from…Well the Apple family did, the weird figure just smiled to himself, his ears twitching in one direction.

"…as I was saying, additional rules! The ball rules, to be exact. So whenever the ball is in the air for a time longer than 5 seconds, if you anyone other than me gets it, you win, simple no?" He stated with a tilt of his head.

Applejack seem to frown at this. If anything she felt not only was this unfair, but that it was some sort of show of pity? Pity, of ONE person, against 2+.

"Now hold on one darn second! Are you mocking us, again?! You did this last time when we soccer, where you couldn't go without letting the ball stay on the ground for more than 5 seconds when you had the ball!" Applejack shouted to the thief. The group in the bushes were surprised, if anything. They thought that Applejack, of all ponies, would technically WANT to have the rules in her family's favor all things considered.

Twilight found her previous theory about this happening before correct with this statement. Though still she didn't understand why the Element of Honesty would still push for fairness in this situation.

The only ones of the group who seemed to understand what AJ was pushing for was Rainbow, and surprisingly enough Rarity.

The two ponies understood where AJ was coming from. Rainbow because she knew what it was like to compete against others. No one like it when someone wasn't giving their best and you win only based on that fact. It was disrespectful, and made your win feel downright unfair.

In Rarity's case it was because she understood that when one puts effort into something, they want the best result with all variables correct. Since she understood that this had happened before and that AJ was a prideful pony, also stubborn. She wanted her effort to be worth a full return, no matter the consequences.

"No, and must I remind you what happened last time, dearest Jackie?" The thief said, with what was presumable a raised eyebrow, and an amused tone.

The orange farmer mare flushed lightly at this, but grumbled in defeat all the same. Big Mac seemed to scratch under his chin as he looked to the left. Those in the bushes, left out of the loop, were even more confused when Apple Bloom started snickering, while Granny Smith was smiling in her own way, before she spoke up.

"Is that all? Then would the opposition please set the field."

The hooded figure nodded his head before he reached into his pockets and pulled out what looked like five stones, before chocking them out into the orchard. Each stone landed about 20m from one another in a pentagon, containing the whole field, and even the hiding group.

"Field set up. No exit: Owner and ball," he stated before lines shot from each stone to the other completing the shape. Also the thief and the ball were lit up for a second, before the glow died down. He nodded towards the Apple matriarch, who hummed, before holding up the stopwatch.

"Time limit: 4 minutes! Ready…"

The Apple siblings tensed, crouched and arms at their sides. Those in the bushes found themselves hunched forward in anticipation.

"Set…"

The mismatched figure seemed to smirk, before keeping his hands behind his back and a quick glint of light later had a set of cuffs on his wrists. The ball fell down into the possession of his tail, being rolled from tail to tail in a show of confidence.

"G- Oh deary, mind making sure the pies in the oven are taken out in time?" Granny interrupted.

All those who tensed found themselves falling on their faces. The thief himself twitched before he stood up, and ran his tail down his face, a nervous smile on his face. Those in the bushes found themselves slumped over at Granny Smith's interruption. The Apple siblings were no different, though they sighed before Apple Bloom stood up and stepped outside of the stone field.

"Ah got it," she muttered before taking off toward the household.

Granny Smith nodded before holding the watch up again. Everyone else set themselves back into place again.

"Ready, set..." She started, her eyes shifting to the thief.

He smirked before launching the ball up into the air, just as she shouted.

"Go!" She hit the switch and the watch let out a "Bleep". Surprisingly, to the group in the bushes, two small rectangles appeared in the air above the stopwatch. One red, one blue. In the blue one they watch s it started from 04:00:00 and counted down, while the red one held a 00:00:00, in its depths.

Play Song: I Get Wicked, Thousand Foot Klutch

The instance the watch went off, the two sides came into action. AJ launched herself forward towards, not the ball, but the thief, with Big Mac setting himself forward towards the ball. The thief shot forward towards AJ, but faster, his hands bound behind him with his legs pumping forward.

Those in the bushes caught their breaths as the two were going to collide, while question the hooded figure's intentions.

They found out soon enough for when the two were about to run into one another, the thief slid forward the rest of the distance before twisting into the air above the farm mare. Not only this, bit he used her as a platform to jump off of to the ball before snatching it with his right foot. Coming down he met Big Mac's gaze and adjusted his body to the right, the ball held in the crook of his foot.

Big Mac's eyes narrowed before he reached his right hand forward towards the figure's ankle, instead of the ball. The figure gasped before he found himself thrown in another direction. He frowned for a second, as he watched as the ball fell into Mac's possession.

Big Mac caught the ball and dashed in the opposite direction of the thief.

00:01:04 - Red

03:33:59 - Blue

Those in the bushes were surprised to watch this play by Big Mac. The Stallion taking an aggressive approach such as he did was surprising. Though they watch as the clock went up and were about to cheer before they found themselves dumbfounded.

00:00:00

03:30:23

The group were surprised when the red clock stopped before they looked back to watch in shock as the thief's foot found purchase on the ball, knocking it out of Big Mac's grip and catching it with his tail.

"Ho, ho, ho so you DO learn. I'm impressed," The hooded figure chortled, before he slid back to the right as AJ came barreling past. She stopped and turned around, setting herself next to her brother. They watched the jumpsuit clad male roll the ball between his feet, dribbling it for a second.

03:14:11

"Gotta try harder," he taunted, before moving towards the Apple siblings. He jumped over Big Mac's outstretched hands, as he moved forward his hands grasping air as the thief moved in the air above him. The hooded thief was airborne for all of a second before he came down in front of Applejack.

Those in the bushes watched as the two came to an exchange.

Applejack's right hand went towards the mismatched figure's shoulder, to which the thief responded by turning to his left dodging the limb. He noticed a small movement to out of the corner of his eye, before he bent backwards, watching as a length of rope past above his form. Those watching as the length of rope lead back to Big Mac, now noticing that the rope at the farm mare's hip was gone.

"Hiyah!" Came a voice, to his back, causing his eyes to widen. His eyes trailing back to see Apple Bloom coming in towards him, or more likely his tail with the ball in its grip. She latched onto the fluffy appendage, causing him to freeze in place. This allowed Applejack to move fast enough to tackle his mid-section. He was caught off guard enough hat the ball hit the floor. He could see Big Mac making a rush for the ball before he slid towards it, sweeping it up into his arms and moving towards the opposite end of the field.

00:01:23

02:15:22

He needed to get out of this, and did so by bringing his tail, not in Apple Bloom's possession up to Applejack's armpit, flicking the underarm swiftly. The Element of Honesty had to let go, to cover her underarms while she laughed raucously.

00:02:59

02:13:46

Moving onto the Apple Bloom, he spun three times before flicking his tail in Big Mac's direction, sending her soaring. He launched himself after her.

"Incominggggggggg!" Bloom shouted, as she sailed, catching Big Macintosh's attention. He looked back to see him youngest sister flying towards him, making his eyes go wide before she nailed him in the chest making them fall out of the perimeter of the field and lose the ball, causing the red timer to stop and reset.

The apple snatcher smiled before holding the ball underneath his feet, leaning forward in smug satisfaction.

00:00:00

02:05:10

The group in the bushes couldn't help, but watch as this thief seemed to gain back control of the ball. Most of those in the bushes felt their hearts beating out of their chest at the match, the ball switching ownership so often was definitely not good for their health.

End Song~

"They were so close!" Rainbow ranted, as her eyes tracked the ball in the weirdo's possession. Though she wouldn't admit to the fact that she wanted to get a go at him herself, if only to just prove she was the best. Her flame for challenge being fanned the longer this game went on.

They watched with bated breath as the Apple siblings reassembled, both sides letting out some breath, but the thief seeming to breathe easier.

The thief looked towards the blue clock as it struck 02:00:00 before he bounced the ball twice with his foot. On the second bounce he kicked it high into the air.

01:45:00

All those watching saw it move higher and higher before it stopped at the height of the big tree, after which it began its descent. The hooded thief gave it a glance before he looked at the clock.

01:42:01

In the next second he jumped to meet it. The second the clock hit 01:40:00, he extended his foot to catch the underside of a pink blur moving out of the tree. With precision he guided the blur towards the Apple participants, before snatching the ball with his tailed and touching the floor.

The blur seemed to stop right in front of the two sides revealing it to be…

"Pinkie?!" Applejack exclaimed, catching the form of Ponyville's resident party pony. The thief calling a timeout toward Granny Smith, stopping the clock at 01:32:55.

"You've been in that tree for a while now, huh? You're no ninja, but then again you're better than most. You probably came with that group in the bushes as well," he said pointing his finger in the direction of the hidden residents. Those not in the know about them glanced towards the bush. The same bush seemed to jump, before several ponies and one dragon came out of hiding.

"What the-what are you guys doing here?" interrogated Applejack, eyes narrowed in confusion. The group form the bushes, looking distinctly nervous, or sheepish. Save for Rainbow who was marching forward towards the thief.

"We came because we heard that this jerk over here has been stealing from you guys and I'm here to make him stop. Via a good ol' Rainbow Beat down," stated the Element of loyalty, stopping in front of the thief.

"And who in Tartarus is this chick?" asked the thief, as he leaned away from the rainbow haired Pegasus. Startled once she started poking him in the chest.

"Listen here buster! The second you started stealing from my friend over there was the second you're timer started counting down." She said with a smug look.

"Oh yeah? Counting down until what?" He said, before he leaned to the side, watching as a blue furred fist sailed into the space where his head was previously. He stared for a second, before following the length of the arm down to the smirking face of the Wonderbolt-wannabe.

"Towards your imminent plot-kicking!" She finished with a shout before she sent another fist his way. He leaned to the other side, before hopping over the following kick. What followed was a set of movements and reactions. Every punch, he dodged. Every kick, he jumped over. Then every rush, he slid out of the way of.

"Will. You. Just. Stand. Still!" She grunted, and punctuated each word with an action of harm towards his being. After a solid minute of movement, they found themselves back to their original positions.

"Yeah, how about….No?" He threw out lazily. His eyes half-lidded, as he looked at her. This was definitely a throw back to when he'd first started these games with Applejack, and it was probably how Kakashi-sensei was with him.

Oh memories.

~X~

Meanwhile with Applejack and the others, she was being told of what lead up to them being in the bush, or in Pinkie's case the tree.

"*sigh* Look Ah know you guys want to help and all, but this is a family matter. Besides," She began, as they all watched the exchange between their mystery thief and Rainbow Dash. Also taking notice of the fact that the hooded individual still held the ball in his grasp, even if Rainbow wasn't aiming for it.

"…Ah don't think it would be fair. Heck I mean we got enough of a handicap as is," she finished, as they watch the two come back to stationary positions.

"Come on AJ! This guy is literally getting away with stealing your apples in front of you! You can't let that keep happening," Spike supplied, as Twilight nodded beside him.

"Yeah, this isn't right! We're your friends, when we work together we can do anything." Twilight added. The red stallion nodded to this, but frowned a little at this info as he looked to the side. He held a hand to his chin in thought.

"Look, this is different from that! Ah'll admit I was wrong to not accept your help back then, when Ah needed it, but this is different. This is an Apple situation, and Apples take care of their own problems." She said unmoved, as they moved their eyes to the spectacle.

"You guys can help 'em, I don't have a problem with it." The thief said as he continued to watch Rainbow, all while rolling the ball from side to side before balancing it on his knee and then head.

"Ah said we'll take you down and find out your name ourselves, and don't you forget it!" She retorted. The figure in the jumpsuit shrugged, before jumping over a rushing Rainbow, ball following along with him.

"Dearest Applejack, I assure you we have the best of intentions. You can't keep letting this happen," Rarity said, as she eyed the clothes on the unknown individual. Her keen eyes categorizing the jumpsuit from top to bottom, before holding her chin in contemplation. Her gaze narrowed as she took in the clothing, something on the tip of her tongue.

Applejack listened them with no small amount of annoyance. She looked back at the thief and then her friends, seemingly conflicted before the hooded creature gave the last nail in the coffin.

"Here's an idea. Not only will I let this happen, but I'll use my hands, AND I'll fill in the rest of my name if you win." He added with finality.

AJ's eyes widen, along with Big Mac's and Bloom's. The Apple filly started jumping up and down to her sister pleading her to let the others help.

"Ya know sis, this might be a good idea. Now Ah know, you want this to be done by us alone, but even you know you want to win. Besides he's even allowing it, and we get him to stop handicapping himself, didn't ya say you wanted a fair fight?" Big Mac said, and then elaborated, as his sister sent him a betrayed look.

Applejack seemed to fluster as she took in what they all said before sighing in defeat.

"Fine. Yall can help, but you better keep your end of the bargain mister!" She caved, before walking up to the hooded figure whose grin couldn't get wider, before poking him in the chest.

"Yah, yeah, when have I ever gone back on my word, huh? That's not my way of doing things, when I make a promise I keep it to the best of my abilities!" He shot back, as they assumed he rolled his eyes at her. The two stood chest to chest, showing that he was shorter than the farm mare.

"Whatever, you better watch out cuz this time, you're going down. You'll be tilling those fields until your paws drop tired," she taunted. He crossed his arms, after dissipating the magic cuffs, in front of his chest, ignoring the height difference, spat back.

"Keep dreaming apple mare, by the end of this little contest I'll be munching on some delicious Jackie-made apple treats." He retorted with a smug smile, as she flustered at the nickname. Those in the background tilted their heads, save for those of the Apple family who were smiling discreetly.

'Jackie?' They wondered.

"An-Anyway, we'll show you up in just a moment," she stuttered for a moment before shaking it off, and walking away with determination in her steps, leaving a smirking thief in her wake.

"Okay guys huddle up! We gotta make this good. Now yall don't know 'im, but as you have probably seen he's quick and mighty agile." The farm mare summarized, Mac and Bloom nodding at her sides.

"We got this. With all of us, hands or no hands, he doesn't have a chance!" Loyalty psyched themed up. Everyone else feeling her enthusiasm, the group turned towards their waiting thief. He was tapping his foot on the floor while using his hands to toss the ball back and forth.

"I'm not getting any younger over here!" He stated.

"Hold your horses! We're comin', we're comin'" Applejack said, as they walked over, to the thief's satisfaction. They turned towards Granny Smith who held the timer.

"Now obviously I don't need to say this, but no levitation on anyone's being or the ball, everything else is fair game. That's the only handicap I'll be giving you guys." He said, while spinning the ball on his finger.

The group nodded, after which they got into position. He smiled.

"Ready whenever Granny Smith!" he shouted.

"Alrighty! All of ya, on your marks! Ready…"

They looked to the mystery apple thief with narrowed eyes, save for Fluttershy who gave a worried gaze.

"Get set!"

He stopped tossing the ball, and set it by his right foot. His mouth shifting to a straight line, before he got into a strange stance. His body forward, with his chest facing the direction to the ball. Right hand on the ball by his foot, with his left arm angled behind him to his left.*

"Go!" With that the timer continued.

The Apple team had been set to move, but found themselves dumbfounded as the thief moved from where he was, to in the middle of the group in a matter of seconds, with the ball at his foot. The assembled ponies + dragon barely had the time to scatter, before the hooded thief latched his hands on both Rainbow's and Rarity's wrists. Them in hand, he twisted before throwing them in the direction of Twilight and Fluttershy, respectively. He ducked under the moving arms of Pinkie, scooping the ball up in his tail before spinning sideways, dodging her follow up rush.

Touching the floor once more he bent backwards till he was parallel to the ground, seeing the muscled arm of Big Mac reaching over him. He adjusted his body towards the stallion, before sliding his foot to the back of the stallion's forward hoof. He dropped to the floor and pull forward viciously, tripping Mac, before he latched onto the farm stallion's other hoof and tossed him with a twirl.

Coming to a stand, he came face to face with a butter colored pony in a green sweater.

"Um, if you wouldn't mind. Could I please have the ball? If you don't mind?" She asked politely with a stutter. He gave a deadpan look.

"No." He answered flatly, before he jumped away with the ball in his palm as Applejack came in with a slide.

"Fluttershy, Ah don't wanna be mean but ya need to TAKE the ball from him," she spoke, before rushing after the thief once more, leaving the Pegasus with thoughtful look on her face.

"But that would be mean." She reasoned, with Spike facepalming next to her.

00:47:49

The Thief looked around seeing the small fillies and Apple Bloom surrounding him. They rushed with the orange Pegasus filly first, and the unicorn and Bloom following after, respectively.

He walked towards the charging trio of children, sliding to the right after the Pegasus, using his tail to trip the unicorn before tossing the ball in the air, for a moment, and tossing Apple Bloom over shoulder just to catch the ball again in his tail.

"Hey!" Scootaloo.

"Whoa!" Sweetie Belle.

"What in tarnation?!" Apple Bloom finished off as they tripped into a pile. The hooded figure walked up to them with a pep in his step. Before bending down to the filly dog-pile. Them being upside down made it all the more hilarious.

"Maybe another time kiddies, work on your teamwork next time. When facing an opponent who's stronger than you remember that your numbers matter," he said, before ruffling all three of their heads with his hands & tail with protest on their part, before getting up. Walking away, right into a determined Rainbow.

"Prepare for your imminent defeat," she stated.

"Oh yeah, by who?" He questioned before he took notice of the fact that there were 3 large piles of leaves around him that burst outwards revealing Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie. He eyes widened for a moment before he skipped backwards from Rainbow who followed him.

Twilight's horn glowed for a moment before several small rocks in the field glowed lavender. With a mental nudge she tossed them towards him with flick of her head. His eyes trailed the incoming projectiles, before he used his tails to bat them away. Just in time to have his vision overtaken by AJ, who pushed through with an outreaching arm. Caught off-guard again, he titter backwards to regain distance but the damage was already done, as he felt something scaly wrap around his tail causing him to freeze again.

"Pinkie get the ball!" Came the shout of a small drake from behind him.

00:00:59

00:25:45

His eyes found themselves going wide, feeling empty air on the fur of the tail that was supposed to have be holding a ball. He could hear the pink haired one laughing, before the laughter was getting farther away from his location. He fell to the floor with AJ coming after. He didn't let that stop him though, because before she could land on him, and probably grapple him in place, he rolled while grabbing hold of her executing a circle throw. Tossing her right into the back of the Element of Laughter.

"Oof!" Came the sound he was hoping for form the pink pony before he dashed after her, Rainbow on his heels.

00:03:59

00:22:45

Noticing the timer still going, he jumped the last length between himself and the fallen Pony pile. It was all in slow motion what happened next.

He touched the ball slapping it out of the party pony's hands, resetting the clock, before watching as it got taken by a blue fur covered hand.

00:01:13

00:20:12

He watched as Rainbow smirked at him before getting higher into the air. He narrowed his eyes, before he ran towards the trees.

00:03:50

00:18:49

Bouncing from one to the other he flipped form the tip of one to cut off Rainbow. He wasted no time in slapping the ball away from her hands, once more resetting the clock, before watching as she grinned at him. He was surprised to find her tackling him out of the air, away from the ball.

The clock was hitting 00:15:00, was when things got more heated. He couldn't allow these ponies to get the better of him anymore. In a quick glint of light, his arms were covered in light blue lines. With reinforced strength he pried the Wonderbolts admirer away from his being, and with a quick application of force kicked off a nearby tree branch towards the ball. Grabbing it just as a glowing thread past where it was a second ago, his own glowing arms brightness dying down.

'They're good, I'm actually being forced to put more effort into this than usual. They're a lot better than Team 7 ever was,' he thought before he found himself grabbed from mid-air by red arms. He didn't have time to be startled though when he found himself quickly traveling backwards for a painful meeting of head to ground.

With a grunt he tossed the ball back up to his tails, before his arms were covered in light again. Just as his body and head were to meet ground he shot his hands downwards, staining but stopping his momentum. Big Mac's eyes went wide at this, before they went wider as he felt something glow-y circling his mid-section.

"Have a taste of your own medicine!" He exclaimed before twisting, his glowing tail wrapped around Mac pulling the stallion along before he slammed him into the ground on his back.

00:09:45

He jumped away with the ball in hand, and set himself in a crouch before the gather group of ponies + drake.

"We gotta get the ball now!" Rainbow shouted, as they assembled to one side.

00:08:33

"We don't got the time! Rush him!" Shouted Big Mac from his place on the floor. Those assembled dashed towards him like a tidal wave. His eyes trailing before he closed them. The next instance the upper left of his face was covered in glowing lines.

His eyes snapped open, before he launched himself towards them ball in hand. It all went down in slow motion.

00:07:00

Rainbow was first, she reached out towards him but found the air as he crouched underneath her and rolled to the side of AJ.

00:06:00

Next came Spike and Pinkie. With Spike he pressed his hand into the drake's chest, bring him over onto a pouncing Pinkie mid-air.

00:05:00

Twilight came up with Rarity. He knew these two were the least sporty of the group and juked them into one another. Shifting from left to right between them.

00:04:00

Then came Apple Bloom and the two fillies. He made a show of jumping in a spiral over them.

00:02:00

Lastly was Big Mac who had finally gotten up. In that moment their eyes met, and challenge was sounded. He rushed into the stallion seemingly, Mac's arms coming to circle him before they crossed into air, as a shadow past over him. Eyes meeting once more, Mac's now conceding defeat while the thief's were triumphant.

00:00:50

This was it, he had won.

"I'm Sorry!"

So it was with this feeling that he didn't' notice the butter colored Pegasus colliding with him bodily before they were caught in a dust cloud.

*whistle!*

They all stopped, watching with cloud with anticipation. Some falling to the floor in exhaustion, others hands on their knees but eyes straight to the cloud.

Once it was clear, they watched stun as Fluttershy and the thief emerged. The thief on the floor stunned with the Pegasus a few feet from him with the ball in her hands.

"Time's up! Winner: The Apple Team!" Announced Granny Smith, as the group finally caught up to the moment.

"YES!" They cheered in happiness as they finally realized they won. Rainbow dash flying in delight as she wrote her symbol in the clouds, Twilight, Pinkie, Spike and Big Mac Hi-5-ing in joy. Rarity helped Fluttershy to her hooves with words of praise and encouragement, making the Pegasus animal lover smile. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle jumped around in excitement at the win around Granny Smith.

Applejack looked at this all with a conflicted expression before she smiled. They'd won this time and got the bigger prize. Though she turned to where their usual recurring thief was to find the spot empty.

"What the?! Where'd he go?!" She exclaimed making the others look over, before a voice called from the tree. With AJ's shout catching the others attention, this one caught all of theirs.

"Yo! Right over here."

They looked to the tree to find someone, in the same clothes as the thief wore. Hood down, they could now see slightly long spiky hair, colored the same as the son itself, and clear blue eyes like sapphires. His face was human (not that they knew that), with three marks on his cheeks like cat's whiskers. With gold fur coming up to his neck form the neck collar of his jumpsuit. In his hands he tossed up and down a sharp rock, giving them an amused raised eyebrow.

Those in the clearing, sans the Big Mac and Granny Smith, were surprised to see his face. They were surprised to find it being furless, compared to the rest of him. Big Mac walked forward with Apple Bloom, who was looking at him peculiar expression, and Applejack who was giving his face a clearer look. Those from outside the Apple family walked over as well, seeing the markings on the tree and noticing a couple extra ones on it.

"So yea, you finally get to know my name, but before we get to the big reveal, give me all yours first." He said simple, with a small smile. Those of the group giving each other confused looks before Pinkie hopped forward.

"Nice to meet cha! I'm Pinkie Pie!" Said the excitable pony, as the thief nodded before he carved

"Next," he said with a beckoning gesture.

While some were still confused, the drake strode over and gave a salute.

"Spikoran, but just call me "Spike"," Spike said, while the weird mismatched being smiled and added his name as a "blade" next to Apple Bloom's. Yet, before he could gesture again, the blue Pegasus came forth puffing her chest out with pride.

"Rainbow Dash! With a capital "R" and "D" and don't you forget it! That's the name of the pony who gave you the runaround!" She boasted. He rolled his eyes and decided to burst her bubble.

"Last I checked wasn't I the guy who was leading you around?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow, causing her to freeze with a metaphorical arrow piercing her being.

"Not only that but you didn't even touch me on your own." Arrow.

"Heck you weren't even the one to get the ball from me in the end." Multiple arrows.

She'd slumped over in a corner, with Fluttershy patting her back with a "there, there". He just shook his head before adding her name as a "blade".

The pattern continued from there and by the end of it the "pinwheel" looked more like a "flower".

"And with this, my name is last." He said, before he crossed out the rest of the question marks in the center circle, before being replaced.

"N", "A", "R", "U", "T", "O"

He brought his arm back, before turning to the group as a whole. HE grinned at their confused faces, before pointing a thumb at himself.

"Nice to meet you guys. My name is Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto." He announced.

So yeah, that's it for chapter One of Four (Hopefully it stays four unlike this chapter's length of 5k expanding to 9k), of Uniques of Everfree!

I hope you all enjoyed this because next chapter we might get some…Okay probably a LOT of backstory. Possibly some flashbacks, to explain some history and Naruto's end of the bargain.

Hopefully that chapter won't drag on like this one sort of did. Now for the (*)'s:

Think Jon Talbain's wolf-form feet.

I altered some of the timeline here. Seeing as these two don't meet Apple Bloom before Boast Busters.

The stance is an altered form of Might Guy's stance when he goes at Madara with the Midnight Dragon, at least I think it's called that.

Renewal: Welcome to the newly revised Chapter 1! It took a god hour to inject some small pieces of "Naruto" into this. A whole hour! And it wasn't even that much! But I digress, prepare for more later on, but just settle with this for now okay?

In the "Renewal" section I'll talk about some of the small changes I made to this chapter to incorporate more Naruto elements, to help those who have already read the original chapters. In this chapter's case, I gave a new flashback in the beginning, and inserted smaller ones, in the form of quotes, throughout most of the beginning section. Making small references to Naruto's life in his original verse.

Other small changes would be some word choices, and changes his clothes slightly, as well as some thoughts being fleshed out or added on. Well that's all for now, good luck with this one, whether you re-read it or not.

~NRK Out~