Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

A/N

I have returned.

I would like to think everyone that has waited patiently for this, I am really happy with what I was able to do.

I would also like to give some thanks to my betas The Black Company and Sasuke1342. They really helped me out on this one and helped fix some mistakes that I would have completely missed. I'll have more announcements after the chapter so enjoy the return of A Kindred Spirit.

Prologue

Setting the Stage

Contrary to popular belief, man has not always been the dominant power in this world. It is only in the last couple of centuries that they have discovered that which has allowed them to gain such power. Before this the dominant powers in the world were the demons. While all demons where powerful in their own right the most powerful of them were known as the Biju, or Tailed Beasts. They were nine demons whose power transcended that of all others, they were forces of nature upon themselves, and as powerful as these 'demon lords' were there was one than stood above them all.

The Kyuubi.

It was a demon fox of enormous power that had for centuries caused unparalleled destruction and chaos across much of the land. It was known to, at times, travel with several other demons that joined in it's destructive rampages. At one time it had traveled with Shukaku the one-tailed tanuki. Another instance had it battling Orochi the eight-headed snake across most of Grass Country for the better part of a decade.

The one constant that was associated with the Kyuubi was its one permanent companion.

The Rokubi

He was a shadowy wraith that killed all in its path. Very few were the survivors that were sane enough to even describe him. Together the two were an unstoppable force that no army of the old world could ever hope to match or withstand. Many people were sure that they would forever be in the shadow of these dreaded demons.

Then one day they disappeared without a trace. Rumor had it that somewhere some mighty army had finally managed to kill the savage demon, others say that the other demons had banded together in an alliance bred of jealousy to kill the demon lord. No one was sure exactly what happened to either the Kyuubi or the Rokubi, but what they were sure of was that for the first time in centuries they were free of the threat of destruction.

In the wake of their disappearance a new group came to power.

The Shinobi Nations.

At the beginning it was only a few small groups that had banded together as a means of mutual protection. But eventually more and more began to emerge and soon appeared the beginnings of the first Hidden villages. At the start they were limited in their abilities with regards towards fighting. The newly proclaimed Hidden Stone village became known for their almost inhuman ability to withstand and deal out physical damage. The small Hidden Mist village were exceptionally skilled when it came to stealth and assasination. Eventually it was in the obscure Hidden Dragonfly village that chakra was first discovered and the beginnings of Jutsu made their appearance. After this new and amazing power come into existence it began to immediately spread to the other villages. As this happened the different nations began to develop their own elemental jutsu. Water Country, with it's abundance of said element began to create many a water jutsu. Lightning Country also created it's own unique jutsus taking inspiration from the unstable weather that their homeland was known for. Steadily the different Hidden Villages began to gather more and more power until the inevitable happened.

It is still unknown as to which side struck first but in the beginning the war was between the countries of Grass and Rain. Eventually however more and more villages began to be embroiled in this conflict which became known as the Great Shinobi War.

In the end the Hidden Rain village was all but decimated, many believed that they would never again become a true hidden village again. The remaining villages after seeing the destruction that had been wrought began to maintain an uneasy ceasefire.

The ceasefire held for nearly forty years, that is until the incident in the Hidden Shadow village. It was here that a young boy named Akira discovered that he had an astounding ability. He had been playing in front of his home when he tripped and cut his hand on a rock. As he began to cry a man came up to him and asked if he was alright. When he showed him his hand the red haired man knelt down and took the injured hand into his own. As he looked into the man's red eyes he felt the pain in his hand diminish and disappear. When he looked down he saw that his hand was completely healed and free of any scarring. When he looked up the man just winked and asked him to keep it a secret, grateful the boy nodded.

It would be another four years before he found out exactly what the man had done.

It had been in the middle of a bandit raid and he had taken a kunai through his upper arm. As he felt his blood running down his arm he watched as one of the bandits came running at him with a spear ready to kill him. He closed his eyes and braced himself for oblivion, but when nothing came he opened his eyes and saw to his shock that his attacker was impaled on a blade formed of the blood that had been running down his arm. It was then that the first 'blood limit' was discovered. Curiously in the ten years that followed this incident there were a whole slew of blood limits that were appearing for seemingly no reason whatsoever. Many members of the shinobi nations were amazed at these new and amazing powers, while others grew to fear and hate them.

It was around this time that the Tsuchikage made a startling announcement. He had declared that those that bore blood limit abilities were 'abominations' that needed to be destroyed. The Iwagakure village then began what became known as the 'Blood Purge' which amounted to the extermination of all those within the Earth Country boundries that possessed a blood limit. At this news many of these individuals attempted to flee from Iwagakure only to be hunted down mercilessly by Iwa Hunter-Nin that had been specially trained to kill those with blood limits. There was one person who was able to gather many of these refuges together and make a run for Fire Country. His name was Bunanoki and, with his remarkable control over wood, he was able to hide his group from the Hunter-Nin long enough for them to cross the border into Fire Country.

When they had finally reached a point in Fire Country at which they could relax they realized that they were not yet safe from the Tsuchikage's purge. They decided that the only way that they would ever be safe would be if they were to band together and form their own hidden village, one that would be able to match or even surpass the strength of Iwagakure. It was decided that the man that led them past the Hunter-Nin parties would have the honor of being the Shodaime of this new village and that they would name the village to honor him and his courage. As such Bunanoki became the Shodaime Hokage and the village was named Konohagakure no Sato.

The Village Hidden in the Leaves.

For just over twenty years he led Konoha in becoming a strong Hidden Village. In these early moments of the village it was not unusual to see the Hokage participating in missions as they were lacking skilled ninjas. He was also seen helping train some of the genin teams, especially his brother's team which included a particularly bright young boy named Sarutobi. It was in the later years of his time as Hokage that fighting broke out between Konoha and several clans that had arrived in Fire Country. After nearly five years of fighting the Shodaime stepped down and named his brother, Onsui, as his successor. It was his belief that his skills would be of better use on the frontlines of the fighting rather than stuck behind a desk in Konoha.

For almost a decade the combined clans of the Inuzuka, Aburame, and the Hatake fought Konoha to a standstill. Slowly Konoha was gaining the advantage when both the Uchiha clan, which was native to Fire Country, and the Hyuga Clan from Lightning Country joined their forces. Unfortunately the Tsuchikage was beginning to hear stories of the multiple clans that were fighting in Fire Country. Both Bunanoki and Onsui realized that it was only a matter of time until the genocidal Stone village attacked them, and it would be best for Konoha if the battle was only on one front. It was then that the two issued a challenge to the leaders of the opposing clans. They would fight all three clan leaders at once, the winner would issue demands that the opposing forces would be required to follow.

The opposing clan leaders readily agreed.

The battle took place in an open plain almost two days northwest of Konoha, almost at the border with Tea Country. The five shinobi fought in a manner never see before in the Hidden Nation. Their battle lasted for almost two days and when it was all over the plain had become a great valley with a lake formed from the numerous Suiton jutsus that the Nidaime used. In the end the two brothers stood victorious over their foes and when they made their demands they shocked the wounded clan heads. Instead of their lives or servitude the two Konoha nin only asked for their help in the coming war. They explained that the Tsuchikage would stop at nothing to destroy anyone that possessed a blood limit regardless of who they were. It was only a matter of time before he marched onto Fire Country and their only hope for survival was if they all banded together to strengthen one another. The clan heads quickly agreed and soon Konoha made preparations for war.

It was five years after the Fire Country Clan Wars before Iwagakure finally attacked and when they did they came with the full force of their village. Despite being heavily outnumbered Konoha was able to hold their own against Iwa for almost fifteen years before tragedy struck. The Shodaime and the Nidaime had been evacuating an outlying village that was in between the two warring nations when they came upon a force of over 700 enemy nin that was massing nearby. Knowing that it would take almost two days for the refugees to reach Konoha the two brothers did the only thing that they could to delay the invading army.

They attacked them head on.

When the dust settled less than one hundred enemy shinobi had survived the attack and the majority of the survivors were severely wounded.

As for the two brothers.

Both the Shodaime Hokage and the Nidaime Hokage fell in battle that day. One week after their deaths the Elder Council of Konoha chose their student, Sarutobi, as the Sandaime Hokage. For the next decade the war raged on betweent the two Hidden Villages and it seemed that Konoha was being gradually being worn down by the conflict. It was at this time that the Hero of the Third Shinobi War made his debut on the field of battle.

His name was Namikaze Minata otherwise known as Konoha no Kiroi Senko, or Konoha's Yellow Flash.

His skill in battle was unmatched on either side of the conflict. His tactical skill allowed him to turn even the bleakest of moments into tremendous victories. Singlehandedly he turned the tide of the war into Konoha's favor and led their march into Earth Country itself. It was there, not thirty miles from the gates of Iwagakure, that he ended the war with the death of the Tsuchikage, the man who had led the war against Konoha from the very beginning. When the war weary shinobi returned home it was as heroes. The forests of Fire Country rang with songs that told of the brave Konoha shinobi. After nearly two weeks of celebrations the Sandaime made a surprising announcement. He would be stepping down as the Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato. As his successor he chose the Hero of Konoha, a very embarrassed Minata. It was then that the citizens of Konoha declared that they had entered the golden age of their village, but unfortunately such a thing would not come to pass for not two years later...

"NARUTO NO BAKA!!! NO SLEEPING IN CLASS!!!"

Ninja Academy, Konohagakure no Sato

The sleepy blond stared bleary eyed at his fuming teacher, trying to ignore the rest of the class that was laughing at his plight. The boy chose his words carefully before responding.

"Neh, Iruka-sensei what does the history of Konoha have to do with being a good ninja?"

"WHAT???"

"I mean I already know that first there was the Shodaime followed by the Nidaime who was followed by Sandaime-jiji who was followed by the Yondaime and then it went back to Jisan again. So what more do I need to know?"

The class once again laughed at his foolishness as they waited for Mt. Iruka to erupt once again but before he could the bell rang signaling the end of the classes at the academy. As the group of six year olds made their way Iruka reminded them that there would be no classes the next day because of the festival.

When the class exited the building almost all of the students were met by their parents the one exception being Naruto. He watched glumly from his swing as the other students regaled their parents with the days lessons and events, he saw more than one give him a dark glare. "What did I do to receive such cold looks?" he thought. He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of footsteps behind him. When he turned around he smiled with glee before launching himself at the figures.

"Hokage-jisan!!! Anko-nechan!!!"

The eighteen year old chunnin grinned at the blond before ruffling his hair fondly. "Hey brat, how was the Academy?" She asked. The blond growled in annoyance before responding, "It was booring we had to listen to Iruka-sensei go on and on about history of all things. Why can't we just skip to the fun stuff like jutsus or fighting?" Anko smirked before answering, "Because you've been in the Academy less than three weeks brat. You won't learn any 'fun stuff' for another year." "Awww that's no fair!"

The Hokage watched in amusement as the two squabbled and he thought back to when the two first met.

FLASHBACK

The Sandaime was buried in paperwork when suddenly the doors of his office flew open to reveal a three year old Naruto leading a very agitated genin. When the Hokage got a look at Naruto he immediately took note of several injuries but for some reason the young jinchuuriki was practically beaming.

"Naruto what happened to you?"

Naruto immediately began speaking.

"Iwasgoingtogetsomerameandtheseguyscameand..."

As Sarutobi tried to decipher what Naruto was saying the genin chose that moment to speak up.

"Some drunken idiots were beating him and chose to ignore me when I told them to stop so I broke their arms and legs."

It was then that Sarutobi recognized the genin as Mitarashi Anko, the former apprentice of his former student Orochimaru. "I see," the Hokage said finally, "and where was his caretaker during this?" At this Anko began to sneer, "He was one of the ones I busted up." At this the Hokage's shoulders slumped. That was the eighth caretaker that had tried to do Naruto harm, he was beginning to run out of options. It was then that he heard Naruto's commentary of the genin's actions.

"... and then Anko-nechan went POW and BAM and then the one guy was all 'please don't hurt me please don't' and then she went..."

At Naruo's mentioned of 'Anko-nechan' Sarutobi got an idea.

"Anko it is good you're here right now. I have an important assignment for you. It is potentially S-ranked and will be an ongoing mission."

At this Anko looked at the village leader in shock. "He is trusting me with an S-rank mission?" she thought, "finally someone is beginning to trust me with something important."

"I want you to look after Naruto."

At that Anko's world came crashing down around her.

Later Outside the Hokage Tower...

Anko watched sullenly as Naruto began wolfing down the dango that the Hokage had bought for them before he went back to work. Even the sweet dumplings did little to improve her mood much as she bemoaned her 'S-rank mission'. "I have to look after this brat? I can't believe this, the Chunin Exam is in less than four months and not only do I not have a team but I also have to babysit the foxboy?"

It was then that Anko noticed that the boy was looking at her intently as if he wanted to ask her something. "What?" she asked tiredly. "Neh, nechan can we go visit those guys in the hospital. The ones that attacked me?" Naruto asked. "Why would you want to do that?" Anko responded, confused at the boy's words. At this Naruto grinned mischievously, "I just want to give them a nice 'get well' card is all," he said innocently.

At this Anko grinned sadistically.

One hour later screams were heard throughout the hospital as three men received get well cards that were laced with interrogation grade itching powder.

END FLASHBACK

Sarutobi watched as Naruto was pulled into a headlock by Anko who proceeded to knuckle his hair roughly. He chuckled at Naruto's protests before clearing his throat to gain their attention.

"Ahem... Naruto I was talking with Anko and I thought maybe I could treat you to some ramen today. What do you say?" At the offer of his all time favorite food Naruto began dancing around happily shouting with joy. Both the Sandaime and Anko laughed at the display as they made their way to the ramen stand.

Ichiraku Ramen Stand, Konohagakure

Naruto was in heaven.

His day had started getting good when had been met by his nechan and jisan outside of the Academy. He had always felt a little sad before when he was the only one that left class alone. But on the days that his nechan met him he always knew that something good was going to happen. Even better was the fact that Hokage-jisan was footing the bill for the ramen.

That meant he could eat as much as he wanted for once.

Next was when he had gotten a pair of birthday presents early this year. Although his birthday wasn't until tomorrow he had gotten a present from both Hinata and Sasuke. They told him that their fathers had insisted that they give him something althought they had not said why. From the Hyuga heiress he had received a pair of goggles that he thought looked very cool. When he told the girl this she blushed before she began poking her fingers. He just chalked it up to usual weirdness he associated with girls. Next he got a full set of new kunai and shuriken from Sasuke that his older brother had helped to pick out for him. He gave his gratitude towards the much needed replacements, his old ones were almost completely useless.

What had really made his day even better was when Anko told him that their prank had gone off on one of the council members that had insulted Naruto a month ago. Supposedly they were looking into to skin transplants in order to get the paint out.

As Naruto finished his twentieth bowl of ramen he took a look at the only other person that was there. When the three of them had arrived at the ramen stand everyone else took one look at him and left, with one exception.

He was a man of rather average height that was on the thin side, in fact he looked to be very tired and underfed. His long black hair was pulled back into a pony tail that ended just above the small of his back, a few locks of his hair were free of the small piece of leather that held it in place and obscured his right eye, the hair itself had several streaks of silver running through it. He wore a coal gray shirt that covered his throat and ended just past his elbow on the right arm and was covered in a plated armor that covered almost all of his left arm from his shoulder down to his wrist. On his hands he wore a pair of fingerless gloves that had matte black metal plates mounted on them. His pants were grainy gray that seemed almost black in the right light, they were tied down with bandages from mid shin on down and ended just above a pair of shinobi sandals. Over all this he wore a dark cloak that was held together with a metal clasp that was in the shape of a wolf's head. Beside him lay a battered katana that looked like it had seen better days.

But the one thing that drew Naruto's attention were the man's eyes. They were blue much like his own but they were several shades lighter, a shade that almost made the man seem insane. They also seemed devoid of emotion, as though he had been through hell and came back to regret it. Naruto looked away from him when the Hokage began to speak to him.

"Naruto I spoke with Iruka and he tells me you have been doing poorly in class as of late. In fact it seems that you are already far behind in some of the work."

Naruto shook his head before answering his jisan, "Neh jiji, he's just upset because I've been sleeping through all the boring lessons. When we get to the real ninja stuff then I'll show em who's boss."

Naruto then put down his chopsticks and pointed at the old man, "Then I'll show them that I WILL become Hokage."

At this the three heard a rasping laugh coming from the man at the end of the stand. He took a drink from his sake bottle before speaking with a hoarse voice, "You are going to be Hokage huh?"

"Yeah you got a problem with that?"

The man shook his head, "No, no problem. Just wondering if you really know what it means to be Hokage is all."

Naruto looked at the man puzzled, "Whadda ya mean? The Hokage is the strongest ninja in the village. What more is there?"

The stranger favored him with a critical gaze before answering.

"Being Hokage isn't about being the strongest kid. It's about making the safety and happiness of everyone in the village your responsibility. In a sense everyone in the village will be one of your precious people."

"Precious people?" Naruto asked confused. The stranger nodded, "Your precious people are those that you would go through any lengths to protect. If they are in danger you would push yourself beyond that which you are normally capable of to keep them safe. I'm pretty sure consider the two beside you to be your precious people." With that the man got up to leave as he paid his bill Naruto asked him one last question.

"Do you have any precious people?'

The man paused a moment before answering, "I used to... but they were taken from me. Don't make my mistake kid. Never let your precious people go without a fight." And with that the man left.

As the group sat in silence the Hokage excused himself saying that he needed to finish some paperwork that he left at his office. As he made his way back towards the Hokage tower he paused beside an alley. After a moment he spoke.

"I didn't expect to see you again." Out of the alley walked the man from the Ichiraku ramen stand. After a moment he answered the aging leader.

"Tomorrow will be the sixth anniversary of their deaths. I thought it only right that I pay my respects."

He then looked back towards the ramen stand.

"He's grown..." Sarutobi chuckled at this.

"They tend to do that," Sarutobi paused for a moment before gesturing towards the sword that the man held in his hand, "What happened to Kuroi no Kumo?"

The man grimaced before answering, "It's blade was broken when I fought Kyuubi so I laid it to rest. This one is an work in progress."

"Well it is good to see you, regardless of the circumstances Getsu-san," at this the man interrupted Sarutobi.

"That's not my name anymore remember? 'Getsu' died fighting along side Minata six years ago."

Sarutobi nodded, mentally chastising himself on the slip. 'Getsu' had been regarded as one of the premier weapon masters of the shinobi world, if it was known that he had not died in the Kyuubi attack it would bring up some very difficult questions.

"Very well, then what is your name?"

The man scratched his chin as he answered, "Well, apparently I'm known in Hidden Mist as the Konpeki Funbo. So we'll just go with Grave for now."

The Hokage nodded, "Very well than, Grave-san."

The Mitarashi-Uzumaki Residence

"HEY BRAT!!! DON"T FORGET TO PACK UP YOUR GEAR FOR TOMORROW!!!"

Most people would complain about the level of noise coming from the apartment, and at one point in time they did. But a torso full of senbon and shuriken can make people very tolerant of the volume that some people chose to communicate at.

"ALRIGHT NECHAN!!!"

Anko lounged back and listened to the sound of her otouto scrambling to retrieve all the necessary gear for tomorrows all day training session. Last year she had decided that the only way to make sure that he was safe from the more inebriated villagers during the Kyuubi Festival, was to make sure that he was well outside the village when it started. As such, last year she took him on a day long training session to help him get ready for the Academy.

Anko smiled as she remembered how her tracking session had degenerated into a game of tag that day. She could only remember one time she had felt that happy.

When the Yondaime told her that he and his wife were working on adopting her.

At the time she had been considered a pariah by almost the entire village because of what the 'Hebi-teme' (Naruto's name for the missing-nin) had done. But then the one person that she respected even more than Orochimaru had reached out to her and offered her the one thing she had been denied. A home. She smiled as she watched Naruto struggle with a pack that was almost taller than he was before swearing an oath that she had made three years ago.

"I have finally found a family..."

Naruto stopped struggling with the pack long enough to give his nechan a wide foxy grin.

"...and I will die before I let anything happen to him."

Outside the Mitarashi-Uzumaki Residence

On top of a roof nearby four ninjas gathered, waiting for the last of their group to arrive. They were mostly chunin who were aware of Konoha's most secret law, and they all shared the same thoughts regrading a certain jinchuuriki. They tensed as they felt a chakra signature approaching but relaxed when their leader descended upon the roof.

"Mizuki, what took so long?"

The blond chunin grinned maliciously as he affixed a cloth mask over his head and face, obscuring any distinguishing features.

"I had to make several false alarms, for the next hour all of the ANBU will be busy searching for some Class B missing-nin on the other side of the village. By the time any alarm will reach them it will be too late."

He turned to look into a window that revealed Naruto in a headlock laughing as Anko knuckled his hair.

"By this time tomorrow my friends we will be known throughout the village as the Heroes that not only finished the Yondaime's work, but as the ones that eliminated Orochimaru's spy as well.

To Be Continued...

Konpeki Funbo – The Azure Grave

Bunanoki – Japanese beech tree

Onsui – Warm water

A/N

Whew, Prologue done.

Anyways here are my announcements.

First off the voting from my previous attempt will stand so this is now officially a NaruHina fic. If you don't like it then you don't have to read it. Do not flame me just because you don't agree with the pairing, all you're doing is embarrassing yourself.

Second, If anyone knows of a good translation site please tell me, I'm not all that thrilled about putting the technique names in English, personally I think putting them in Japanese adds something to the fic.

Third, originally the fic was going to be updated about once a week for about 5,000 words per chapter. This is no longer going to be possible for me. While it may be erratic I will try to update often for about the same as my previous promise of 5,000 words or more.

And with that I would like to thank you once more for reading this fic.

Please Read and Review

The Heretic Commands It!!!