It's been a long time since I've tried my hand at fanfic, so I decided I'd give it another shot. This one should be fairly long, so hopefully I can keep updating it and not flake out... Rating may fluctuate as it goes on, not entirely sure what it will entail further on in the plotline.

The Will of Fire

Treeborn Dreamer

Chapter 1

As dawn broke over the Village Hidden in the Leaves, the people rose from their beds to face the new day. Yawning, running water, and quiet bustling slowly filled the air, the streets began to fill as people went about their business, both oblivious and keenly aware of every other soul around them.

However, on this particular dawnbreak, one person rose not from a bed, but from her desk, rubbing sleep and weariness from her eyes and stretching her arms above her head. She stalked over to the window that sat just behind her desk, wrenching it open and closing her eyes, feeling the sunshine on her face.

She sighed deeply, opening her eyes and taking in the glorious morning over the rooftops of her home. She straightened her blouse and cracked her knuckles.

"I could stay in this moment forever. No problems, no responsibilities, no pain... Just the silent buzzing of a waking village." She breathed in the early morning air, crisp with a hint of the night's cold, and smiled softly, serene in her relative seculsion.

A short knock on the door brought her out of her reverie. She shook her head and closed the window before turning back to her desk.

"What is it?" She barked, and the door was opened by an out-of-breath kunoichi in a navy-blue robe, who was desperately trying to regain her composure.

"Lady Tsunade, news from the border scouts!"

Not too far away, a group of three men were walking side-by-side, the new sunrise shining on their backs as they strode down a forest road. They stepped perfectly in rhythm, their footfalls synced and nearly silent. Birds were chirping in the trees around them, the trees swaying in the breeze as the three passed them.

"Hey, old guy." The man on the left, standing stock-straight and hands in his pockets, ventured out into the silence, barely above a whisper. The man in the center smacked him on the back of the head.

"I've told you not to call me that a thousand times. You should show me some respect as your teacher." Nonetheless, he cracked a small smile as he said it, and that only encouraged his disciple.

"We shouldn't be too far from the village, right? Ten minutes walk or so?" The man in the center nodded, scratching his chin.

The other man, previously silent, piped up. "Can we run ahead then, sensei? It's our first time back in three years, I don't think I can wait another second!" His voice rang out loud, silencing the forest around them.

"Oh, I really don't know. I mean, you have been very respectful lately, unlike your worthless comrade here... But it would be an excellent exercise in patience to make you wait that much longer. Hmmm..." He smirked at the indignation on his student's face, and shook his head, laughing quietly.

"Sure, kid. You two go on ahead and see the village. Make sure to not cause any trouble until I get there!" The two students nodded and rushed forward, parallel blurs of orange and blue.

"Some things never change, I guess." The final man chuckled, pulling a notebook and a pen out of his vest and beginning to scribble. "Just be nice to Jin when he loses, boy."

In a reasonably-sized house, in a reasonably-priced neighborhood, a reasonably-talented kunoichi chunin woke up to the smell of baking bread wafting through her window. She sat up in bed, stretching, yawning, and rubbing at her eyes.

She glanced at her clock, and sighed at how early she had woken; during her long shift at the hospital yesterday, she had hoped to sleep in the following morning, as she would not be expected anywhere until mid-afternoon at the earliest.

"Oh well, life goes on." She stretched out and reached above her bed, opening her window fully. She stuck her head out the window, looking out into the street in front of her home; it was nearly empty, with only an elderly man out watering his potted plants. She breathed in the morning air, smiled and pulled her head back inside, closing the window and jumping out of bed, grabbing her robe on her way out of her bedroom.

"Sakura, are you awake?" A voice called out from downstairs.

"Yes, mother." she replied, pulling her robe around her and padding down the stairs. "Just on my way to the shower."

"Oh, okay dear. I just wanted you to know to pick up some groceries on your way home tonight. And to stop being so goddamn noisy when you barge in at all hours of the night." Sakura sighed, and climbed the stairs again, silently wondering why she hadn't taken Ino's offer to get an apartment downtown.

In a silent compound, on the edge of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, a woman moved silently and gracefully through deserted hallways. Her hair flowed behind her as she noiselessly ran, zipping up a hoodie and pulling her hair into a ponytail behind her. She rounded a corner and, reacting as quickly as she could, barely managed to avoid running over her little sister.

"G-good morning, Hanabi. If you will excuse me..." She tried to step around her, but Hanabi mirrored her, blocking her. Hanabi was wearing her workout outfit, and Hinata guessed she had just finished her exercises, judging by the faint smell of sweat around her.

"Good morning, Hinata. May I ask where you are going, this early in the morning?" Hinata resisted the urge to press her index fingers together, and met her sister's icy gaze with one to match.

"I d-don't h-have to answer to you, H-Hanabi. I am your older sister, and as such, you should answer to m-me." The air around them grew cold, and despite her stuttering, Hinata managed to draw herself up into a semi-formidable presence.

"Then I strongly recommend you begin carrying yourself in a way befitting the heir to our family, Hinata, rather than stealing around your own home in the wee hours of the morning." Hanabi stepped to the side and brushed past her sister, her hair shaking rhythmically as she walked.

The gate of the Village Hidden in the Leaves was wide open, and two men sat in a small booth just inside it, both yawning and fighting to stay awake for the last hour of their shift.

"Kotetsu, I'm telling you, if we get caught sleeping on the job again, we're going to wake up in Mitarashi-san's dungeon with hooks through our thumbs. Lady Tsunade was really pissed last time..."

"You worry too much, Izumo. She should stop assigning us the early morning shift if she doesn't want us to catch a quick nap now and then. Besides, we've seen exactly no one go through the gate since midnight, I don't really think that we should be expecting anyone for another hour or so."

Izumo frowned, then perked up, listening intently. "Kotetsu, do you hear that?" His partner closed his eyes, waiting silently, then nodded.

"Yeah, two pairs of feet coming up fast." The two of them looked out the gate and down the road, and saw two figures running at top speed towards them. Kotetsu stared intently at them, then laughed and sat back in his chair. Izumo frowned at him.

"And what's so funny?"

"It's him. He's back, and he's got a friend with him. The knuckleheaded ninja has returned to the Leaf."