Okay so this story turned out not how i originally planned, but when does it ever? Anyway, just one of those things where i had to get it out of my head so that i could start on something else non ff realted. it's rushed a bit and slightly ooc. but hope you enjoy anyway.

WARNING: yaoi, language, lemon in later chapters.
DISCALIMER: if i owned Naruto i probably wouldn't be posting here.

Changes

Naruto sat alone on top of the hokage monument. He had been there all day just thinking and observing the village. Of course it had been raining for two days straight by that point so hardly anyone was out. Naruto had long been soaked and now his body was numb to the freezing winds trying to bite at his skin. He didn't really have anything to worry about though; the Kyuubi would always heal him if he got sick. And if he didn't, Naruto would complain until he was so annoyed and healed him just to get some peace and quiet. Suddenly Naruto felt that the rain wasn't hitting him anymore. He looked up to see an umbrella over his head.

"You shouldn't be out here." Sakura said. Naruto ignored her and looked back at the village. "I know you won't get sick, but we still worry when you sit up here for hours in the rain."

"I'm fine, Sakura-chan. Go back inside before you get sick." Naruto said softly.

"Naruto, please come in for my sake at least." Sakura said softly. Naruto stood up and turned to face her. She smiled warmly at him and took his hand. "You're freezing, Naruto." She told him as they started walking.

"I'll be fine." Naruto told her. Sakura just nodded knowing it would be no use lecturing him. They walked slowly to the hokage tower. Naruto wouldn't let Sakura walk as quickly as she had wanted to but she did manage to pull him faster than he had wanted to go. They made it into the tower where Shizune was waiting for them with a towel, a blanket, a new set of clothes and a warm mug of tea.

"What were you doing up there all day?" Sakura asked as she dried Naruto's hair with the towel while he peeled his soaked jacket off.

"Just trying to clear my head of a few things." Naruto told her pulling his shirt off as well. Sakura put the towel over Naruto's back and he pulled off his pants.

"But you're okay?" Sakura asked. Naruto smiled weakly at her and nodded. He was tired from sitting in the freezing rain all day.

"I'll be fine Sakura. You shouldn't worry about me so much." Naruto told her. Sakura nodded.

"When you get dressed, Tsunade wants to see you." Sakura said. Naruto nodded as he started drying himself off. He waited until Sakura left the room before he took off his boxers and got dressed in the clean outfit Shizune had given him. He wrapped the blanket around himself and took a sip of the tea. That being done he made his way to Tsunade's office. The door was opened and Tsunade looked as if she was waiting for him.

"You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked. Tsunade sighed.

"What goes on in that head of yours, Naruto?" Tsunade asked.

"Nothing much at the moment." Naruto replied with a slight smile.

"Sakura told me you were up there all day to clear your head?" Tsunade asked. Naruto nodded. "Naruto, I know you have had a lot of things troubling your mind recently. But the next time you need to clear your mind, do it on a day when it isn't 40 degrees outside and raining." Tsunade said. Naruto laughed softly and nodded.

"I'll try not to. I'm sorry I worried you, granny Tsunade." Naruto said with a small smile.

"I don't want you walking back to your apartment in this weather so you can stay here for the night." Tsunade said. Naruto looked up at her. "You look exhausted, kid." Naruto smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I kind of am." He said.

"Well, go find a room and get some sleep." Tsunade said. Naruto nodded and left the office. Tsunade knew as much as Sakura lectures and scolding was wasted on the teen. He had a lot troubling him recently but he would spend a day thinking about it and then be fine. It was just something that happened with Naruto. Naruto slowly made it to a room with a couch. He drank a few more sips of his tee and then laid down, easily falling asleep. That night he didn't dream which was strange. Naruto always had dreams, or more appropriately nightmares. But not that night. Naruto woke up the next morning feeling well rested but still kind of exhausted.

"Maybe Tsunade was right about me not sitting out in the rain for hours." Naruto somewhat laughed to himself. He stood up and walked to the door. As he opened the door he found Shizune standing there with her fist raised about to knock.

"Oh, Naruto, I was just about to see if you were awake." Shizune said. Naruto smiled.

"Well here I am. What did you need?" He asked. Shizune looked off to the side and Naruto's smile fell. "Shizune?"

"We've gotten word on Sasuke. Tsunade is sending a team out." Shizune said bracing herself for when Naruto shoved past her to run to Tsunade's office. She felt a gust of wind go by but thankfully Naruto avoided running into her.

"I want to go!" Naruto yelled as he came into Tsunade's office. Tsunade raised an eyebrow at him.

"You'll have to ask the captain." She said plainly while pointing at Neji. Naruto grit his teeth and looked at the Hyuuga boy.

"You?" Naruto growled.

"Absolutely not. I can't have you on my team for this mission." Neji shook his head. Naruto narrowed his eyes and grabbed Neji by the collar.

"I will be on the team for this mission whether you want me or not." Naruto told him. Neji looked over at Tsunade who shrugged. She knew there would be nothing she could say to make him change his mind. Neji huffed.

"You will follow my orders, Uzumaki, if you plan to be on this team." Neji said. Naruto let go of his collar but still glared at him. "We are going to do this my way and if you have a problem with it you can stay here."

"Whatever you say, captain." Naruto said sarcastically and left the office. Neji glared at Tsunade but she didn't seen affected by it. Neji left the office as well to find Naruto waiting for him. "When are we leaving?"

"Two hours." Neji said. Naruto nodded.

"Are you sure you want to be on this one, Uzumaki?" Neji asked. Naruto looked at him and glared.

"I promised that I would bring him back." Naruto said.

"That was 6 years ago." Neji said. Naruto shrugged.

"A promise is a promise. I can't exactly go back on my word, Neji." Naruto told him. Neji sighed.

"You're gonna get hurt." He told the blonde.

"Probably." Naruto smiled at him and walked off.

"Physically and emotionally." Neji muttered softly as Naruto disappeared around the corner. Neji sighed and went to gather the rest of his team. An hour later Naruto was sitting at the gates of Konoha.

"Oi, Naruto, what are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked while walking up to him. Naruto looked over at Shikamaru.

"Waiting to leave on a mission. What about you?" Naruto asked.

"Waiting for the Sand representative to arrive. It's such a drag having to escort her around." Shikamaru sighed. Naruto smirked.

"So, you and Temari," Naruto started.

"Don't even go there, runt." Temari said as she walked up. Naruto looked over at Temari and scratched the back of his head. Temari was even scarier that Sakura when she is angry.

"I was kidding. Just kidding." Naruto laughed nervously.

"Tsk." Temari rolled her eyes. "So, on my way over I heard a rumor that that Uchiha kid killed his brother." She said casually, not really knowing that it was kind of a taboo around Naruto. Shikamaru's eyes went to Naruto.

"Yeah, we're going on a mission to finally bring him back." Naruto smiled at Temari, completely ignoring Shikamaru's look.

"I don't know. If the rumors are true, he sounds pretty dangerous now." Temari shrugged. Naruto looked to the side.

"Well, we have to get going." Shikamaru quickly said noticing Naruto's mood change. Naruto looked up. "Good luck on your mission, Naruto. I'm sure it will be a success." Shikamaru said waving over his shoulder as he started walking. Temari bowed and followed Shikamaru.

"Thanks, Shika." Naruto called after him. He wasn't sure if Shikamaru really though the mission would be a success, but he was glad for the slight reassurance. Neji showed up about forty-five minutes later.

"You're here early." Neji said.

"Didn't want you leaving with out me." Naruto told him. He had his suspicions that Neji would do something like that. Not really to be mean but to do what he thought was best. "Who else is coming?" Naruto asked.

"Kiba, Lee and Hinata." Neji said. Naruto gave him a look. "Kiba is the best tracker ninja in the village. Lee is an excellent fighter. Tsunade insisted that we take a medic-nin and Hinata is good enough that I wouldn't have to take Sakura." Naruto nodded.

"That's good that you didn't bring Sakura." Naruto said.

"I didn't want to bring you either." Neji told him. Naruto smirked.

"Looks like you're stuck with me though." Naruto said. "You told me once that I'm the only person who could save Sasuke. I still think you're right and I'm not about to let this chance of finally bringing him back slip by me." Naruto said somewhat seriously. Neji nodded.

"Very well." Neji nodded. They waited for another five minutes before Hinata and Lee showed up.

"N-Naruto? Y-you're going to c-come too?" Hinata stuttered.

"Yep, can't let you guys take all the credit for bringing Sasuke back." Naruto smiled. Lee smiled and slapped Naruto on the back.

"Excellent my youthful friend, the springtime of youth calls us on this mission." Lee said. Naruto and Neji rolled their eyes.

"Where the hell is Kiba?" Naruto asked.

"He's late." Hinata said.

"Tsk, idiot." Neji said.

"What was that?" Kiba asked as he and Akamaru landed in front of them.

"You're an idiot." Neji told him. Kiba growled. "Let's go." He said as he started walking down the road. "Okay, so this is how it's going to go. Kiba, you're in front because you're tracking. Then me because I can use my byakugan to see if any enemies are ahead of us. Then Lee because you can easily fight if an enemy attacks from in front or behind. Naruto is next so that you can keep an eye on Hinata. And Hinata you use your byakugan to watch behind us. Everyone got that?"

"Yes." They all answered.

"Good." Neji nodded. They all jumped up into the trees.

"So where was the last reported sighting of Sasuke?" Naruto asked as they leapt from branch to branch.

"A small settlement about half a day away from Konoha." Neji answered. "The time before that was a settlement a little further. From the reports it sounds as if Uchiha is headed for the village, but no one knows his intentions."

"What about his team? Last we saw him, he was with a group of three other people." Lee said.

"No report of traveling companions." Neji said. "There was a rumor that he had disbanded the group and sent them on their way. There have also been rumors saying he killed them. There haven't been any reports on either of the stories so no one knows." Naruto bit his lip. The idea of Sasuke murdering his companions seemed preposterous in one part of his head while the other side of his head believed it to be more than possible. They went on in silence for an hour. No one really knew what to say anyway.

'What's going to happen when we meet? Are you going to kill me or will you agree to come back? Heh, you'd probably kill me and then agree to go back just to spite me. What will I do when I see you? I kind of want to punch you in the face for leaving. Then another one for trying to kill me that first time. Then another one for trying to kill me again. But you're my best friend and I don't think I can do that. Are we best friends, teme? Or did you really break that bond like you said you were going to. I hope you didn't.' Naruto thought as they moved through the trees. They made it to the settlement and stopped at the gates.

"Ah, so they did send escorts." Sasuke smirked from his perch on the gates of the small town.

Okay so that's the first chapter. if you do end up "fav"ing this fic please leave me a review as to why it your faves.