Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Toppling waves crashed against the face of a jagged cliff, creating a soothing symphony to calm the nerves of all those who can hear its beauty. The incoming tide blew a salty wind through the afternoon air, swaying the few trees along the ridge. The heat of the midday sun was sparsely covered by light clouds, shielding the Earth from its powerful rays. It was a serene and perfect day for a certain man standing on the ledge of the rocks.

His face was upturned toward the sky, soaking up the peaceful atmosphere. Soft strands of spiky golden hair tenderly caressed his tan, unmarred flesh. His silky black kimono top and shozoku pants swayed gently against the sea breeze, along with his blood red obi knotted to his left side. His top was opened slightly to show off his muscular well toned chest. The black jika-tabi on his feet were dug firmly into the soil, shoulder length apart, as he stood in a relaxed stance with his arms hanging lazily at his sides, his wide sleeves ended just above his knuckles.

He had made a habit of coming here from time to time and trying to relax. The exemplary conditions of the day were almost enough to make him miss the group of shinobi hiding in the foliage behind him. He was still on his toes though, and he was able to sense them some time ago. There were four of them altogether, but feeling their chakra levels was somewhat misleading. One or two had Jounin chakra reserves, while one put off just enough for survival. Masking your presence at that level was most likely beyond their capabilities, but it would be best if he didn't assume anything too quickly.

As he felt a slight spike in chakra, a shadow shot out from the mass of leaves. The blond didn't bother moving to avoid the jutsu, or even turn to acknowledge it as it latched onto his own shadow.

"What is it you want, Nara-san?" His voice was smooth and calming.

A soft thumping of feet sounded when someone jumped out from their cover. Abruptly he felt himself being forced to turn and face his attacker. Indifferent blue eyes met the bored gaze of a pineapple haired boy in a Konoha Chuunin vest with his hands locked in a seal. The dark haired boy eyed the man in front of him skeptically for a moment and spoke.

"SS-class criminal Namikaze Minato, you are hereby ordered to return to Konoha by the demands of the Godaime Hokage, Senju Tsunade. Do not resist so we may escort you back peacefully."

His only reply was a blank stare from the darkly clad man. Getting irritated at the troublesome situation, the Chuunin attempted to take a step forward to possibly subdue the man. His eyes widened slowly when he felt a huge resistance against any such action. Sweet began to seep from his forehead at the struggle of trying to move forward, and he started to breathe heavily. When he felt his chakra reserves begin to dry with no progress to show for it, he swiftly cancelled the technique and jumped away from the stoic man.

Frowning deeply, the Chuunin made a small hand signal to his comrades. Immediately, three other people jumped out from greenery. The first two out ran at the blue eyed man in a pincer attack. One was wearing an outfit similar to the blonds, but it was a much lighter in color. He had straight black hair that went down to his mid back and lavender colored eyes. The other was wearing a green spandex Taijutsu suit with orange leg warmers. Ridiculously thick eyebrows and a bowl cut completed his look.

The two fighters closed in on the unmoving man in a matter of seconds. The pale eyed one threw a volley of precise palm strikes, the veins around his temples were bulging, the other shinobi flurried in with powerful punches and kicks that could crush anything in their path. Together they were a deadly combination and a near perfect offense most normal Jounin wouldn't be able to escape.

The blond however, proved he was far from normal as he ducked and weaved at impossible speeds and angles to avoid the assault, most of the strikes only missed by mere millimeters. It was an ode to the blonds' precision and skill. Not a single movement was wasted in his efforts, and no excess energy was expended. His expression never showed any amount of concern for the situation.

Tiring of this dance, he dodged and redirected a staggering blow from the green clad boy. It sent the Chuunin stumbling, just enough to catch him in the back with a snap kick, sending him right into his partner. The pale eyed boy was forced to abandon his efforts and attempt to soften the impact with his teammate.

Before the blond could get any rest, a storm of kunai hurled in his direction, all of them heading toward his vitals. Frowning lightly, he snatched the two leading projectiles out of the air and used them to deflect those he wouldn't be able to dodge. The Konoha-nin watched with awe at the display, but they didn't let it dissuade them. They had a mission to complete.

When the metal storm died down the blond man stood calmly, spinning the two kunai he'd caught on his fingers. A bun haired girl across the clearing cursed under her breath and reached for the large scroll on her back. Before she could open the giant sealing scroll, a kunai flew toward her and sunk into the scroll, pinning it shut. A second projectile came shortly after, just skimming the top of her head and releasing her hair from their buns. She looked up into the eyes of their prey and saw amusement clear in his eyes.

Shikamaru gazed at their opponent and realized just how hopeless this mission was from the beginning. He'd objected to it, but of course that troublesome blond Hokage forced them to go anyway.

Flashback

Two figures sat across from each other on a wooden porch. A small board stood between them.

"Checkmate"

Shikamaru smirked at the befuddled look on his sensei's face. Every free chance he got, the pineapple haired boy would challenge Asuma to a shogi match. It was probably the only part of his day he didn't try to sleep through or wish he was doing something else. The smoking Sarutobi had always encouraged him to build on his strategizing abilities and he never minded losing. He'd lost count of his number of wins over the man, but he knew he was undefeated as of yet.

The startled Jounin scrutinized the board, looking for any possible way out. He hoped his former pupil made a mistake, but he should have figured out after the three hundredth game that rarely ever happens. After a minute of searching he sighed in exasperation.

"Looks like you win again."

He ran a hand through his hair and lit up a cigarette. Inhaling deeply, he turned his head to the side as he picked movement out of the corner of his eye. Off in the distance, the figure of Hyuuga Neji approached. The Nara boy took note of his sensei's distraction and followed the man's gaze. His eyes focused on Neji just as the boy was near enough for them to be able to hear him speak.

"Shikamaru, Hokage-sama has a mission for us."

The Chuunin sighed and heaved himself to his feet. With a mutter about 'troublesome things' he turned to Asuma.

"Sorry sensei, I'll need a rain check on a rematch. We'll get some barbecue when I get back, you're paying."A lazy smirk snaked its way onto his face at the Sarutobi's indignant complaints. Turning back to Neji, he began to walk in his direction. "C'mon, let's get this over with."

The Hyuuga nodded silently and they left for the tower.

XxXxX

As they neared the Hokage's office, Shikamaru broke the silence that's been present since they left.

"Any idea what this is about?"

He wasn't particularly concerned, just trying to make conversation. He didn't get an answer immediately, so he assumed he was being ignored. When the pale eyed boy finally spoke it startled him slightly.

"I do not know. Hokage-sama was very brief in her explanation and it wasn't my place to question further." The Chuunin eyed him curiously but wasn't taken notice of. As they entered the tower, he nodded to the Hokage's secretary and the two walked up to the office door. "I do know however, that my team will be accompanying us."

They pushed the door open and moved inside. Rock Lee and Tenten were already there, standing next to each other in front of the desk. The black haired Shizune was also there in her Jounin uniform, standing at attention next to her master. Tsunade was leaning forward in her chair, her elbows on her desk, and her chin resting on intertwined fingers. The mood in the office was somber, and as the two new arrivals walked to stand next to their comrades they could tell by the Sannin's serious face that this was no time for games.

"You're probably wondering why I called you all in here today." Tsunade spoke from behind her desk. "I'm assigning a special mission to you four. It's a SS-class. You'll need to accept before you're briefed."

The four all looked on in shock at their leader's words. Such a thing has never been done with a team like this because they were far too inexperienced, even if Neji is a Jounin. Shizune's face was uneasy and she was looking toward the ground. She didn't want to question Tsunade, but sometimes the decisions she made didn't sit well with her.

"Ano, Tsunade-sama, wouldn't that type of mission be taken by a team made entirely of Anbu captains?" Tenten was the first to speak up.

The busty Hokage looked at the girl and nodded solemnly. "Yes, normally they would, however, we simply don't have the resources to be sending them out. Also, this is a top secret assignment, even the council doesn't know about this it, so I can only send so many people, and since you are some of the most promising…" She trailed off, not needed to explain any further. "Now, will any of you be backing out? If so, leave now and never speak of this conversation ever again." None of them moved, so she told them the objective. "Good. Now listen carefully. Your mission will be to locate and retrieve the SS-class criminal Namikaze Minato. Bring him back to the village alive. Use any means necessary."

They all shifted uncomfortably, but Shikamaru was deep in thought. He could have sworn he's heard that name before. His eyes soon went wide in realization. The slug Sannin saw his revelation an expanded on it.

"As I'm sure you've figured out by now Shikamaru, Namikaze Minato was the Yondaime Hokage."

The three who hadn't put that piece of information together gasped.

"Y-you want us to go and try to capture a Kage! And the Yondaime out of all people! It's suicide!" The usually lazy boy yelled in protest.

The blond settled a glare on the boy. "I know the dangers this mission presents, but the future of the village could rest upon this. With the rise in Akatsuki's movements we'll need him more than ever."

Rock Lee frowned deeply. "But he is an unyouthful missing-nin. Why would he ever agree to help us?"

Tsunade face saddened. "There's a lot of controversy surrounding the Yondaime's abandonment. Many consider him to be a coward of the highest caliber for fleeing during the Kyuubi attack. They say he ran away to save his own life and left Konoha to burn. In fact, if Sarutobi-sensei hadn't found his notes on the Shiki Fuuin and sealed Kyuubi into Midori-chan, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now." She paused for a moment and sighed. "I knew Minato personally, and he would've given his life a million times over to save this village. He loved it more than anything else in the world. That's why this bothers me so much, none of it adds up. I think if you found and talked to him, you might be able to convince him to return after all this time."

"How would the council react to his return?" The stoic Neji queried.

"Not well. They may demand his head on a plate, but when I explain the situation to them I'm sure they'll compromise. Though, I don't think the civilians will be as forgiving."

"Do you have any clue to his whereabouts?"

"Hai, he's been spotted in Wave Country over the past year, aiding the locals. He's a hero around there so it shouldn't take long to pinpoint his location."

"This is so troublesome. What information do you have on the guy that we can use?"

The blond reached into her desk and pulled out a manila folder. Tossing it on toward the group, it slid across the desk and into Shikamaru's hand. The Chuunin lifted it up and flipped it open. It comprised of a couple pages of facts and known fighting abilities, and a small photograph paper clipped to the front. The lazy genius slipped the picture out and placed it in his flak jacket while handing the folder to Neji. As the Hyuuga skimmed through the info, Shikamaru spoke to the Sannin.

"This information is sixteen years old. Don't you have anything more recent?"

The woman shook her head slowly. "No. He's managed to avoid us completely until now. Even with Jiraiya's frantic searching we haven't been able to come up with anything. He knows all about our spy network because he was the Hokage and Jiraiya's student. This is a chance we probably won't have again. I don't know if he slipped up on purpose either. So stay on your guard." The four in front of her nodded in unison, and she waved them off. "Dismissed"

As she watched them file out of the room she couldn't help being worried.

'Am I making the right decision? If it comes down to a fight Minato will destroy them, but I know, deep down, he still loves this village.'

She threw her apprentice a glance and the two shared a concerned look.

Flashback end

"ARGH!"

Tenten screamed out in frustration as her weapons were continuously dodged. By now a full arsenal covered the surrounding area. They were everywhere but near the blond. She felt so helpless against this opponent that she couldn't lend a better aid to Lee and Neji who were getting beaten into the ground. Her teammates were putting up a valiant effort in attempting to disable the man, but all they were getting for their efforts were deep gashes and broken bones. She couldn't hold back a wince as the two were slammed head first into a tree, stealing away their consciousness. The man craned his neck to look her in the eyes. She blinked once and he was gone, but before she could think on that, darkness claimed her. The blond glanced at the three unconscious forms and turned to the final attacker.

Ideas flew through Shikamaru's mind frantically as the blond began to walk toward him. Fighting would be fruitless, that had been proven already. They were finding out first hand why the Yondaime was called the greatest shinobi alive. Even though his team would be promising in the future, at the moment they were no match for him. That and it was painfully obvious the blond was still holding back.

"Wait!" The man froze in his forward movement and looked at the Chuunin expectantly. The shadow user was caught off guard that he actually listened, but he wouldn't waste the chance. "We didn't come here to fight you. We're here because there's a possibility for you to be reinstated. It's a chance to redeem yourself and wipe your slate clear of your past crimes."

Blue eyes widened minutely before his face saddened.

"Why didn't you say that to begin with?"

Turning to the ocean, he looked out at the sea in contemplation. His hands began to tighten into fists, his knuckles growing whiter by the second. After a minute he relaxed his hand and turned back to face the Chuunin. He spoke to him in a downtrodden voice.

"Very well Nara-san. Lead the way."

XxXxX

The return trip had been made in complete silence. None of them had anything to say to the man, and he reciprocated their feelings. Luckily it wasn't a terribly long journey for the five of them running at full speed from Wave Country. They would rest periodically, but they wouldn't set up camp. They didn't want to risk the man changing his mind and leaving, so they needed to arrive as quickly as possible.

As the main gates came into view, Shikamaru dared a glance at the blond man. His blue eyes reflected awe at the sight, which was reasonable considering its size, but what had the Chuunin confused was the lack of recognition or reverence in his eyes. He'd thought seeing the gates would at least bring up some memories. Perhaps he was just that good at hiding his emotions.

They reached Kotetsu and Izumo who perked up to take their papers, but the blond didn't bother to stop his stride. The two Chuunin attempted to call out to him until they caught a glimpse of his face. They froze completely. When they began to sputter incoherently, the rest of the group hurried in to catch up to their detainee.

As the men continued through the street he was causing the same reaction the Chuunin had to everyone else. People put their lives entirely on hold for those few moments. Konohagakure for the first time ever seemed to be devoid of noise apart from the soft footsteps of one blond man. Emotions began swelling up within everyone who managed to see him.

Sadness. Anger. Hatred. Rage…Betrayal.

Betrayal was clear on everyone's face as memories of that fateful October tenth flooded their minds. Memories of how their beloved leader just up and left them in their time of need. How he ran away with no known cause and left them to die. How the Sandaime was forced to give his life and seal the demon fox into that girl.

The blond didn't care though. He just kept on walking, not slowing down for a second. He didn't meet anyone's eyes, because he knew what he would see if he did. Frankly, that wasn't something he wanted to deal with right now.

Before he could even make it a mile into the village, a squad of Anbu appeared in front of him. He actually had to stop this time, though he still didn't look directly at them, masks or not, he could tell they were glaring.

"Halt criminal."

Shikamaru saw the Black Ops and ran up to clear the confusion.

"Wait! He's under our protection until we can meet with the Hokage."

The captain eyed the Nara for a moment.

"We were informed by Hokage-sama of your arrival. There's a council meeting going on right now. We're to bring him there." He walked over to the blond and put his hand on his shoulder, gripping it extra tightly.

"Wait, what about-"

Too late. The entire squad Shunshin'ed away with the blond in tow.

"Troublesome"

XxXxX

"Tsunade, please inform us why you've called this meeting." The old advisor Utatane Koharu grumbled.

The slug princess had called them in half an hour ago and has been staling ever since. The busty woman sighed.

'I guess it's no use waiting any longer.'

"As you know, the threat of Akatsuki is rising every day. According to the information gathered by Jiraiya, they're going to begin to take a more active role in acquiring the bijuu. To be blunt, we don't have the resources to combat them alone. The Sound/Sand invasion weakened our already suffering forces. We can't afford to pull shinobi off of missions to fight this threat. So I went ahead and made decision that I believe will serve the greater good. I-"

She was cut off as an Anbu appeared in the room. The masked shinobi whispered something in her ear and she sighed in relief.

"Send him in." The ninja nodded and left the room the in a wisp of smoke. Turning back to the council, she continued. "As I was saying, I've brought someone in to aid us."

In the back of the room, Danzo scowled. Saying they needed outside help was a slap in the face to him.

"And what is this…aid, Tsunade?"

Before she could respond the door opened and a blond man walked in. The council was shocked into silence, including Tsunade. She had been prepared to see him, but that wasn't what stifled her.

'Minato…you look even younger than when you left…How?'

The quiet lasted for only a moment longer before the outrage erupted.

"What is the meaning of this Tsunade?!"

"How dare you show your face here traitor!"

"I'd rather die than accept his help!"

"He'll just betray us again!"

"He-"

"Isn't Minato"

Everyone quieted down at the interruption. Turning their heads to the direction it came from, they saw the white haired toad Sannin sitting on the window sill. Jiraiya was staring at the blond with hard eyes, but it was easy to see the hurt and sadness in them. Out of everyone, Minato's deflection hit the toad summoner the hardest, and seeing an imposter didn't amuse him in the least.

The civilian and shinobi council, along with Tsunade leaned forward in their chairs and scrutinized the teen's image. True enough, they noticed things that had been overlooked because of their shock. The person in front of them had shorter hair than Minato, though it was still long enough to sag and give him bangs. He wasn't as tall as the Yondaime and his features weren't as chiseled, but other than that there were no noticeable differences.

The blond looked toward Jiraiya and returned his gaze. Slowly an amused grin crept onto his face.

"About damn time someone caught on to that. I didn't think I looked that much like him."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Then who are you? And where is Minato?"

It was Tsunade who broke the silence following the blonds' admittance. Her voice was guarded in case this mystery person was a threat. The teen crossed his arms and sighed.

"My name is Namikaze Naruto… Minato was my father."

Frenzied murmurs of disbelief spread throughout the room. Surely they would have known if the Yondaime was involved with someone while he resided in Konoha. Jiraiya stared at the boy with wide eyes.

'This is my godson? …Naruto, I wish I could have been there.'

Suddenly, he realized something about what the boy said.

"You said 'was.' What happened to Minato?"

Naruto's eyes darkened and his posture sagged. When he spoke, his sounded haunted.

"He's…dead… That's all I'm going to say on the matter, so don't bother asking anymore."

The council knew that they probably couldn't push for any information on that subject for now, but they would need to know eventually. It's not every day a SS-class shinobi dies.

"Naruto-san?" Tsunade grabbed his attention. "Not that we don't appreciate the visit, but…why are you here? Why did you agree to come?"

He turned to look at her with a serious expression.

"To answer that I'll need to clear something up."

The council was all ears. They were much more willing to listen to him after hearing he wasn't actually the Yondaime.

"You need to know what really happened the night of the Kyuubi attack, sixteen years ago…"

A/N: Hope that didn't suck. I'm writing this to take up my time while I plan the rest of my other fics, so if you're a fan of mine don't worry I didn't abandon them.

I know Naruto came off as being cold, but this isn't a dark fic. He's just got some issues and no one to cheer him up.

This is set at the beginning of Shippuden btw. Tsunade didn't know about Naruto's birth, but Jiraiya did. Anyway, it may seem weird but there's gonna be a bunch of flashbacks later to explain things. Don't know how often I'll update, but it'll probably depend on reactions. Don't know what the pairing are as of yet either.

Oh, and if you can't picture the parts of his outfit that I used Japanese names for, just think of what a stereotypical real world ninja would wear from the waist down, or just use google images, that's what I do.