To the creators of 'Naruto' and 'Final Fantasy': Thank you for the entertainment, the inspiration and making me wonder. I really hope you don't sue.

Chapter 1: When the stranger came to town

Akaiko sighed with great conviction and shifted her head to rest in palm of her other hand as she slouched on the counter of the check-in booth. She peered out of the front gates and looked down the dirt path that led out of Konoha, hoping against hope that something, anything, was going to happen. Then she sighed some more.

"For Kami's sake Akaiko, this is bad enough without your moaning!" It seemed Takamaru, her partner, had reached his boiling point. Akaiko turned to face him.

"I was not moaning, and it's your fault we got stuck with the gate shift in the first place. So suck it up!" She snapped.

Takamaru turned away and she could tell he was biting his tongue, but she didn't really care just then. She was bored and the heat and the dust were making her itch under her chûnin vest something crazy. She'd probably buy him a round after their shift ended, but right now she didn't have the energy to give a crap.

She was just about to sigh again when something made her pause. First she felt it; a sort of rumbling reverberating in her chest, the feeling getting stronger little by little. She was about to tell Takamaru when he straightened in his seat.

"Do you hear that?" He asked.

She concentrated and then yes she did hear it, a sort of roar in the distance; like a great beast, only it wasn't pausing for breath.

"You're doing it wrong idiot." Uchiha Sasuke stated with great superiority, and just a little bit of scorn.

"Shut up jerk! Like you're such an expert!" Was Uzumaki Naruto's indignant counter.

It was incredible really, the way those two could turn a simple task, like painting a fence, into a grand contest of manhood.

"I'm not the one doing it wrong, dead-last."

Or as close as a pair of twelve-year-old's could get anyway.

"Well I'm not the one with an ass for a face!"

It seemed like such a good idea this morning.

"Obviously you haven't looked in a mirror lately."

Panting Old-lady Tokisho's fence: Simple, good for solidifying teamwork and building stamina.

"That's it! You're going down bastard!"

At least they were getting some sparring done, Hatake Kakashi mused behind the cover of the latest edition of 'Icha Icha', and then he turned to the third member of Team 7, Haruno Sakura, to see if there was an intervention on the way. Judging from her clenched fists and the steadily deepening scowl it wasn't far off, so he made himself comfortable once more in the blossoms and boughs of the sweetly scented peach tree and turned to chapter five.

It had been at least five minutes now, and the roar hadn't stopped yet, not for a second. It kept getting louder too. Akaiko shot a nervous glance to Takamaru and saw he was clutching a kunai, eyes fixated on the point where the dirt path disappeared into the dense forest that concealed the village. She sensed movement on the wall above the gate, another of her fellow shinobi had joined the other three already lured there by the strange sound.

A two man patrol suddenly dropped out of the canopy and on to the road, they ran through the gate and stopped in front of her.

"One person, riding some kind of machine, no hitai-ate, no obvious weapons." The report was short but had all the important bits, and Akaiko breathed out in relief. An engine, of course, that did make more sense than a monster. She nodded her understanding and the scouts jumped out of sight. She saw her partner slip his kunai back in place and, putting her weight on her elbows, leaned forward as far as she could go, exited to get her first look at this mysterious stranger.

Takamaru rolled his eyes and called her a child, but she only grinned at him before turning back to the road. When she suddenly tensed and stretched even further he couldn't help him-self and shot to his feet, leaning just far enough to get a look. Something black was zooming towards them, a cloud of dust blossoming behind it. The roar was getting loud enough to drown out conversation by the time he could make out the actual person straddling the thing.

It slowed down to a gentle stop in front of them and the roar turned into a rumbling purr, then quieted completely at a twist of the strangers hand. The silence left Takamaru's ears ringing. The stranger dismounted, his big leather boots thumping on the ground even though his steps weren't heavy and numerous buckles tinkled softly in response.

Strange was definitely the word, Takamaru thought to him-self as he gave the man a once-over. His pants were black and overly long, to the point where they were fastened to his boot with straps. He wore a sleeveless, knitted jumper, navy blue with a high collar and a zipper down the front. Leather bands cris-crossed his torso in an odd way and held in place a simple, black shoulder-guard on his left shoulder, scratched and scuffed by use. A silver fastening held it all together. His left arm was covered by a loose, black sleeve that was not the same material as the jumper, and his left leg was covered in a weird half-skirt of the same fabric, held up by a leather belt. Takamaru could only assume it was a half-assed attempt to conceal weapons.

He managed to register the brown leather gloves and bright blond hair before his partner decided to act.

"Hi!" She exclaimed and her tone nearly made him groan out loud. Great, she thought he was cute.

"Hello." The stranger replied softly as he came to a stop at the check-in, fingers combing road-dust out of his hair.

"That's a really impressive… uhm…" She paused, searching for the word as she looked behind him to the machine he rode in on.

"Motor-cycle." The stranger supplied helpfully. "Thank you."

He smiled a little, obviously proud of the thing and Takamaru couldn't blame him. All glossy black and shiny chrome and sleek curves that made it look fast even when standing still. It looked like a predator and Takamaru was a lot more jealous than he was ready to admit.

"Is this The Village Hidden In The Leaves?" The stranger asked as he glanced around with obvious curiosity.

"You bet." Akaiko replied as she leaned forward on her elbows and gazed up at him through her long lashes. "Konohagakure no Sato. Konoha for short." She finished with a smile.

The stranger nodded and swallowed, all of a sudden apprehensive. There was a long and awkward moment as he seemed to be searching for a way to continue the conversation, until Takamaru decided to throw him a bone.

"Do you have any identification?" He asked, though lone travelers rarely did, nor was it really required in this case.

"No. Do I need that?"

"Probably not," Akaiko assured him. "So what's your name?"

"Cloud Strife." Takamaru resigned himself to filling out the forms.

"Wow, sounds exotic." She commented while Takamaru held in the urge to throw his pencil at her head. Cloud gave her an awkward smile and shuffled his feet a bit.

"So what brings you to Konoha? Business?" Her partner was silently relieved that she didn't add: or pleasure?

"I'm looking for someone…" He searched for the appropriate words for a moment. "Some family I might have here, but I'm not sure."

"Like a lost relative or something?" Takamaru asked.

"Exactly," He was about to say something else when Akaiko butted in.

"That is just too sweet," She gushed, making Takamaru roll his eyes before he could stop himself.

"Do you have a name? Chances are we know them." Akaiko offered. Cloud nodded in the affirmative.

"Namikaze."

A/N: Just to warn you; this is my first chaptered story so I have no idea what the update rate will be, but I'm not all that busy so there's that.

And I am, of course, dying to know what you think of this, so make my day and let me know?