Title: Light of the Leaf
Author: perfectioninmypride
Summary: It has been four years since the defeat of Madara Uchiha. After beating Madara, Naruto left the Leaf to pursue the last Uchiha. But now he has returned, a changed man. Will the village, and the people he left behind, still be the same?

AN: Welcome to my first multi-chapter fanfiction! Thank you for reading :). A few quick notes:
1. I don't own Naruto…yet…
2. Please review. It is amazingly helpful to writers
3. Pairings are quite likely to change during this story, so if you don't like what you see, there is hope!
On to the story!

Chapter One – The Return

I'm coming home
I'm coming home
Tell the world
I'm coming home
- Skylar Grey

The tall blond man looked up at the gates. How long had it been since he had last seen them?

"Too long." he muttered to himself, as he took cautious steps towards the huge green gates. They were taller than he remembered. The builders after the Pain invasion must have done a good job.

Slowly he walked forward. He lifted his hand up to shade his eyes. The sun was glaring down at him, causing small drops of sweat to roll down his forehead. He grimaced. He couldn't wait to get inside. Somewhere with air conditioning would be perfect.

As usual, the gates were open, but the men guarding them were new to him. He approached them, picking up speed until reaching a sudden stop in front of the guard stand.

There were two shinobi there. The one on the left was mid 30's, with brown hair cut very short. He was tanned. In contrast, his partner looked relatively young, no older than 26. He had red hair that flopped lazily over his right eye, and quite pale skin.

The men at the stand greeted him with looks of curiosity. He smiled. He must have looked like quite the sight. He had been travelling non-stop on foot for days, with no time to clean himself up.

He rummaged inside the backpack he was carrying. His hands closed around a scroll, and he pulled it out. Unrolling it, he showed the two guards.

The one on the left raised an eyebrow. The one on the right smirked.

"Nice try kid, but that is the worst fake I have ever seen. You know we're ninjas right? We can totally break genjutsu."

The redhead brought his hands up into a seal. He attempted to break the genjutsu on the scroll. He failed. Puzzled, he turned to his older companion.

"Atsuo, can you try please? It must be a very complicated jutsu."

The older ninja nodded and did the same as his partner had. Again, nothing happened. He furrowed his eyebrows and tried again. Still nothing.

Apprehensively, he performed a series of quick hand seals. He reached out to touch the scroll, flowing chakra into it. A few words appeared. He read them quickly, than raised both eyebrows in surprise. He looked into the face of the blond ninja, who sighed in impatience.

His partner, after reading the scroll, turned to the blond, shocked.

"You have got to be kidding me. This is a joke right?"

Atsuo continued to look at the blond.

"No Arata, this is the real deal. We're sorry to have held you up sir."

With a flick of his wrist, the blond re-rolled the scroll. Placing it back into his back pack, he flashed the guards a quick smile.

"Thanks guys. Now tell me, is Ichiraku's Ramen still in the same place it was four years ago?"

Atsuo stood up and bowed, Arata did the same. Straightening up, Arata turned towards the blond.

"Yes, of course it is."

"Awesome!" said the blond, his face breaking out into his trademark grin. He turned and started to head quickly into the village beyond the gates. He'd barely started moving when he heard the older ninja's voice.

"Wait a second!"

He turned to face Atsuo, The man was grinning. Gesturing towards the village, he spoke:

"Welcome home Mr. Uzumaki."

Sakura looked out the window of the Konoha Hospital. It was another sweltering summer day, and she was stuck inside. Not that she was complaining.

Today was a good day for her to be working. Work helped her forget the fact that today was the day when, four years ago, he had left. Unfortunately, by remembering that she worked to forget, she had remembered what she was trying to forget.

Great, she thought. Now I'm confusing myself. She sat down on the bed she had just made. She hadn't had a break in a while, and it was the first time she had sat down all day.

Sighing, she looked out the window again. There was no point denying it. Sakura would have much rather been outside, enjoying the gorgeous sunshine like everyone else, then stuck in the stuffy hospital.

To tell the truth, there was hardly anyone in the hospital at the moment. With the weather so nice, there were no flu or cold cases. The ninja that were currently there were all recovering nicely. There hadn't been a lot of dangerous missions lately. In some ways, Sakura was grateful for this. It meant not a lot of shinobi were getting seriously hurt. On the other hand, it was less work for the medic ninjas, and work was something Sakura definitely needed.

Sakura stood up reluctantly. She had to continue her rounds. She walked towards the door and exited the room. Turning left, Sakura headed down the corridor and immediately bumped into someone.

"Sorry!" she said, embarrassed. Looking up, she saw Shizune.

The Hokage's assistant smiled.

"It's alright. I've been looking for you Sakura."

Sakura tilted her head to the left.

"Really? Is something the matter?"

Shizune bit her bottom lip, and then opened her mouth to speak. She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture.

"Oh no, no, nothing's wrong! Lady Tsunade just wishes to see you. She sent me to tell you that your dismissed from work for the rest of the day, and you are to go straight to her office at 3pm."

Sakura nodded.

"Thanks Shizune. See you later!"

"You're welcome Sakura. Remember, um, don't be late, Lady Tsunade will be waiting."

Shizune's smile faltered for just a second, before she continued down the corridor. Sakura kept walking and turned right. Was it just her imagination, or had Shizune seemed a little… apprehensive?

Sakura exited the hospital, and pushed the thought out of her mind. She was just being paranoid.

The sun beamed down on Sakura. Phew, she was hot. She decided she would go home and get a hat. She had time. Her meeting with the Hokage wasn't for another 2 hours.

Sakura's stomach growled. Gosh, she was starving. I guess that's what I get for skipping breakfast and lunch, she thought to herself as she walked.

She passed by a few food stands. The aroma wafted up her nose, and made its way down. Her stomach gurgled in protest as she ignored the stands.

Sakura paused. What was that place her old team had gone to all the time? Achiriku's? Icharaki's?

Ichiraku's. That was it.

Suddenly, Sakura craved ramen. Well, I am hungry, she thought. It was only appropriate that she had Ichiraku's ramen today. After all, it was his day.

Sunshine. It was one of Hinata's favourite things.

She was drawn outside on days like this. The world was brighter place whenever the sun shone, and that made her feel… good.

She leaned back on her hands and let the rays warm her face. A small smile danced on her lips as she closed her eyes.

How she loved the summer. Summer was picnics, day trips and longer training hours. On summer days, Hinata could sit in the soft grass of the training ground for hours, soaking in the light.

A shadow fell over her face. Startled, Hinata opened her eyes, to see a man standing above her.

"Kiba!" she exclaimed, blushing slightly and scrambling to sit up straight.

The Inuzuka laughed and sat down next to her.

"Hey Hinata. Slacking off, are we?" he asked, amused at her embarrassment. It was cute, the way she went red when he surprised her.

Hinata smiled at him. He knew perfectly well that she'd been training since dawn.

Kiba grinned and grabbed Hinata's hand. She let him drag her up.

When they were both upright, Kiba pulled her into a bear hug, and kissed her on the nose.

"It's 1pm Hinata. You're working too hard! We're getting lunch!"

Hinata giggled, and slapped him gently on the arm. He growled softly and let her go. Hinata linked her slim arm through his, and they set off.

They'd been dating for three years, but Kiba still couldn't quite shake the feeling that he was dreaming. Every moment he spent with her felt slightly surreal, like it couldn't possibly be true.

He'd watched his shy, stuttering team mate grow, and become the beautiful person she was today. She was still shy, but dramatically less than she had been before. She still stuttered, but only when she was really, really flustered. She had changed a lot, gained a lot more confidence over the past few years. Kiba likes to think that it was his influence that had done it.

She was his now. It had taken years, but finally she was his.

"Kiba?" asked Hinata. She was looking at him, slightly bemused. Kiba realised he'd been staring at her for the past five minutes.

"Sorry," he grinned "I was just so distracted by this amazing, beautiful, confident girl that seems to be attached to me."

Hinata laughed. He loved it when she laughed. It was a gentle noise, but full of joy. Out of all the sounds in the world, it was his favourite.

The two had reached the main streets of Konoha. Everyone seemed to be out today, enjoying the weather. The village was bustling.

Kiba stopped and spun Hinata around to face him.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you Hinata?" he asked, knowing full well that he had.

Hinata had just opened her mouth to answer when she froze. In a second, Hinata's face had gone from clearly happy, to shocked. Her body visible tensed. Kiba was worried.

"Hinata? Hinata!" he said, gently grabbing her shoulders. He shook her lightly, and she snapped out of it.

"Hinata? What just happened? Are you ok?" asked Kiba anxiously.

I-I'm fine Kiba. I j-jus thought I s-saw – N-never mind. It's n-nothing." She smiled weakly., eyes wandering.

She was stuttering again. Kiba frowned. Something had happened. What had she seen?

She'd been perfectly content, listening to Kiba tell her how much he loved her. She'd looked at him, than out of the corner of her she had seen him.

A tall man, with bright blond, spiky hair. The clothes were no longer orange, and she'd only caught a glimpse of his face, but she was sure.

The bright blue eyes. The whisker marked cheeks. It was Naruto.

She would have recognised him anywhere.

But, but… It simply wasn't possible. Naruto had left Konoha 4 years ago. He had cut off all contact. None of them, bar the Hokage, had heard from him in years.

It all came rushing back. The feelings Hinata had managed to hold in had broken through her mental barriers, flooding her mind with memories, emotions. Love, despair, respect. It confused her to no end. She loved Kiba, not Naruto. Not the boy who had left them all behind. Who had never acknowledged her feelings.

Damn it. No, this couldn't be happening. Naruto was not back. She'd been imagining things. There was no possible way for Naruto Uzumaki to be back in the Leaf Village.

"Hinata? Hinata!"

She felt hands grasp her shoulders, and she was literally shaken out of her trance.

Kiba was looking at her, concern plastered all over his face. A small amount of relief showed when she looked at him properly.

"Hinata? What just happened? Are you ok?" He asked, clearly worried.

"I-I'm fine Kiba. I j-jus thought I s-saw – N-never mind. It's n-nothing." She shot him a smile. Her eyes drifted on their own accord, searching for another glimpse of… whatever that had been.

She had to focus. She willed her eyes to stop moving. Shakily, she looked at Kiba. He was frowning.

She smiled, a stronger one this time. She took a deep breath.

"I'm fine. L-lets go."

He didn't seem to believe she was ok. Hinata tip-toed and kissed him lightly. It seemed to reassure him a little, but he was still uneasy. He slung his arm over her shoulder and she snuggled into him. He kissed the top of her head. She sighed.

It didn't matter whether she had seen what she thought she saw. He simply didn't matter anymore.

There we go! Chapter 1 done. Please R & R. Constructive criticism welcome, positive feedback is loved.