Naruto: A Journey to the Past

Chapter 1: The Return

Cloaks rustled in the harsh winds as two unknown figures approached Konoha's front gate. As the wind tousled the taller figure's left eye, and the smaller figures arm reached up to push the hair back down.

"Be careful not to let your Rinnegan show, idiot!"

There we no reply, but a nod of acknowledgment came a few seconds later.

At the front gate of Konoha, the two guards, forever assigned to their roles, were Izumo and Kotetsu. Currently, they were not doing their job, instead, opting to play a card game.

A sudden chime caught their attention as the cloaked figures sunshined into view. Both guards nearly flew out of their chairs when they saw who was under the cloaks.

In unison, they yelled, "AKARI! SASUKE!"

Akari waved cheerfully, while Sasuke remained silent at the njnja's behavior, already used to it as a Genin.

Kotetsu fumbled around for the entry papers and hastily handed them to the duo, "Here you go. And good luck." Kotetsu learned forward, cupping his mouth with one hand, "I heard from Lord Sixth that Lady Fifth went on a rampage after completely losing it in her gambling."

Izumo shook his head, "You know we're not supposed to talk about." An underlying threat could be heard in the ninja's tone.

Kotetsu scratched his head guiltily and looked away, gesturing for the two to pass. Akari tugged her hood down, "Thanks guys. We'll see you on the way out." With that, Sasuke and Akari sunshined to Hokage Tower.

Kotetsu looked at his partner, "Was that supposed to be a joke or something?"

"How so?"

Kotetsu leaned his head back, "Well. Don't know if you caught it, but Akari made it seem we will forever be guards."

Izumo blinked, "I completely missed that. Though I'm not sure whether to take offense to that or not."

Kotetsu laughed, "You got that right. Though, I wonder why Lord Sixth summoned them here after all this time. I mean it hasn't been that long since they were last here."

"You're right!" came Izumo's reply, "Sasuke and Akari were last here when Naruto had that mission on the moon!"

"You do realize how stupid that statement sounds, right Izumo?"

"Shut up! You were thinking it too, you idiot!"

——
Kakashi sighed. After taking over as Hokage from Lady Tsunade, the paperwork continued to build up. And here he was, slaving his life away, filling out dozens of files, silently cursing the previous Hokage.

A knock was suddenly heard. Resting his head in his hand, Kakashi called out, "Come in." Not looking up, he assumed it was Shikamaru with news about the the Five Kate Summit. After learning about some peculiar information from Kurama, the Kyuubi, he immediately called for Sasuke and Akari. From there he had informed the Kage's and instigated a summit to take place.

The door was opened and in stepped Sasuke and Akari. Kakashi sprung up, "You two! I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."

Akari eyed Sasuke, "Are you going to tell him or not?"

Sasuke closed his eyes and looked down before speaking, "After messing around with my Rinnegan, we discovered it can create portals, but we con only transport a couple people at a time."

"We'll. That's unexpected." Kakashi answered. "Now that you're here, I can send for Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura. I assigned them to accompany you on your mission."

"What mission?" Sasuke asked.

"Let's wait until they get here. It'll be easier because this information came directly from Kurama."