Three years passed in the blink of an eye and Konoha hadn't changed much.

Naruto groaned as his alarm clock rang loudly next to his ear. He gathered up the energy to roll over and smacked the off button. Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he propped himself up and hopped out from under the sheets, groggily putting his clothes on, all the while trying not to trip over the numerous objects strewn about the floor.

In five minutes, Naruto had managed to fully wake up and get ready for the day. With everything ready to go, he strapped his weapons pouch to his leg and stuffed a slice of toast into his mouth. He dashed for the front door but stopped at a small table a few feet away. Quickly kneeling in front of the table, he pressed his hands together and bowed to the two pictures resting in front of him.

"Mom, Dad, I'm going now." He said to them as he did every morning. He scooted a bit too the right and bowed again. This time, there was no picture, instead, there was an old, full kunai that had been placed on a miniature round cushion. "I'm going now, sensei." After saying his quick goodbyes, he slipped his shoes on and sped out of the apartment.

"Hey guys!" Naruto waved as he burst through the door of the Hokage's office.

"You're late." An irritated Tsunade frowned at the boy. Hinata and Sakura gestured for him to stand next to them. "As I was saying, the three of you will be going to scout out a section of the forest. There's been a rumor going on among the younger kids that involves that part of the forest and apparently some of them have been going in and getting lost. All you need to do is patrol that area for a few hours and make sure no children are entering the forest." She handed Sakura a file folder. "I'm sure I can trust you all with this."

"Graaaannnny, why do we have to go on such a boring mission?" Naruto complained.

"Because everyone else is already on a mission and you three were the only ones suited for the job." Tsunade glared. "If you don't want this one, the academy could always use a few extra teachers..."

"NO! We'll go scout the forest!" Naruto nodded his head vigorously and quickly dragged Hinata and Sakura out of the office.

Shizune laughed.

"That last mission really scared him, didn't it?" She smiled.

"Certainly taught him a lesson." Tsunade smirked triumphantly. She slid open the top drawer of her desk and put a few papers away, being careful not to place any on top of the small book that lay in the corner. The book seemed quite old; it was a childrens' book with a cartoon version of the first Hokage on the cover. Though faded and fragile, it was in relatively good condition.

"Isn't it weird that we've been put on the same mission?" Naruto asked as the trio headed towards the targeted section of the forest.

"I guess Tsunade-sama really didn't have any other choice, why else would she make a team like this?"

Sakura was right, putting two kunoichi on the same team was nearly unheard of.

"It's just for this mission, anyways. Everyone else should be back soon." She added. The two nodded in agreement.

"We should hurry, Tsunade-sama said the previous scouts are waiting for us." Hinata reminded softly.

A few minutes later, the trio arrived at the section of the forest where they were greeted by a boy about the same age as them.

"Oh, Sakura-san. Are you on the next shift?" The boy asked, surprised.

Sakura nodded.

"Mmhm. Souichi, you know Naruto. Naruto, this is Souichi, he's on Team 7 with Sasuke and I."

The two smiled and nodded at each other.

"I'm pretty sure I've seen you a couple times before, nice to finally meet you." Naruto grinned.

"You too, I've heard a lot about you." Souichi returned the gesture. He turned back to Sakura. "Well, there isn't much to fill you in on. The situation is pretty well under control and you shouldn't have too much trouble, just keep an eye out for the kids. They'll find all kinds of ways to get into that forest." He sighed.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of things from here." Sakura assured.

"Good to hear, the rest of my team should be out any second now so I'll see you guys later." Souichi waved a goodbye before darting towards the Hokage Tower

"I guess our shift starts now. If there's any trouble and you need backup, just fire a flare signal and the rest of us will be there as soon as possible. Alright?" Naruto asked.

"Alright." The two girls nodded.

"Cool, now spread out!"

And the three scattered towards different parts of the forest.

Naruto silently made his way through the trees. He had volunteered to take the deepest part of the wooded area which means his region was the region 300-450 meters past the tree line. It was around 350 meters in that he noticed the dirt path he was traveling on began to disappear and he was left with nothing but his senses to guide him. He could feel Sakura and Hinata's chakra moving about a distance behind him, each patrolling their own area. Glancing around at the thickening foliage, he wondered why any of the children would want to come here. It definitely wouldn't take much for them to get lost, plus the place felt hostile, as if it didn't want him there.

'We'll only be here for a day, then the other team will take over for a while.' He reminded himself. 'Just relax and do your job.' He thought reassuringly.

Brushing off his jitteriness, he braved himself and continued into the forest.

A few hours had passed and Naruto had made three rounds across his area and so far no kids were to be found. He decided to take a break and sat down on a large boulder that had somehow become wedged between two enormous oak trees. He closed his eyes and tuned out the sounds around him. He could see his two teammates wandering around, each were around a hundred meters away from him. They seemed to be pretty bored too. Souichi was right, it was going to be an uneventful day.

"Sshhhh!"

Naruto snapped open his eyes when he heard the sound.

"There's been people guarding these areas for the past few days so we have to be careful!" A voice whispered from somewhere beneath him.

Naruto silently repositioned himself to peer over to the other side of the boulder.

"My mom's going to kill me if we get caught..." A different voice replied glumly.

"That's why we're not going to get caught! Come on guys, just follow me and we'll be fine."

A few crunching noises told Naruto that the group was moving deeper into the foliage. He climbed onto one of the large trees next to him and was finally able to see who the offenders were. Four boys, all around ten years old, moved through the forest as quietly as they could manage, though they still snapped a few branches and shuffled a few leaves. They didn't have any clan symbols on them but they were most likely from Konoha as Naruto had seen one of them around before.

"Where is the house anyways?" The tallest boy asked.

"I don't know, but Kazuaki said it was somewhere around here." A redhead spoke, he seemed to be the leader of the group. "He said 200 paces west from the little river, I think."

"Let's just hurry and find it, there's jonin patrolling this area and I don't want to get caught. We shouldn't be here..." The shortest of the group frowned.

"Whatever, let's go." The redhead began tiptoeing forward.

Naruto leapt from tree to tree, following them as they encountered a small stream then started heading west while counting their steps.

"One fourty-eight, One fourty-nine, one fif-"

"There it is!" The boys looked up to see an old wooden cabin. Its walls were worn and moss had crept up to cover half of its height. The four boys approached the door which happened to remain untouched by the green blanket, glancing at each other nervously.

"You think we should go in? What if there's someone inside?" The tallest boy whispered nervously.

"There isn't going to be anyone, no one's been in here for years. I mean just look at it!" The redhead brushed off his concern and turned the doorknob.

"What do you think you're doing?"

A voice made them whip around, hearts leaping from their chests.

"I-I... w-w-we're just..." The redhead stuttered, he could find any words.

"You know you're not supposed to be here. All four of you are trespassing." Naruto spoke sternly.

"We're really sorry!" The brunette who had remained silent thus far spoke up. "We only came here because they said there used to be a creepy old person who lived in here and there could have been some stuff left behind and they dared us to go find it or-"

"Alright, alright, I get it." Naruto cut him off. "Just get out of here before you get hurt or something." He said, motioning for them to hurry up and leave. The boys nodded quickly and scurried back towards the direction they came from.

Naruto watched as they hurriedly moved through the leaves and disappeared from sight. He grinned slightly, he probably would have snuck in here too when he was younger. He was about to go and do another round around his section when something told him to stop.

Puzzled as to why he felt like he needed to stay, Naruto glanced around the area. There didn't seem to be any danger nearby. He frowned, unsure of what he was looking for until he turned around to face to small wooden house. Suddenly, a feeling of familiarity washed over him and an image of the house before it was covered in moss flashed in his mind.

He'd been here before, he just didn't remember when.

He stepped up to the door, there was no harm in investigating, right? Right. He nodded to himself and placed a hand on the wooden doorknob. Immediately upon contact, a small portion of chakra was torn from his fingertips. He pulled back instinctively.

A light creak was heard as the door cracked open. Now on high alert, he pushed the door open some more and took a cautious step inside.

The house was completely empty aside for a small white object lying on the floor at the center of the room. Getting closer, he realized it was a flat, plate-like stone with a circle carved neatly into the top. He was about to pick it up when something bright emerged from the circle. A familiar figure materialized above it.

"...sensei?" Naruto's eyes widened as a faded image of the white haired woman was projected into the room.

"Hello Naruto. I'm glad you were able to find this house. I apologize for the inconvenience, I understand it is a distance away from the village. I do not know how long it will have been by the time you find this but I hope the war is long in the past." The recording spoke in a voice he hadn't heard for so many years, it brought back memories he had tried so hard to bury. "I apologize sincerely for not being able to give you a proper goodbye, I can only hope you understand why. I am leaving this so that I can explain why I did what I did. Please listen carefully since this projection will only play once. First, you should know about my past. You see, I was born a very long time ago into a clan called the Ōtsutsuki..."

Naruto lay on his bed, staring unmoving at the ceiling. He clutched the white stone disk to his chest. In his mind, the words of his sensei repeated over and over.

He had gotten some answers, yes, but many more questions. He had tried to get the recording to replay but nothing worked. He sighed and closed his eyes, grip tightening around the rounded stone. One thing she'd said had been stuck in his mind since yesterday. It was the last thing she'd left him with before the recording ended and she disappeared for the final time.

A small, pained smile appeared on his face as tears flowed freely.

"I regret many things I've done in my life, but teaching you is not one of them. I wish you the best of luck in your future, I know you will do great things."