"You're back!" Anko shouted as she immediately jumped on her boyfriend who was standing outside of her apartment door, capturing his lips in a searing kiss. Returning the love with equal passion, Naruto couldn't help but smile even bigger than before. 

He had truly missed her. 

Disconnecting the kiss, Naruto grabbed her in a tight hug. "I missed you, Anko-chan." 

"I missed you too, idiot." She whispered in a reply. Naruto chuckled. 

"Mind if I bunk with you tonight? I'm afraid Sakura will see me if I go back home." Anko rose an eyebrow but nodded.

"Don't you miss your kids?" She teased as she led him in her apartment. Naruto grinned and shrugged.

"I want to surprise both of them tomorrow when Sasuke and I have to spar with the rest of the teams." Anko laughed lightly. 

"Oh? Are you telling me you and Sasuke are gonna face them all at once?" Naruto shrugged once more. 

"I'm not too sure. Hokage-sama might have us battle them team to team, or she might have us face all of them at once. Either way, it won't change the outcome." Anko frowned slightly as she handed Naruto a cup of tea. 

"I hope you haven't grown arrogant. . ." Naruto shook his head, a small smile on his lips as he met his girlfriend's questioning gaze. 

"I now have the power to fulfill my dream." He whispered, his voice laced with excitement as Anko's eyes widened. 

"You mean. . ." Naruto nodded.

"I have become one of the most powerful people in the Shinobi Nations." Anko looked at Naruto with disbelief. "I can finally fulfill that foolish dream I held onto when I was child, but. . ." He trailed off. Anko cocked her head to the side. 

"What?" 

"I'm not sure that's my dream anymore." He whispered, shame overtaking his body. "Right now, I just want to live what's left of my life without any worries. I want to live with all of you and die with all of you. I have no true desire to bring peace anymore, I just want to live my life the way I want to. Is that selfish?" 

Anko smiled warmly. "Not at all, Naruto-kun. After so many years of holding so many terrible burdens, you deserve everything in this world and then some. You are entitled to your feelings and I believe that you are justified to feel the way you do." 

Naruto looked at his cup, his face reflecting off the brown substance, his blue eyes shining semi-brightly. "I just feel like I'm slapping everyone that I loved as a child in the face. I preached about forcing everyone to the tables of peace, and now? Now I'm backtracking on all of my words." 

"Don't worry too much about it," Anko said as she stood up, kissing Naruto on the cheek. "I'm going to take a nap, feel free to join me." Naruto looked at the time on the kitchen stove and rose an eyebrow.

"It's only one and-" He stopped himself before a grin crossed his face. "Ohhhhh, hell yeah." He quickly followed Anko into her bedroom. 

Naruto and Sasuke walked side by side, going down the dirt path that went to the training grounds that Tsunade had decided to hold this little competition. 

"How much are we going to reveal?" Sasuke questioned. 

"I want you to display your strength as the second strongest in the village." Naruto replied without missing a beat. 

"And you?" Naruto pondered for a moment before shrugging. 

"We'll see. You're going to be doing most of the fighting anyway. I doubt I'll have to step in." Sasuke stopped himself from rolling his eyes. 

"You're just lazy." 

"Perhaps." 

"So beat them into the ground?"

"No mercy, Sasuke." Naruto said with a small grin. "But don't hurt them too bad, okay?" Sasuke nodded. 

"Understood." The pair walked onto the training grounds where they saw everyone huddled around Tsunade, who was explaining things.

"We're not late, are we?" Naruto asked loudly, a smirk on his face. "Wait, are we disqualified?" 

"DAD!" Sakura shouted as she ran towards her father. Naruto grinned as he held out his arms and engulfed the pink-haired teen in a hug. 

"Hello, Sakura." He said as he broke the hug. "How have you been?" Sakura grinned ear to ear. 

"I've been training with Tsunade-sama for about 2 years because SOMEONE," She turned around and glared at Kakashi and Anko, who both were smiling sheepishly. "OR SOMEONES, neglected my training." Naruto cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"Wait, so what about Sai?" Sai, who had walked up the pair, smiled at Naruto.

"Well, Jiraiya-sama took over my training after Kakashi and Anko dumped me onto him." 

"Heh heh heh," Kakashi laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Jiraiya came out with a new book and I had to have zero distractions and-" He tried explaining, only to stop as an arm wrapped around his shoulders.

"Kaka-nii, I trusted you to train my precious kids." Naruto drawled out. "Guess I'm going to have to torch your book collection." Kakashi was immediately on his knees.

"Please no! I need them to survive! I'll give you anything you want! Anything at all!" Naruto glanced up at the sky,  a mischievous smirk on his face. 

"Show me your face and consider yourself forgiven." Kakashi paled at that request. 

"Alright that's enough," Tsunade called out, getting a sigh of relief from Kakashi. "It's time to tell you all why you're here." She pointed to Naruto and then Sasuke. "Each individual team will be facing against these two, sensei are included. It will be a great training exercise for everyone." 

"Hokage-sama," Asuma began in a slightly worried tone. "Aren't you underestimating all of our teams?" Tsunade shrugged in indifference. 

"Whether that statement is true or not is irrelevant. It's time to show what your team is truly made of. Now, who will go first?" 

"My team can go first," Kurenai said, taking a step forward as she met Naruto's gaze with a challenging look. Kiba, Shino, and Hinata walked up with Kurenai as the rest of the teams retreated to the sidelines.

"Are ya ready to be beat you bastard?" Kiba shouted, pointing a clawed finger at Sasuke, who didn't even bother to raise an eyebrow at the Inuzuka. 

"Whatever, I probably won't even need my Sharingan against you lot." He said as he unsheathed his sword, lightning sparking around the blade. "Shall we begin?" 

"I see he's taken on your own theatrics, Naruto." Kurenai said as she stood in front Naruto, both of them ready to fight. 

"Meh, like master like apprentice. I'm afraid your team has lost, Kurenai." Kurenai rose an eyebrow.

"You've never been arrogant." 

"Arrogance is different from confidence. Sasuke is quite strong now, in fact," Naruto sat down on the grass and closed his eyes. "I think your team will need your help in facing him." Kurenai suddenly glared at the blonde. 

"Are you calling my team weak?" She basically shouted. A sigh escaped Naruto's lips as he opened his eyes and met Kurenai's crimson red eyes. 

"Define weak. Compared to children, or non shinobi, no, your team is not weak in the slightest. Compared to the average Chunin or Jounin? Even then it's questionable. But compared to Sasuke and I? Yes, they are weak." 

"You've became a dick in the last three years, you know that?" Kurenai said with a scowl. 

"You've become ill-tempered." Naruto replied instantly. 

"Why you-" She began only to stop as Sasuke spoke up.

"Do I have to knock her out too or what?" Kurenai's eyes widened as she looked over and found her team all laying on the ground, unconscious. Meanwhile, Sasuke didn't have a single scratch on him. 

"No need," She said with gritted teeth. She glared at Naruto. "I don't know what happened to you on your little trip, but you've changed, and not for the better!" 

"Your words change nothing," Naruto said in a hardened tone. 

"Then the Naruto I know is dead!" She spit out before storming off the training grounds. 

"Uh," Asuma drawled out before sighing, a puff of smoke coming out of his mouth. "Oh well, guess it's my team's turn. How about it Naruto, will you spar with me?" Naruto felt a small smile cross his face. 

"Sure," He turned to Sasuke. "Handle the rest of the team, but watch out for Shikamaru, he's your greatest foe at the moment." Sasuke nodded, his Sharingan activating as he turned his attention to Team Asuma. 

"It's been awhile since we sparred, huh Naruto?" Naruto shrugged. 

"We've only sparred once before, I forgot the conclusion of it though." Asuma smirked as he brought out his trench knives, blue chakra coating around the blades. 

"I believe it ended with you passing out due to exhaustion before your became a Jounin!" Naruto smiled at the memory of having Itachi and Izumi around, as well as Shisui. It was a better time. 

Even better than now. 

"Well, I hope you haven't been slacking since then, because I'm a lot stronger than I was back then!" Asuma charged Naruto, yelling.

"There's no doubt about that! Now let's do this!" Naruto easily dodged the expert-like movements from Asuma as each swing with his knives was quickly followed in succession with a kick or elbow before the knife was ready to swing once again. 

Tsunade couldn't believe it. These were largely the more successful groups of teams that the village had, and to see Sasuke completely obliterate Kurenai's team with such ease and even getting Kurenai to surrender without a fight was surprising enough.

But to see Sasuke fight Team Asuma with such expertise and skill, it was nothing short of amazing. He had definitely mastered his Sharingan over the course of three years, that was for certain. Each time Ino would try a possession or Shikamaru try his Shadow even after using Choji's expansion form to make more shadow, Sasuke had dodged each and every last one of their attacks, barely breaking a sweat. 

But Naruto fighting Asuma, if it could be labeled as such, was obviously very one-sided in the favor of the Namikaze, with the blonde practically dancing to avoid Asuma's wind-enhanced knives, his Sharingan not even active, just a calm look in his eye with the smallest of smiles. 

"Damn it," Asuma cursed as he took a step back from Naruto, stopping his charge before he took a long drag from his cigarette before casting it aside and blew thick smoke over Naruto, who only looked at it with a less than worried look, before it caught fire as Asuma snapped his finger. 

The explosion rippled through the air to where even Sasuke and the rest of Asuma's team were able to feel the heat on their skin. Sasuke used this momentary distraction to subdue Shikamaru by using the hilt of his sword to smash into the Nara's skull, knocking the teen out cold. The rest of the fight was sad on Ino's and Chouji's part, with the latter losing but getting shocked by Sasuke's Electric Stream and Ino fell when Sasuke met her gaze, knocking her out with a quick genjutsu. 

"The smell of smoke is disgusting, not sure how you can tolerate it, let alone make it." Naruto said as he surveyed the burnt ground, not a single scratch or singe mark on any of his clothes. He glanced over to Asuma, who was panting slightly. "Do you concede?" 

Asuma looked over to his team and saw they were all beaten as Sasuke stood his ground, waiting for Asuma to decide. With a small smile, perhaps a little bit of bitterness in it, Asuma sighed as he stood straight up, putting his knives away. 

"Yeah yeah yeah, I give up." He said, raising his hands up in the air in surrender. "I have no way to beat you both, even then I doubt I could beat either one of you." 

"We shall go next!" Guy proclaimed loudly as Rock Lee, Neji, and Tenten started walking towards Sasuke. Naruto stretched slightly.

"Sasuke, you may have to actually try this time around. Neji is a Jounin, and we both know what Lee can do, don't hold back." Sasuke nodded as he reactivated his Sharingan.

"Was I just written off?" Tenten asked angrily. Sasuke nodded.

"Probably because all you do it throw weapons." 

"You ass!" Tenten shouted as she began, ironically, throwing weapons at the black-haired teen. 

Naruto shifted his gaze to Guy, who had a grin spread across his face, as usual. "Guy, will you be using the Gates?" He questioned. 

"Only if you use your Sharingan!" Naruto smirked. 

"Fair enough. Very well, I won't use my Sharingan and you won't use your Gates." 

"I wish you the best of luck, Naruto-kun!" Guy then proceeded to charge the blonde. 

Sasuke ducked under one of Lee's devastating kicks and used his sword to deflect three different shuriken from Tenten. "Do you know how to even use that sword?" Tenten taunted Sasuke as she branded a katana. 

"I believe Naruto-sensei as taught me quite adequately." Utilizing his chakra, Sasuke formed lightning in his left hand as the blue energy spread across his entire arm, crackling and hissing with electricity. "But I prefer our dual be a dual, I'll be beating your teammates now." 

As if to put a definite period on his statement, Sasuke slammed his hand onto the ground as two birds made of lightning appeared by his side before moving out and hitting both Lee and Neji square in the chest, moving so fast that even Sasuke with his Sharingan could barely track his own jutsu.

The only thing that showed that it had truly worked was when Neji and Lee flew back and rolled in the grass and dirt. They did not move. 

Satisfied, Sasuke looked back at Tenten. "Now our duel can commence." 

"You talk weird," Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Blame my sensei," With that finishing up their conversation, Sasuke watched as Tenten darted forward before their blades clashed, a small spark appearing from the two metals colliding. It was obvious Tenten was putting all of her strength into the clash in order to gain the advantage, but Sasuke wasn't budgining. 

"Who taught you to wield a blade?" Sasuke questioned as he used his foot to kick her away, her feet sliding in the dirt as her eyes only narrowed further at the Uchiha. 

"Guy-sensei!" She shouted in response. Sasuke shook his head.

"Does your sensei use a sword?" Tenten gave Sasuke a look of confusion.

"What?" Sasuke repeated himself. "No. . ." 

"Then perhaps you need a real teacher!" Sasuke's sword glowed a bright blue before he pointed it at Tenten. 

"Are you calling Guy-sensei a bad teacher?!" Tenten shouted angrily as she charged him. 

"Not at all," Sasuke said calmly as Tenten began descending on him. "But perhaps he wasn't the best to teach you how to use a sword." With that, the blue chakra shot out of Sasuke's sword and hit Tenten's sword, cutting the metal blade in half. 

Sheathing his sword, Sasuke closed his eyes. "This battle is over. Get a new teacher when it comes to things that your sensei cannot possibly specialize in." 

"Your sensei doesn't use swords! How are you going to criticize Guy-sensei and I but not Naruto-sensei and yourself?" Tenten questioned angrily. Sasuke pointed at Naruto, who was currently dodging a majority of Guy's onslaught. 

"Do you see those two black symbols on his wrists?" Tenten nodded. "Naruto-sensei uses those to store his equipment, including his swords, which he duel wields on occasion depending on how serious the situation is." 

"Duel wielding?" Tenten whispered in amazement. Nobody dual wielded, often preferring the single sword or even a shield with the sword, but never two. Some of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist have pulled it off, but barely anyone could get it down effectively. "Who taught him?" 

Sasuke shrugged. "I don't know, and it's neither of our business. Don't delve on the past of who or where, but focus on the whens and whats of the future." Tenten gave Sasuke a look of surprise.

"What the hell are you, a poet? You're younger than me so how in the hell can you speak so wise?" Sasuke shrugged.

"The author thinks of it, but he lacks words to use in real life so he likes to make the ones that he is writing sound smart and sophisticated." 

"Author?" Sasuke shook his head.

"Forget about it, it's nothing." Tenten nodded, the thought already erased from her memory. 

Naruto quickly rolled to the side as Guy's foot hit the ground, the ground cracking open as Naruto was forced to jump further away from the Green Beast, getting away from the now unstable ground. 

"You truly are fast, Naruto-kun!" Guy shouted youthfully as he put his thumb up. "But it seems that I will have to take off my weights! Please prepare yourself!" Going into his ankle warmers, Guy took out two weights before dropping them on the ground, dirt flying into the air and blinding Naruto, who closed his eyes. 

Appearing right above Naruto, Guy swung his foot towards Naruto's head who barely sensed the man's presence before using his forearm to block the kick from hitting his head. The power behind the kick was a lot more powerful than Naruto had anticipated, making him fly through the grass and dirt, tumbling slightly as he got on all fours, his blue eyes scanning the entire training ground, but to no avail.

He could not see Guy. 

"Is Guy overpowering Naruto?" Anko asked aloud as she stood next to Kakashi.

"It would seem so," The Hatake replied easily. "Though I doubt Naruto will let it continue for now." Anko sent him a questioning look.

"What do you mean?"

"He means that Naruto will increase the amount of force he's using," Tsunade butted in, her eyes never leaving the spar between two of her Jounin. "Naruto has several strengths, and very few weaknesses. One thing he is good at is hiding his true abilities," Kakashi gave her a weird look. 

"Are you sure, Hokage-sama? Sure Naruto doesn't like to flaunt his strength on others, but to suspect that he's intentionally hiding it? I can't believe that." 

"That is because to you, he is your little brother." Tsunade replied without missing a beat. "That man is a genius that surpasses all other prodigies throughout the time the Shinobi Nations has existed. He sets a bar for the strength he will display, and raise it if needed. He has several bars of power that he is willing to reach, but nobody but him truly knows how far he can really go, and that spells trouble."

"You aren't accusing him of becoming a traitor, are you?" Kakashi asked in a worried tone. His little brother would never turn traitor, he was one of the most loyal Leaf Ninja he had ever seen. 

"No, but I won't rule out the possibility." She turned to Kakashi and Anko. "Besides Kurenai and Asuma, you two have known Naruto since he first became a Jounin, and Kakashi when he was born. Tell me, if Naruto is angry enough at something, he will change it. But what if that change is not for the good of the village? What if he priortizes those who he is close to rather than the village as he has done before?" 

"What do you mean?" Anko asked. Tsunade let out a small sigh.

"I have read to old files on Naruto, one of them is detailed information on a meeting with the Council several years ago. He threatened to kill or destroy anything in his path if it meant protecting Sasuke. On another occasion, he disobeyed the Third Hokage's orders when dealing with Danzo. He killed the man and walked away with no punishment. He's unstable and does things as he sees fit. He's a danger in the village." 

"We have to trust, Naruto!" Kakashi said, distraught at this information. "He's a loyal Leaf Shinobi!" 

"For how long?" Tsunade replied. "If I try and make him do something he doesn't want to do, he will refuse. Then what? I'm not strong enough to face him and I know nobody else in the village is. He barely knows the limits of his strengths and I believe he is far stronger than Hashirama Senju, my grandfather, or Madara Uchiha." 

"If that's true. . ." Kakashi trailed off.

"Then Naruto really is the strongest person in the world." 

"And now you're seeing my dilemma. Do I tiptoe around Namikaze in order to ensure he doesn't get angry? Or do I try and put him in his place? Or maybe I just hand the hat to him? There's many options but none of them seem to be the right one." 

"We'll just have to hope that Naruto-kun is content with his life." Anko replied in a miserable tone. This knowledge of her boyfriend was cursed. It was a burden.

Did the Third Hokage know of this? If so, is that why Naruto has never faced punishment? Now that she thought of it, Naruto has gotten away with many things in his life, including the murder of two child abusers, though that was justified, but even then Naruto wasn't a judge.

He acted on his own with no regard for the status of authority. Maybe that's why she loved him? 

Then again. . .

Naruto caught one of Guy's fist before meeting the man's gaze. "I'm going to get a little serious Guy, you're quite strong!" Guy grinned.

"I am a little disappointed I cannot face you at full power!" Naruto grinned before disengaging the bowl-cut-haired man. 

"How about full power for both of us, but no gates for you and no Sharingan for me?" Guy nodded, his grin only increasing in size. 

"Yes! Let us fight for the title of most youthful!" Naruto laughed.

"Don't risk your title, Guy!" With that, Naruto vanished. Naruto flashed in front of Guy as the two began fighting exclusively using taijutsu, but to Guy's surprise, Naruto was keeping up with him! Dodging under a fist from the blonde, Guy attempted to launch a punch into Naruto's stomach, but Naruto quickly flipped over his back as used his left leg to hit the back of Guy's right leg. 

Wincing in pain, Guy turned around only to find Naruto completely gone. "No Sharingan, but never no chakra chains!" Naruto said with a smirk, standing several feet behind Guy. Six chains sprouted from the back of Naruto's hip as they all darted towards Guy from different directions.

"I forgot you had these at your disposal!" Guy shouted gleefully as he dodged the snake-like chains.

"He has chakra chains?!" Tsunade almost shouted. "How the hell does he have chakra chains? Why does he have chakra chains?!" Chakra Chains were very dangerous. They could suppress chakra from shinobi as well as Tailed Beast. 

There was no doubt in her mind now. 

Naruto Namikaze was the strongest. 

Guy twisted and turned in some ways that Naruto had thought impossible, but then again, this was the man who was able to utilize all of the 8 Gates, making him the strongest in terms of taijutsu. Naruto didn't know how strong the 8 Gates made a man, but he never wanted to learn. 

Guy was dangerous enough without them. 

Guy jumped into the air, his foot stretched out as he shot towards Naruto like a dart to a dartboard, intending on kicking the blonde in the head. Smirking, Naruto sprouted a seventh chain from his back as it wrapped tightly around Guy's leg, coiling around it like a snake does its prey. 

"I'll take my win now," Naruto whispered to himself before slamming Guy onto the ground. Guy, who had closed his eyes due to the impact shocking him, opened them quickly, only to meet the tip of Naruto's sword at his neck. "You fought well, my friend." Sheathing his sword, Naruto offered the taijutsu his specialist, who took it with a grin.

"Yes! You are definitely burning with youth!" Guy shouted happily. 

"Thank you for a good spar, Guy, you actually managed to hit me!" Guy laughed heartily and clasped Naruto's shoulder. 

"Perhaps we will fight at full power one day?" Naruto chuckled nervously.

"I think we would destroy everything," He replied jokingly. Guy then saluted to Tsunade, who was still in a state of shock.

"My team and I will be taking our leave now, Hokage-sama! We still have much training to do!" With that, Guy scooped Lee and Neji up onto each shoulder before he and Tenten exited the training grounds. 

"Sasuke," Naruto said as he approached the dark-haired teen, who only nodded.

"You're going to fight them on your own?" He guessed, to which Naruto smirked.

"Yes, you've been having too much fun, and fighting Guy actually got me pumped." He turned to Kakashi and Anko as well as Sakura and Sai, who were all lined up horizontally, ready to face him. 

Digging into his back pocket, Naruto pulled out two black gloves and put them on, the fabric hanging slightly on his wrist. Throwing his cloak away, Naruto revealed his old blue attire he had worn when he was still a beginning sensei. 

"You may all attack me with the intent to kill, without that drive you won't get anywhere against me. Let me put it like this," With an arrogant smirk, Naruto pulled his right glove further onto his hand as his Sharingan burst to life. "Go for the kill, but don't worry, you won't kill me." 

Kakashi frowned under his mask at the arrogance Naruto showed. "I hope you aren't getting too ahead of yourself." He said, his tone holding a bit of a warning in it. Naruto laughed a little.

"Kaka-nii, don't worry over such things. We're sparring, but if you don't go all out, you have already signed over the win to myself." 

"Oh yeah, dad?" Sakura shouted in a challenging tone, sporting a grin on her face. "I'm going to hit you down a few pegs!" Naruto grinned.

Good. 

"Then let's go!" They charged.

They lost. Terribly. No, that's not the word. 

They had been spanked, humiliated, and worse: shown the truth. That truth being that Naruto Namikaze was so far above them, that they were helpless if he were to lose his sanity or betray the village. 

He hadn't even drawn his sword and he only used a single jutsu, that being the Body Flicker, which he had used to the same dangerous degree that his own sensei, Shisui Uchiha, was famous for. He was a monster acting like a shinobi with a fake smile always on his face. 

Tsunade was sure. 

Naruto Namikaze was definitely a monster, more so than any Tailed Beast. He was dangerous. He was calculating. He was intelligent. He was a powerhouse. He was like a God. 

He was like a God. 

And done. I know I cut the ending a little bit but I'm tired and it's a decently sized chapter anyway so please be happy! Anyway, yeah. Powerscaling time!

Naruto > Edo Tensei Madara with Rinnegan

Naruto > Edo Tensei Hashirama with Sage Jutsu

Naruto <  Alive 4th War Arc Madara after absorbing Hashirama's Sage Chakra

Naruto > Rinnegan Obito with the Six Paths during the 4th War

I don't know how to accurately describe how strong he is, less than Alive Madara where he absorbs Hashirama's Senjutsu, but stronger than Rinnegan Obito, so it's hard to actually gauge him. 

 Oh well. 

Til next time my lil demons!