Chapter One

The man sat at the cluttered and untidy desk in front of a small stack of papers. In his right hand he held a pen pressed to the bottom of a letter. From the tip the black ink spread, blotching out and separating into thin, web-like trails before fading out. He didn't notice, but even if he had he wouldn't have cared. Few things troubled him these days. Life was boring.

A soft knocking at the door reminded him of his own existence. He sighed, removed the pen from the blotch of ink and signed the paper without reading it. He continued with the next few pages as the knocking continued.

“Come in,” he muttered eventually without looking up from his work. His new secretary, a tall and curvy red-headed woman, bounced through the door with an air of importance. She smiled broadly at the man and pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose.

“Eighth Hokage, sir, you have a visitor.”

A Visitor? The Eighth Hokage met her gaze with a frown. He wasn't expecting anyone, except the fifth Genin team who would be reporting in from a mission this afternoon – and they weren't to be expected for another few hours at least. He shook his head. He didn't want to see anyone. It was ironic - when he was alone he craved excitement and conversation, but when he was around people he just wanted them to go away again. It was just how he was. He looked away and out of the window. The truth was, he still missed them. And no one could replace them. Heavens knew many had tried.

“Tell them I'm busy, Moegi,” he said, watching as a small brown bird landed on the sill and began pruning it's feathers.

“He said that you might refuse to see him,” said Moegi, toying with a loose strand from her ponytail. “But, he says that you have something of his, and that he wants it back.” Now she looked anxious. The Hokage's brow furrowed as he regarded her.

“Hm? Did he say what it is exactly that I have?” I don't have anything of anyone's...

“He said something about a scratched ninja band...”

Silence.

“Sir?”

The Hokage hardly heard her – he was still processing her previous words. A face swam before his eyes, and he absently reached his hand towards an inner pocket of his robes. But then he cleared his throat and shook his head, and stood up. This had to be someone's idea of a joke. Perhaps Sai was still trying to convince him to see him. Ah, of course. Sai. He just didn't give up.

“Fine, send him in,” he muttered. What did he have to do in order for Sai to comprehend that it was over?

“Yes, sir!” exclaimed Moegi, vanishing through the door as fast as she had entered. He heard her heels as they clicked quickly away down the corridor. The Hokage leaned against the wall and put his fingers to his temples. What did Sai want? He had been certain that Sai had already given up on him. It had been nearly a year since the ninja had last visited for anything that wasn't strictly business.

The door began to creak open. There wasn't any knocking, so Moegi must not be with him. That was unusual.

“What do you want-” The Hokage began, but stopped, mouth agape. It wasn't Sai. It sure as hell wasn't Sai. Black hair, not unlike Sai's, framed a thin and pale face. Black eyes, just like Sai's, locked onto the Hokage's. He was, in so many ways, like Sai. But the lips were too thin, the eyes too narrow. And Sai didn't smirk like that.

“It's been a while," said the visitor. "Naruto-kun.”

Author's Note: Short chapters are short. This is because I'm more likely to update quickly if I know you're not expecting 3000 words a chapter. The later chapters are actually a lot longer than this one.

Thanks for taking an interest in the story and I hope you enjoy it (and review it).