I know I know. Updates. Everyone wants them. I'm trying to be fair to people. But for now, here is how things will go: I will be re-writing my Naruto and Percy Jackson crossover, writing a new Naruto and Bleach crossover. I will be typing up new chapters starting with Tangled in Ramen. I just needed to get this out of my system because I couldn't come up with any new material without my mind wandering back to this. Now then, on with the story.

Madara: No.

Do it.

Madara: You can't make me.

I'm the author.

Madara: And this gives you power over me?

Well, yes.

Madara: I won't do it.

Do it or I'll release the fangirls.

Madara: NARUTO SON OF ARTEMIS DOES NOT OWN NARUTO OR LET ME IN! Now keep the fangirls in their cage.


Needing To Let Her In

By Naruto Son Of Artemis

Chapter 1: Fighting In The Shadows

Sunset had just payed the Hidden Leaf Village a visit. The full moon was rising, stars were beginning to pop out from their daytime hiding places. A cold winter wind snaked its way through the dark empty streets, the normal occupants currently bundled up inside their homes in from of a warm, glowing fireplace. One exception, however, chose to make himself known to the dark, dreary sky.

Naruto Uzumaki, garbed in his signature day-glow orange jumpsuit with the addition of multiple bandages covering almost his entire body, hobbled out of his favorite ramen bar, Ichiraku Ramen, after a celebratory ramen feast. He had just gotten out of the hospital that day and the owners had missed their favorite customer. While he felt depressed for not being able to stop Sasuke from leaving the week before, Teuchi and Ayame managed to lift his spirits to the point of him whistling as he limped home.

He stared at the stars as he finally managed to walk normally on the hard earthen streets. As he approached his apartment, the sound of soft crying reached his ears. Without a second thought or bothering to think the situation through, he followed the sounds to the source. The source turned out to be a girl a little younger than him by a year or two sitting in an alley clutching her leg and whimpering like a frightened puppy. His instincts were screaming at him to run, but they were brushed aside as his protective nature kicked in.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you ok?" He asked softly as he approached her, hoping not to frighten the poor girl.

"No. I-I fell. My leg really hurts." The girl responded shakily, still holding her left leg in pain, a wince of pain crossing her face for an instant. Naruto felt his heart clench at the sight. On impulse, he made a decision that would change his life.

"Well, how about I take you home and we'll take you to the hospital tomorrow. Your parents must be worried sick about you." He said. Upon seeing her look down in shame, he knew he guessed wrong. "You do have a home, right? A family?" A shake of her head was the only response he got. "Then you can stay with me for the night. It's way too cold out for someone as underdressed as yourself." He decided as he took in what little of her appearance he could see, namely her long, pale, creamy legs exposed to the cold winter air.

She nodded and carefully moved into the moonlight, using the wall for support. She was clothed fairly well. A grey light zip-up jacket over a black t-shirt and a black skirt covered her form, leaving her bare legs and uncovered feet to stand against the unrelenting cold. Her long blonde hair spilled from under the drawn hood and out of the unzipped front. Her pale legs stood somewhat steady in the biting wind as he approached her. He proceeded to turn and kneel in front of her, the spiral on his back staring her in the face.

"So what's your name?" He asked offhandedly as he felt her arms wrap around his back. She stiffened as his arms wrapped around her naked legs, lifting her confidently onto his back. She relaxed as he took the first step.

"Abby. My name is Abby." The now-named Abby replied so quietly, Naruto wasn't quite sure that he heard her correctly. However, his hearing was about to be the least of his worries.

Without warning, Naruto felt himself being propelled into the alley wall to his left, Abby's body leaving his. His ninja training took hold and he fell into combat mode. He attempted the Shadow-Clone Jutsu as quick as a blink, but the clone's head was smashed on the hard earth as quickly as it appeared by a shadowy figure. Naruto tried to rise and fight back, but his assailant was already upon him, pinning his arms with incredible, almost supernatural, even otherworldly strength. He was about to try summoning the Kyuubi No Kitsune's chakra when the bandages on his neck were ripped apart, allowing his throat to be exposed to crisp, cold air. Animalistic teeth skimmed the surface of his skin before finding purchase in their mark: His Jugular vein.

He howled in pain as the teeth tore into his flesh. He thrashed violently beneath his assailant, giving an inhuman, almost demonic scream as he drew power from the Nine-Tailed Fox, the signature ethereal Chakra Cloak surrounding the blonde Uzumaki. However, the Cloak soon faded along with his strength as he felt his blood being drained from his body. As his mind clung to consciousness, he vaguely felt a pair of hands grasp the sides of his head as the teeth removed themselves slowly from his neck. Naruto immediately knew this was it. A quick crack and his life would be extinguished as easily as blowing out a candle. He closed his eyes and prepared for the final-

"I heard it too. I think it came from that alley." Came a familiar voice as two sets of footsteps approached. The figure above Naruto looked to the alley entrance and cursed before looking back at its prey. A second later, the figure had taken off, hiding in the stench of the various garbage surrounding it. Just as Naruto realized he was alive for the moment, the infamously dynamic chuunin duo, Izumo and Kotetsu, found the site of the attack. They searched the shadows until they came across the gaunt face of Naruto. The horrified chuunin recoiled slightly at the sight of the pale, bloody genin.

"Naruto! Izumo, gather the ANBU, Lady Hokage, and the Inuzuka Hunters. I'll get Naruto to the hospital. Then I'll get Team Seven and Iruka. LET'S MOVE!" Kotetsu rattled off the instructions as he carefully cradled the dying genin in his arms. Nodding to each other, the best friends proceeded to take off on their respective missions like shooting stars. As they shot off, neither one noticed Abby crawl out of her hiding spot, a look of horror on her face as she prepared herself for what she was sure would come.

Naruto's teeth clenched in a pained growl. His hands gripped the sheets of the bed so tightly that the white cotton sheets began to turn red with his blood. His legs lashed out with vicious kicks, bending and twisting the reinforced steel of the bed frame. His heart beat wildly like a cornered animal. He felt as though his entire being had just been set ablaze with the fury of a thousand suns. Through all of this, Tsunade Senju and Shizune worked personally on the young jinchuuriki, trying feverishly to identify the cause of such suffering. Tsunade was forced to use her famed super-strength to pry her favorite shinobi's mouth open and forcefully wedge a thickly woven roll of leather between his teeth. He squeezed his eyes shut, attempting to enter his mind as a last-ditch effort to escape the pain, only for the pain to quintuple in severity.

His body twisted in ways that would make the Snake Sannin, Orochimaru, turn a shade of green or two. His blood-curdling screams of pain could be heard throughout the village, and echoed through the universe and far beyond. The leather bite guard fell from his mouth. As his tortured screams grew louder, approaching hurricane force, the explosive agony began to center in his stomach. It was like someone had mixed together the spiciest foods known to man and cooked the deadly concoction in molten lava for a few minutes, then injected it directly into his stomach. The feeling moved up his esophagus, past his uvula, and into his mouth.

He had no idea what it was, but it tasted like oil that had been set ablaze, and it felt like it too. The foul-tasting liquid filled his mouth, thankfully lacking the corrosive taste of his stomach acid. It became too much though, his cheeks bulged and his eyes began to bug out. Quickly grabbing for the empty bucket by his bedside, he eagerly expelled the contents of his mouth, filling the bucket with a disturbingly clear, venomous-looking substance that sent a shudder up his spine. His vision suddenly blurred as his heart rate quickly began to slow down. Darkness crept into the corners of his vision, quickly invading as his limbs fell to the bed, limp from exhaustion. Finally, hearing Tsunade's sigh of relief, he let the darkness take him. The last thing he felt was a kiss on his forehead.

Tsunade, after using an advanced diagnostic jutsu to scan Naruto's body and finding everything in order, collapsed into the chair beside Naruto's bed. Shizune bowed and left to go get a bottle of sake for her tired teacher. Tsunade's eyes began to grow heavy as sleep threatened to take her as well. She looked around in an attempt to stay awake, but her mind must have been playing tricks on her. She could have sworn she saw a young girl, no older than Naruto outside the window, staring at the young boy. She soon fell asleep smiling. Maybe the kid really did have a guardian angel looking after him after all.

She could not have been closer to the truth, and yet at the same time, never farther. Nothing would prepare anyone for what was to come the next morning.


There. Now I can focus on material for new chapters. Thank you for being supportive and not forming an angry mob around my ship. Now on with the poll:

Option 1: 33 votes

Option 3: 30 votes

Option 2: 18 votes

Any and all wishing to see the poll, feel free to come to my profile and check it out for yourselves. The poll shall remain open until I announce the last chapter warning in one of my other stories. Any haters or flamers shall be publicly executed. Now then, on to my other explanation. I have been creating an original character to act as a few roles for Naruto. He may also get a few stories of his own. However, each story will be interconnected. Odd, I know, but I'm the author, so live long and suck it. Warning, Naruto will be getting a huge, interdimensional harem. OC may get a small harem, but like I said: Author. So, until next time: Don't stop! Believin'! BELIEVE IT!