Prologue: And Thus, A New Start

A/N: Yes yes, I do need to update my other stories, probably finish a few (although some will take a loooong time), but I got bored. Plus, my dad banned me from playing League of Legends, so I wanted to write a story about League. I had the idea in my mind for a while, but I never put it down since I was too busy playing. And for those of you that wanted to know, I was Diamond.

Anyway, onward to a new story!

I really hope you enjoy it!

Prologue START

Naruto slowly awoke, his eyes flitting open as the world welcomed with him open arms. The bright sun was sending its love and warmth through his window and the light rays danced among the walls and furniture inside his sleeping quarters. He methodically shifted and sat up in bed, yawned, and rubbed his eyes before jumping to his feet. The cold, bare floor was a normal occurrence to him now, a stark contrast from the warm apartment he had used to sleep in. Instead of a creaking bed, he had one of the most expensive and comfortable mattresses that could make any ninja jealous. He had placed seals on the bed to slowly, over the course of the night, work on his body to get rid of sores.

Walking out of his bedroom and into the kitchen, he quietly opened the fridge and grabbed a carton of milk before walking out to the terrace of his house. It was then that the full morning glory of Konoha was exposed. The early morning was filled with the sound of bustling of shop vendors getting an early start to their spots and setting up, young, excited ninja running over to the Academy and Genin talking animatedly as they ran over to their respective squad leaders, and young couples walking together down the streets. Naruto looked down and smiled, his elbows leaning against the terrace railing.

A slow wind from the east rustled through the blond's hair, but the expression on the young man's face remained unchanged. He was at peace, as were the majority of the citizens of Konoha after the end of the Great Shinobi War.

The Great Shinobi War...

Naruto turned away from the view and leaned his back against the metal railing, his head up to the sky as he closed his eyes. That time of his life was probably what would be best defined as a living nightmare. It wasn't uncommon to see the blond with haggard-looking eyes and unkempt hair. What was once a rare sight to see the blond with injuries on his body after a night's rest had become a daily occurrence, something not worth mentioning anymore. But that was the situation Naruto was in with his Uzumaki bloodline and Kurama's assistance to regenerate and refresh his body. All of the other shinobi were barely surviving day to day, as if they were held by strings. At any moment, one of the strings would snap, the Master String, and they would disappear from the world forever. Sadly, this was also a common occurrence during the war; men and women would suddenly drop to their knees and fall face-first and then just die from exhaustion.

This, in turn, lead many ninjas to become jealous of the fact Naruto could cope with the situation so easily in the physical plane. His status as the container of the Kyuubi and one of the last descendants of the Uzumaki tribe made him a huge beacon. But the general envious factor came from the greener Chunnins and the occasional Genin, since Genins were rarely ever allowed to be out on the fields of blood, despite every villages desperate need for soldiers.

But after a certain point in the war, numbers didn't matter. Skill was everything that mattered. The opponents of every ninja in the war was at least Jounin level, whether it was Special Jonin or a random thirteen-year-old ANBU from a village. Chunnins would be cut down so quickly that they were rarely ever deployed other than surveillance and the rare infiltration and spying missions.

Uzumaki Naruto was always sent out on the front lines, and he took those missions to heart. The mastermind needed to burn, and he was determined to be the one to set the spark and start the flames. And once Naruto started something, he didn't quit; he would keep going until he went out in a bang.

Kaguya had been defeated, as had Madara and Obito, and there was no one left, so peace had been achieved...

Or so the five great nations had thought. For a time, the five nations lived in harmony. And then, a traitor attacked with a force so great that all joined together once more to fight against the one great evil: Orochimaru himself. His research seemed to finally bear fruit in all the wrong ways for the sake of humankind, but in all the finest possible outcomes in the sick and disoriented ninja's outlook. Genetic soldiers with the powerful doujutsu of the Uchicha, the Hyuuga, and others. But he didn't stop at simply using eye-techniques; the S-class criminal used the deceased bodies of loved ones of certain clan families and forced them to fight. Once those bodies were no longer usable, he simply regained the bodies, licked his wounds, and made soldiers with their genes. Basically, his whole army was made of dead men and women and also with the genes of the superior clans.

It became a rule to burn the bodies immediately after any battle or confrontation, no matter how close and loved the ninja was, after Orochimaru somehow stole bodies from the cemetery and used them to his advantage. Naruto still hadn't forgiven the bastard for taking away Sakura and then using her against him. He had barely controlled his rage at that point...what was he thinking...he let himself go. At that moment of time, whatever described a ninja did not describe Naruto. A ninja was supposed to be sneaky, stealthy, calm, and wise. As a ninja, he should've been expected to skulk through the backdoor or any kind of small crack and then exploit it to obtain information or simply destroy the base. That all went straight to hell after he saw a resurrected Sakura in front of him.

There were no backdoors anymore, and neither were there any kind of sneaky attacks; Orochimaru knew when Naruto was coming, and Naruto made damn sure the snake bastard knew. The blond crashed through the front doors of every base and only those who were confident enough in themselves to fight against the Snake Sannin after every defensive wave in the base followed. However, those that followed the blond into each base slowly went down. It wasn't a lack of confidence at took them away from battle. Eventually, when they found another base, Naruto cursed loudly, threw a Rasenshuriken through the whole base, the explosion rocking the very earth for miles on end, and then walked away from the base. He was bedridden from lack of chakra for a whole three days, even with his extraordinarly fast recovery rate. Naruto never did that again, but he never let anyone else go into the bases with him either. Only Sasuke and Bee, he allowed.

Despite the change that revolved around Naruto, the curiosity that is Uzumaki Naruto remained generally the same, despite his exhaustion and tiredness. His ever-protective nature remained, if not strengthened, throughout the war. His cheerful disposition and constant respectful and good nature was a godsend, helping others to be at ease in camps and reminding every soldier that there was a good day that will arrive, either sooner or later. Some believed that Naruto's attitude and demeanor would eventually shift to a gruff, harsh leader, and bets were placed. And so a day passed. Then two, which quickly succeeded into a week, and then one month. Three months passed, and no change had occurred. The closest that could even be considered a snap was when Naruto decided to throw the giant Rasenshuriken into the heart of one of Orochimaru's base, but that was the week he saw Sakura's resurrected body. It was considered a fairly reasonable reaction.

Finally, the climax of the whole war had come when Naruto, Sasuke, and Bee came head-to-head with the mastermind of the whole war himself. The first thing that happened in the battle was that Orochimaru had sent his best soldiers to bother the last Uchiha and Bee since he had no interest in them; he had already battled with Sasuke, and Bee was hardly of interest. Naruto, while it was true that he had battled against him and had seen his prowess, the Snake Sannin wanted to see it once more...under a sealed complex that prevented Naruto from combining his efforts with Kurama. What ensued was one of the longest battles recorded, beyond Sasuke's and Naruto's after their combined efforts to defeat Kaguya; that battle had only lasted a few hours and was a simple slug fest. Naruto's battle against the genetically advanced, with clan blood and powerful ninjas, Orochimaru lasted four days and three nights, the two going at it for hours upon hours.

The first day had been a battle of power and ninjutsu, and Naruto was apparently the victor in that category. His Sage Mode along with his ridiculously large chakra reserves put him as the champion of that day, but the problem was that Naruto had a massive lacking in knowledge of ninjutsu and other kinds of ninja tricks and abilities. Naruto specialized in one ability, and that was the Rasengan, and his only proclaimed affinity was wind, which was, needless to say, only one. He was more powerful than almost every other shinobi in the entire Elemental Nations, but the majority of Jounins had at least three affinities under their belt by then, as well as easily over one hundred ninjutsus that would be used at a moment's notice in any situation.

This issue became very apparently in the night. Naruto was known for all-out brawls and simple 'I-smash-them-in-their-face' kind of fighting, simply due to his overwhelming power. He did not specialize in the kind of battles that were prolonged nor the classical ninja kind filled with tactics. However, that didn't mean he was completely hopeless. Naruto had one ability that was beyond the comprehension of every ninja alive, and that was his absurd aptitude when it came to adapting to uncertain situations. He was fighting in enemy territory, but that didn't mean he had no idea of what to do.

'Become one with everything, and all will come to you.'

The basis to achieving Sage Mode, other than the ridiculous amount of concentration, was a mantra that was ingrained into Naruto's very soul. And his very own nindo, his way of the ninja, was something that would stay with him for his life, however long it would be. That's why he would win, and that's how he survived.

Bee and Sasuke never helped Naruto, even in moments where it seemed as if Naruto would lose. There were tens of situations that seemed as if the blond were caught and would die if he were any other shinobi. But he was Naruto Uzumaki, the most unpredictable ninja. The determined blond escaped every fatal situation by a hair's breadth, countering with his own ability each and every time. Two more days passed, and then the last day came.

Naruto and Orochimaru were finally face to face, both panting heavily, each with their eyes on the other with their own expressions. Naruto's were filled with determination and pure grit, nothing else. Orochimaru, despite his tiredness, had his eyes filled with a smirk, but there was a registered fortitude behind the more experienced man's eyes.

"What do you want to achieve, Orochimaru?" Naruto shouted in between gasps of air. "You've destroyed villages, and you've killed endlessly."

"Destruction can always be remedied with construction and creation." Orochimaru grinned. "As for the deaths...they can always be remade with life. That is the world I seek: perfection," replied the Snake Sannin.

The blond clenched his fists and he raised his head and suddenly roared with such an intensity, filled with so much killing intent, that Orochimaru even had to widen his eyes in shock for a moment.

"THAT IS NOT PERFECTION, YOU SICK BASTARD! YOU'VE LIVED TO LONG, AND YOU SEEK TO LIVE LONGER!" If possible, Naruto's rage increased, and he brought eyes back down to the mere human before him. They were a cloudy storm of blue. "You seek time...time you will never achieve because it will end today. You wanted more hours in a day, more days in a year, and more years in your lifetime...but I'll tell you something, you disgusting snake. I've lived nineteen years, each moment filled with some kind of excitement, hell, torture, sadness, hapinesss...each moment, I've lived more than you can possibly imagine," said the blond. Naruto's eyes hardened at the memory of the loss of Sakura. "If...if you don't live through every moment, you don't deserve a single. Extra. Second."

Naruto quickly raised a fist in the direction of Orochimaru, and pointed at him. "I'll end you, forever, here and now, in this Kami-forsaken place. And the world will know it."

Orochimaru simply grinned. "Sounds delightful, Kyuubi brat."

Sasuke and Bee watched quietly from afar, each giving Naruto their space for different reasons. However, they understood one thing: honor. Despite being assassins, they respected Naruto. They would not intrude in his final battle for the peace of the world, and if he lost, then they would quickly end Orochimaru. Among the four in the base, all knew that the Snake Sannin had lost the war. At this point, it was grudge and grit, through and through.

For seven hours, Naruto and Orochimaru went at it, each haggard but filled with conviction and resolve to end the other. Slowly, both shinobis reached the last dregs of their Chakra, and the battle was reduced to Taijutsu. Even then, however, it was a battle that even Kakashi, at full strength, would have endured. The power behind each blow, the speed at which both fighters moved...it was a beautiful dance of destruction, each second prolonging the fight and hastening the other's death.

It was only a matter of time.

When it finally ended, Naruto was standing with his eyes to the sky, Orochimaru's final body prone on the ground, in the shade, craters littering the ground around the man with spider-web cracks spreading around each large impacted area. Naruto remained in the sun, the large holes in the ceiling allowing the light to break through the darkness. For a moment, exhaustion took over the young man, but he quickly found purchase on the ground and stood tall once more in all of his glory, his clothes tattered and irreparable, his headband lost during the second day of the battle of attrition, and his shoes gone.

After seven months, the short, but extremely exhaustive war had ended. The war had taken a major toll in casualties, in the treasuries of every great nation, and also in buildings and villages. It took a long time to complete the recreation of Konoha and every other great nation that had been destroyed, but it had been done.

At the loss of many, the ones that remained of the world finally achieved the thing that seemed impossible: peace.

As for the bet on Naruto's character, the only winners were the ones that didn't place bets; namely, Naruto's closest friends and advisers. They were the only ones to actually believe steadfastly and fervently that he would remain as he was, Naruto Uzumaki.

XShuyaX

(Time Skip: Four Hours)

"Are you sure you finally finished it, Naruto?" asked Kurama, Naruto's fluffy, friendly tool of destruction.

Naruto wiped his hand over his sweaty forehead and grinned. "I think I finally got it. After four months, I think this is it, Kurama!" A smiling Naruto looked over to a mirror, and in its reflection, a handsome twenty-one year old Jonin was reflected back, a master in the art of Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and just recently, Fuinjutu. He was no longer the young teen that had saved the Elemental Nations, but now a young man with the never-ending sunny disposition that unarmed all around him. His smile was still bright, and his trademark spiky yellow hair and three whiskers on each cheek remained. All that changed was the mans clothes, which were now orange sandals with black, long pants and a red and gray traditional top in the memory of his godfather.

The male looked back down to his greatest work and an uncontrollable, teeth-filled grinned took over his face.

"Alright, alright, get over it, you silly brat. What the hell's the plan for this seal anyway? Are you actually going to use it?" Kurama asked skeptically. Naruto stood up and stared down at the paper that stretched across his whole living room, a spacious size of fifty feet in each dimension. Each room was spartan by design; only the barest of essentials remained inside the house other than certain objects that held certain memories.

"I've told you, Kurama...I'm going to do it. This world found its peace, and I'm for sure hell as glad that it's finally over. I've done what my father, my godfather, and even the first Hokage couldn't do, and that was achieve peace. Now it's done though..." Naruto took a short glance to the sliding door that lead to the terrace. Kurama understood the motion: Naruto was looking to the whole of the ninja world. "...Well, you've seen it through my eyes already. The world is already taking action to reduce the number of children allowed to enter the Academy, and many of the Jounins and Chunnins are either dead or retired. All that's left is the few thousand in this village, which used to number in the tens of thousands for the elite. The time of ninjas is ending, Kurama, and you know it as well..." Naruto's tone turned melancholy. He whispered now, "It's only a matter of time."

"..." Kurama placed his head between his paws and silently agreed with Naruto. The time of ninja was coming to an end, and 'how long' was the only question. A decade? A century? One millennium? It didn't matter, because Naruto had taken the first step, and eventually, ninjas would disappear from the face of the world, and all that would be left would be myths and legends of the past.

"And either way, I've made my decision. With this, you'll finally be free. That's what you always wanted, right?" asked Naruto, looking out the sliding door once more. It was lunchtime in Konoha. No one knew what was occurring right now at the hero's home.

"...I don't like this." Kurama finally stated, his deep, rumbling voice echoing in Naruto's mind. The blond remained unchanged in his position and expression.

"I need to do this. I don't know why, but I feel like this is my calling." He paused, thinking quietly for the right words to say. "There's nothing left for me here, Kurama. I can lead a happy life, I guess, teaching the shinobi arts, have a wife, and then die, like any other person in this world. But you and I know that I've lived my whole life fighting, and there's no way I've leaving life in a quiet way. It just doesn't match me, and I'm not willing to have that end. My conscious, and my whole life won't allow it."

"You've yet to see the realities of this world, Naruto."

"I've traveled the world because of the war, seen the politics, the disgusting and the great, and I've already uncovered my heritage from the lost island of my mother's side of the family. The whole world knows I'm the son of the Yondaime Hokage, the Yellow Flash, and I've achieved fame that people could hardly imagine, accomplished my godfather's dream...but I don't know, Kurama. You know it as well as it do...have I ever, ever achieved something for myself, or for the sake of this notion of this world? I've never questioned why is this world the way it is, filled with ninjas, and why don't we have peace, but simply said 'it is what it is'. That's something I would've said three years ago, and I would've been fine with that, but now it's not enough."

"You don't know there are other worlds out there, Naruto."

"There are definitely other realities, however, just as much as there are parallel universes. I've done my studying, Kurama, and every single achieved seal master agrees with this. It's just that it is taboo to tamper with the world's history, so I'll be the first to find a new world."

"I liked the knuckle-headed, headstrong brat of the past more. Now, you're just a shell of your old self; a contemplating man who doesn't know even half of the world's mysteries and thinks he's solved everything and is wiser than all. Brat, I'm older than you by thousands, and I still can't say that this world has everything solved out. Even Kaguya would have denied having all knowledge."

"You know that's not what I'm searching for, though. You know what I've been through, Kurama."

Kurama lowered his eyes to the water in the sewer, staring at his reflection which mindlessly stared right back at the large fox.

"What about the Hyuuga girl?" Kurama asked, using his final card. Naruto twitched.

"Hinata-chan will...find someone better for...damn it, Kurama! I just can't do it, and you know it!" Naruto suddenly let himself go in an emotional outburst, tears beginning to break out. "I love her, and I know she loves me, but I just can't imagine myself being Hokage anymore, sitting at a desk for Kami knows how long, even with the Kage Bunshin. I don't see myself being a husband, and even if I became one, do you know what would happen?"

"...I'm sorry, Naruto. It's just we've only been actually together as partners for three years, and I can't imagine another partner and friend other than you."

Naruto and Kurama remained very silent and still in the bustling and loud village that was Konoha of the Elemental Nations. When Naruto spoke again, tears began to drip on the floor.

"I'm...very sorry, my friend. We both know and have our own reasons, and you understand me better than anyone else since you've been through everything in my life just as much as I have. I've been fighting my whole life, and I can't stop fighting and reaching for something out there. Some people just want to find peace and then be free from all burdens and relax, and I'm telling you, I feel amazing. But...there's nothing left for me to do. Other worlds need me, filled with distraught people that are living in a pseudo-peace."

"Since when did you become the hero?" was the snarky response from the fox.

"Since I became the Child of Prophecy," quickly replied the jinchuuriki. Naruto rubbed his eyes and refocused back on the sealing paper. "Well...I guess this is it, right Kurama?"

"Do you know what the odds are of you finding another world even is?"

"I'll take my chances," Naruto said in a steel tone, his fingers filling up with Chakra.

"...I guess you're actually going to do it. Naruto...you are correct in your inference that there are other worlds out there." That made Naruto pause. Kurama quickly continued, so as to prolong the blond. "This world isn't the only world out there, and you were right to think that. I only know this because the Old Man Sage once let it slip that there was a place in between worlds, and although he had never traversed into that zone, he knew it existed." Kurama paused, sitting on all fours now. "All he said was that he found a deep darkness in that place, filled with malice and all intents of the living things inside was destruction, one way or another. " Looking through Naruto's eyes, he stared at the seals on the floor. "This seal of yours...you have long surpassed me in that art, as well as your parents thanks to the use of your Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clones), but I can see the basics of this seal and tell you that it is correct. It is almost the same exact seal that appeared when the Sage tried to explain to us, but we couldn't understand it."

"So there are things you don't understand," quipped the blond with a grin.

"I already stated that you surpassed me in Fuuinjutsu. Don't make me kill everything you worked for after you set me free." Naruto shut up immediately. "Yes, me and my fellow brethren couldn't comprehend that there were worlds beyond ours, some with beings unimaginably more powerful and others weaker, and others just as powerful. It was something we took quietly, because it was the Sage, but internally thought was sacrilege. In our minds, there was only one world, and that was the world we live in."

"So...there are infinite worlds out there?" asked the blond with an interested gaze glinting his eyes.

"Yes, there are an infinite number of other realities and worlds beyond ours. You just have to find it."

The two again took silence as the way to let this deep information sink in. Their continued silence was in respect of the other.

"Kurama...I thank you for being there for me. I'm...not really good at good-byes." Naruto looked out to the terrace again, where the sun was setting now over the edge of the village walls. Winter was coming, and the sun was setting much earlier than usual. "I'm the type of person that says 'See you later' and keeps that promise, but it seems I can't say that in this case."

"Don't be sorry, brat. You can always come back, and somehow find your way, if Kami dictates it to be so. There is something called 'Opportunity' and 'The Will of the World', and right now, since you are following your calling, you are probably following the two aforementioned things. And kit...you are one of the very few people I will ever respect and have respected, in these long few thousands of years I've existed. I'm not really an emotional being, despite being a being made of Chakra, and I'm supposed to be filled with Rage and Hatred, but you've broken past all barriers and made me into a being to actually care. I'm not one for these type of things either...these heart to hearts...but Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, you are the greatest ninja to ever grace this world for your twenty-one years of existence in this plane, and I wish you luck in all your other adventures."

Naruto, somewhere in the middle of Kurama's goodbye, began to cry uncontrollably, uncaring if the tears landed on the paper. He just couldn't believe this was actually finally going to happen. He would go to a new world, but Kurama would have to stay in the world of the Elemental Nations by force of the rules of Kami, as the Sage had explained to Kurama and his brethren once.

"Yeah, buddy...I-I'll miss you, too!" Naruto rubbed his eyes, but fresh tears immediately replaced the shed ones. "Let's do this!" He raised his hand and filled his fingers with golden chakra, with the assistance of Kurama. Then, he slammed his palm against the paper.

"Fuuin (Seal)!" The two shouted in harmony for the last time. It would be the last the two ever saw or heard each other, but they both understood this. It was to achieve each one's personal goals and their own real freedom, and this was the only way. The seals lit up like celebratory fireworks, brightening the apartment's room a hundredfold from the power exuding from the very seal. This was something beyond all Seal Masters, and this was the archetype of all works of the art. Nothing would ever come close to this again. Never.

Just when Naruto felt himself losing feeling in his body, he looked down at his palms and saw that they were becoming ephemeral. He was disappearing, slowly fading away into what Kurama had stated was the place in between worlds and reality.

"Don't lose yourself out there, kit. It's a harsh place, the place between worlds and reality. You can easily get caught in there for all eternity, die, or simply be lost in between reality and illusion. Stay headstrong, like the brat you are, and you'll succeed."

"Got it!" Naruto shouted, his hearing slowly disappearing.

"And...I believe in you, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. Be a proud being in the face of everything. Goodbye, my only friend left."

"...I'll see you soon, Kurama!"

Then the blond disappeared into the seal, no longer an existence in this world, in all circumstances considered dead by all.

Kurama stared at the ground. There it was...earth. Trees, mountains, the sky, all real in his perspective. The scent of the world, the feel of the earth, the sound of the birds and the rivers and the humans...freedom...

A large drop of water hit the earth, splashing a large area. Then another drop hit the earth.

Tears flooded through the fox's eyes and his emotions went rampant and he howled. Kurama's tears continued, the second time to ever cry. The first was when the Sage had left him...and the second, now, was when his best friend had left him and his last words were a lie.

He was never coming back.

XShuyaX

(Location: The Gap Between Worlds)

'Orochimaru, Kaguya, Madara, Obito...' Naruto stared at his hands as they slowly began to shrink and he began to panic. 'Where...where are my memories going? Wait...THE TEARS! They altered the ink on the sealing paper!'

Naruto looked around and saw himself standing on solid ground, but it was filled with ever shifting colors of red, dark hues of green and black, and the path wasn't wide. It was a constantly twisting and turning, one way path that went on and stretched for what Naruto could only describe as endlessness, even with his eyes enhanced with Chakra. All around was an endless twilight that seemed to twirl and center around a kind of bright light comparable to a sun, but there was no way to reach it and investigate it. The same colors that designed the ground swirled around the twilight, but it was slightly more picturesque with the extra tinge or orange and hazy films of brown and slight beige. It was a beautiful place...the world in between.

'What is Chakra? Who is Umino Iruka?' Naruto asked himself quietly. 'Hokage...Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves...'

And when all had finally disappeared, there was only one thing left in his mind.

'My name...is Uzumaki Naruto.'

He had reached what no other ninja had ever achieved.

Naruto Uzumaki had reached the Worlds In Between, The Gap, The Gap Between Worlds...The Void and was now lost in an undefined Sector.

And his physical body was that of an eight year old, with endless horrors in this place just waiting for him to discover.

And Thus...A New Start.

Chapter End.

A/N: Wow...This...this was actually really, really fun to write. Since I wrote the crossover, you already know where the destination will be, but he's going to be in the Void for a while. Didn't expect that, did you?! I didn't either, haha. Honestly, I was thinking of the beginning and how to do this, but it came out much better than I was expecting when it came to creativity. I hope you all agree.

Tell me what you guys think! Please, please review. I want to know what you guys feel, what I can fix, what you expect, what you want, etc. Anything is fine, but I need to hear you!

KenzoXShuyita,

Peacing Out!