~Asking for warmth brought forth Flames~

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Very AU. But I liken it. It's lovely and I hope you all will find it lovely too. SasuNaru. Not the dragon fic I was originally planning, but this kind of wrote itself.

I'll go ahead and spoil a little of my AU setting, this story is set in a present day/magical universe... or well, it's a convergence of two separate worlds that were never meant to interact. We join our young Naru in the initial aftermath of the two worlds 'collision'. Which world he is from is something you are going to have to read and eventually figure out for yourself... not like I made it difficult for ya.

This will kind of be a stress relief fic. I.e., if I'm at a loss with any of my other fics I'll probably find myself messing around with this one.

Updates will be sloooow. As this will not exactly be high priority. So with that said. Enjoy.


Run down clock tower

Dust and mice

Birds take flight

From awnings dark and musty

Creaking green trails down

To wooden steps

Jagged boards

And jagged breathes

Dogged on by fast paced heart

Resolute in terror mute

Resolute thy heart keeps time

The pounding trails echo from behind,

Your followers

Those angry eyes

Glitter unbound from dusty groans

Falling tracing sunlight tones

Trails under, over, ahead, beneath

Stripes brief illuminate

Across your dusty tear scarred face

The followers,

Oh run,

They come!

Desperate, jagged, broken

Reach, I've found the breach

The mice dart by

The pounding boots

The creaking boards

The ragged mute

He turns and eyes do light upon his last sight

And with a sigh he releases breath,

With a sigh he lets go of death, and falls from the gaping light

Won't hit the ground.

The mute takes flight.


Chapter One – Flamer.

Beady black eyes watch as the rising sun pours into the musty room setting blonde hair splayed across floorboards aflame, warming rays fall upon a small angular face, dark eyelashes shudder against scarred cheeks. Then flinching against the invading bright, eyelids flash over ocean like depths and in a sudden burst of awareness, the boy winces and rubs dusty hands against his eyes. He raises his head slowly from the floor and cautiously scans the room he's awoken in.

Dirty furniture and cracked walls greet his eyes, roots rip and broil from under a carpeted floor in one corner, a large flat screen lies broken on its side, the cracked screen provides the boy a distorted grey reflection of himself laying on his back on the floor in a broken home. He raises an eyebrow at his appearance and lets his head fall back to the floor with a thump.

Head cocked jauntily, one beaded eye inspecting the sprawled teenager, the observing creature struts on spindly legs across a wooden surface and saucily trills into the room.

"Bright shiner, golden flamer, awoke with the morning light."

The boy's head jerks around to face the source of the call, his eyes darken and narrow in annoyance, his hands grope blindly for something to throw at the crow strutting and calling from its overhead perch.

"Hush death crow." The boy's low voice cracks in his throat and he quickly rolls over coughing roughly.

Crawk!

The black bird flutters across the holey ceiling making more noise until the boy settles his breathing.

"Be Quiet!" The boy hisses at the bird.

Scraping his clothed knees against the floor he crawls to the wall and braces himself against it to rise shakily to his feet.

The crow hops down to the floor, shining black eyes examine the boy sagging against the wall and with a bob of his feathered head he calls again in his loud harsh raucous bird voice.

"Waken waken little orphan. Times not waiting bright child."

The boys head falls back to bump against the wall with a sigh.

"Already?" he mutters at the ceiling.

The crow hop-skips over to the boy's leg and bothers the hems of his jeans, pulling and tugging against white strands.

"Ger'off." The boy mutters and pushes himself from the wall, the crow squawks and tumbles out of the way in a flurry of black feathers. Boards creak plaintively under the blonde boy's bare feet as he stumbles to the unhinged front door.

Stepping into the dappled sunlight he raises a hand to shadow his eyes and casts a long searching gaze to his surroundings. Meticulously noting details of the landscape; position of the road, how many steps it'd take to find the water flowing where he could hear but not see, possible cover in case a dragon flew over... well in the likely, yet unlikely event of a dragon coming to visit, he mused, he'd probably be dead before he realized it was even there.

His eyes strained to pick out tell tale signs of a dragon's presence... most common of which, twinkling lights floating ethereally, harmlessly over water.

Willow wisps, the bright sparking balls of light, tinkling with unearthly bell like melodic movements; they float serenely above streams and cave entrances. Moving water attracts them, echoes attract them, but mostly, Dragons attract them. Dragons and willow wisps are bedfellows, both lovely, both heartless beasts. Death in a region is often caused by a dragon moving in, attracting willow wisps to follow.

Dragons, when settled into their chosen region, burrow deep into the earth, digging massive caves unhindered by building foundations or pipes or electrical wires laid down long before the crack opened in the sky and rained death on this world. Before the world was stained and changed and tainted by the otherworld's power leaking into the air, animals started talking, strange creatures were seen at night and reported to baffled officials... people started disappearing.

The boy pushes reminiscent thoughts from his mind forcefully. He cannot be caught unaware anymore. He cannot drift off into thought. He had to focus dammit. There was no sign of any willow wisps so he takes a few deep breathes then moves from the cracked sidewalk onto the gravel road. Trees grew from broken concrete and hung large leafy branches over the roads, some entangled into houses through broken windows, some trees sprouted up through a house.

Another byproduct of the otherworld's influence, plants grow at an alarming rate. Forests sprouted in neighborhoods overnight, highways were blocked by mile thick greenery from the surrounding foliage, loggers were called, the military assembled to help clear roadways, but the plants were tenacious. Ya cut 'em down, hack them to pieces and the next morning you're hindered further down by more plants.

The boy didn't really mind the odd appearance of what he was sure was once an upper class neighborhood. He liked the trees and the plants. They provided excellent shade and he'd have an easier time dodging through the forest to escape any threats than if he were caught our in open terrain.

The black crow easily kept up with the small teen's smooth wary pace. Flitting from branch to branch, the bird seemed to be grinning down at the lithe boy, if the amused sparkle in black beady eyes was anything to go by.

The boy studiously ignores the stalking crow in favor of finding breakfast. His eyes dart to a flicker of unidentified movement and he freezes mid step.

For 45 seconds he doesn't move a muscle, eyes locked on the ridiculously large emerald green snake shifting effortlessly from tree limb to limb, moving through the canopy without a care. Then slowly the boy steps back, eyes never leaving the snake, he retreats till he is safely hidden from view behind a tree trunk.

The crow makes no noise, only sits perched on a tree limb right above the boys head, watching the snake's progress with those shiny bead eyes.

The snake was easily the length of two and a half teens the boy's stature. Larger, older, stronger, it was not prey, it was a threat. And so the boy and the crow bird waited and hid till it passed.

Peeking around the tree, cerulean eyes narrow suspiciously at the oblivious snakes departing form. And then in a burst of movement the boy is running in the opposite direction. The boy runs like a wolf, long loping strides covering ground in bounds and leaps, he makes very little noise. The crow mutely flutters after him.

A half mile distance is reached before the boy slows his pace. Panting lightly, the boy flops down into uncut green grass, small chest rising and falling with each breath. The crow hovers above him for a moment before descending to land on the boy's chest. Jaunty bead eyes wink at the boy's flushed face, then the crow in a stealthy yet ridiculously deliberate move snaps up a strand of the boys golden blonde hair and holds it between his upper and lower beak, blinking expectantly at the boy. Cerulean eyes roll in exasperation and then close in resignation mixed with defiance. The crow saucily jeers an odd short noise in its throat in reply before tugging viciously at the locks of hair in its beak.

"Ow! You little shit! C'mere!" flinging his hands to swat at the bird the blonde haired teen snaps his fingers closed on empty air. The crow jeers and caws it's laughter down at him from relative safety up in the branches of a tree.

"Tch, you better run ya stupid bird. Try that again and I'll have crow stew for dinner tonight."

The boy huffed and rolled over. He was aware of the aching need for sustenance spiking in his stomach made all the more pressing by the lurching grumble it emitted.

Crawk!

The boy looked up to see the crow fluttering madly on its perch, emerald scales shifting around the bird, suffocating and holding it in place.

"Get off it!" The boy cried, on his feet in seconds, he lunged to the tree and frantically tried to scrabble up the large trunk.

"No! Leave him alone! Please!" The boy could not hear the crow's muffled squawking any longer and frustrated panicked tears gathered at the edges of his eyes.

"Please death crow, don't leave me." He whimpered arms stretched, dirty hands reaching fruitlessly for the quivering branch.

"Madara, leave the beacon alone." The low commanding voice came from the shadows of a nearby gas station. The boy spun on his heel, eyes widening as a large scaled midnight head rose from behind the building. He whimpered unconsciously, intense twin smoldering eyes focused on him. The boy's legs gave way, he lurched to the ground leaning against the tree breathing raggedly through his terror, certain death was coming.

The dark dragon blinked slowly, then shifted to stalk gracefully around the gas station, it was roughly the size of a minivan from hind legs to fore legs, its neck was proportionate to his body and elegantly curved a scaly tale swept lithely behind him. When the dragon moved, its midnight black scales caught the dappled sunlight filtered through tree boughs and shimmered like colored glass, emitting surprising shades of dark greens and blues. It was the most beautiful dragon the boy had ever seen, and had it talked?

He was too terrified to really think about how strange that was. He'd never heard of the scaly monstrous beasts possessing intelligence higher than a normal animal. Though he guessed he shouldn't be surprised, if birds could randomly spout nonsensical prose than what was keeping beasts originally from the rip in the sky from possessing abnormal intelligence.

His frightened hysterical thoughts were cut short by a whoosh of over warm breathe tumbling his hair around his face, wincing his eyes watered and narrowed.

Crawk!

Perilous dragon head full of razor sharp teeth dangling overhead forgotten, the boy gasped and jerked his head up to see companion crow gazing down at him, head cocked curiously, familiar button black eyes twinkling. His face broke into a relieved smile; damp eyes widen allowing the gathered tears to tremble down the sides of his face.

The teen's expression was immediately replaced by a flinching yelp as the black dragon unfurled shadowy membrane wings. Wide cerulean eyes focused back on the imminent threat, the boy gulped and frantically fought the instinct to run. He wouldn't get far. Hopefully the talking dragon would kill him quickly. A familiar raucous bird voice cut through his fear hazed mind.

"Bright golden flamer, afraid of the big black wolf?" The boy's eyes widened when the crow fluttered down to land on his knee.

A rumbling chuckle reminiscent to a train rolling by forced the boys damp eyes up to the dragons head. Amused dark eyes glitter down on him.

"Golden flamer, he is adeptly recognized, small black beacon." The crow struts across the boy's lap, feathered chest puffed.

"Now, small flamer, a question, and please answer truthfully." the black eyes narrowed on the boys face.

"What is your name?" The boy raised a tremulous eyebrow, not sure what or who the dragon meant by 'small flamer'.

"M-me...?" the boy's voice wavers, the midnight dragon merely blinks in reply, intense dark eyes never move from fearful blue.

"um, Naruto. My name is Naruto."

The hair raises on the back of the boy's neck as the dragon emits something akin to a deep rumbled purr.

"Little golden flamer, Na-ru-to. I was beginning to wonder when I'd find you."

Chills, neither pleasant nor unpleasant wracked through the boy, he shuddered, the dragon's eyes flashed molten red, and the boy's eyes rolled to the back of his skull and he fell into oblivion, chased by echoes of the dragon's words.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, little flamer, and you are mine."


That poem thing in the beginning, yeah that's mine. I wrote it for this fic. Don't steal any part of it.