I got the idea for this story from Brutal Legends, Undertaker (WWE), Teen Titans, and (finally) Naruto. Obviously, I own none of these properties. In the future, I might include more characters. Also, if anyone has any lyrics form Brutal Legends that deals with the Drowning Doom- please send it to me. Thanks!

"Why can't they just leave me alone?" Naruto thought. He had been caught and is being beaten again by the villagers. He has known only sorrow and pain in his last five years of life. He hates that nobody pays attention to him except the Old Man, and that if the others do pay attention, they are beating him to within an inch of his life! He's lying huddled on the muddy ground as the villagers wrap up today's beating. A few desultory kicks more, then suddenly, one villager pulls out a knife and waves it in the air.

"Let's mark this demon properly!" he yells with a wild glint in his eyes.

Kakashi was on patrol when he sees a mob surrounding Naruto. His eyes quickly jump to the man with a knife held high. "HOW DARE THEY ATTACK MY SENSEI'S SON!" he thought before he quickly jumped the villager with the knife. As he plunged a kunai into the man's neck, he whipped his head around to Naruto and shouted "Naruto, RUN! I will hold them off." Naruto scrambled to his feet and, holding his stomach in pain, ran down the road away from the village, while sparing a glance at Kakashi gutting one villager while kicking another down.

Naruto did not know how long he ran, but he was no longer in the village near the angry mobs or the harsh whispers and his sorrow had not lessened. He still felt intense hatred for the villagers, even from here (where ever here was). He stumbled to a stop and took a good look at his surroundings. The first thought that came to his head was that every thing around him was dead or dying. For once, the outside matched his inside.

The trees surrounding him were an unhealthy gray and spanish moss hung off their branches in drapes of olive green. The light that managed to break though the canopy was weak and foreboding. The ground was wet and dark with a bog-like appearance. There were decaying logs lying around in tangled jumbles. Grey mist crept over the ground and swirled around like it had a mind of its own- taking on vaguely demonic looks every now and again. But what scared Naruto the most was the black water close by. It was the color of midnight and an eerie, unearthly glow surrounded around it. The surface was placid, but a sick feeling in his gut told Naruto that it was evil.

A sudden noise behind him caused Naruto to quickly turn about with a muttered "What was th…." He was cut off as his right foot hit a slippery rock, causing him to fall forward into the black water. As he splashed into the water, he noted that something wasn't quite right. The water did not feel like water he was used to. Everything felt wrong- like it was not supposed to be there.

He started to swim upwards, but something grabbed his leg. He looked down and saw a black tentacle wrapped around his leg. He kicked helplessly as more tentacles reached up from the depths and wrapped themselves around him, pulling him down into the darkness. Inside Naruto's head, the demon fox was fighting his own battle against the Darkness that was surrounding Naruto's mind. The fox demon knew he was overmatched, but he vowed that he would give them one hell of a fight for the boy.

That was the last time anyone would see Naruto in this time line.

The gray trees were still hung with spanish moss and the surface of the water was still black and placid and somehow very forbidding. Time seemed to hang still, then the gray mist began to swirl up into vague shapes- driven by an unseen and unfelt wind. A small ripple appears on the surface of the black water and spreads. Slowly a figure rises up from the lake. It is tall- standing about 6'5" and very muscular. The figure wears a trench coat that is pitch black, but ripples with something akin to life as it's darker lines move around in a liquid-like form.

The figure wears black pants with black combat boats that come up to his knee. He also wears a plain black shirt with what appears to be multiple belts going diagonally across his chest, locked in place with gleaming black buckles. Surrounding him is a living fog that ripples as he moves. On his head he wears a black hat. It's rim has a silver trim with a silver skull buckle in the middle. The figure lifts his head to reveal a face with a grayish skin tone. The whisker marks that once adorned his cheeks were gone and around his eyes were a wide black ring that touched his cheeks. His once vibrant blonde hair was now a raven black and his mouth was set in a scowl. Of all these changes, his eyes are the worst. The once ocean blues irises were now a soul-parsing black that foretold a horrible death at this monster's hands.

"Where am I?" The figure spoke each word in a rusty voice that echoed with evil and dark tones. If there was anyone to hear this, they would fall into a pit of despair and misery from which the only escape would be death. The figure looked around, then his eyes narrowed and he remembered his fall into the black lake. "OH man! I have to tell the old man!" the figure yelled out as he races off in the direction from which he ran so long ago. His coat billowing around him caused him to look down and realize his drastic wardrobe change, causing a deafening yell to echo through the trees.

MEANWHILE…

The Teen Titans were having lunch, or more precisely Cyborg and Beast Boy were genially arguing about what type of pizza to get while Starfire and Robin were actually ordering the pizza and Raven was mediating, or she was before her black energy went wild and she began screaming in agony. Starfire is the first to react "Friend Raven! Are you not well?" she yells as she flew over to Raven and knelt next to her. The rest of the group quickly followed. Raven's power spike receded and she lay gasping for breath before choking out "Power…sorrow, so much sorrow…..Black Tears." Everyone in the room, including Raven, was puzzled by her strange pronouncement.

MEANWHILE in another part of the forest…

An odd group walks past the gray, forbidding trees, following a faint trail. "Gizmo, I can't believe how much you got us lost." a pink haired girl yelled at Gizmo.

"Hey come down, Jinx! It was not Gizmo's fault we hit a tree." a massive teen spoke.

Jinx turned towards him and sighed. "Well, Mammoth. I guess you're right…… is it just me or is the forest getting even creeper?" Jinx and the others are getting a little freaked out. Then, they hear a horrifying yell echo through the forest. The gray mist swirls madly. They all tense and exchange scared glances. They began to fear they are losing it when out of the brush and fog crashes a black figure. They all draw back in instinctive fear before firming their stances into fighting postures. The figure was wearing all black and his coat swirled around him, seeming almost to be formed from black tendrils. At this point, they all let out a horrified yell.

The figure looks at them before smiling sheepishly "Oh, um, hi". The Hive students blink in surprise before the figure continues. "My name is Naruto. What are your names?" For a frozen moment, no-one moves, then slowly the group relaxes a little. They are no longer terrified of him. Scared yes, but terrified no.

Jinx steps up. "I am Jinx. The midget over there is Gizmo and the big guy is Mammoth."

As she introduces them, Naruto takes a step closer before asking "Do you guys know the way out? I'm kinda lost." Wry smiles spread among the Hive group and their hands unclenched.

Jinx smiles, then looks closer at Naruto. "You look like you could kick a. Hey, how would you like to join our group?" she asks. Naruto is shocked. This is the first time he has ever been asked to join anything.

Naruto then asks in a voice full of hopeless longing "Will any of you guys call me demon or monster?"

The Hive group looks at each other in surprise before Jinx says "Only if you want us to." Naruto eyes her cautiously, before deciding she is serious. His heart jumped, then he grabbed her by the waist and enveloped her in a hug so huge, her feet were dangling.

"Thank you so much! I never want to be called that ever again. You guys are my best friends." This was said while Jinx's face turned a shade of red she did not think possible.

Hey, I am going on a story spree so I need your help. Besides this one, I am thinking of doing Naruto as Dr. Doom and/or Naruto as Ares' son sent into the world of Myth, or finally Naruto with the ability to turn into any and all mythological creatures, so please tell me which one you want. Oh, if you are wondering- the fox demon is dead, but the fight made it so the Tears could