A League of His Own

by Garnetio Solozari

When Naruto decided to leave Konoha during the month before the Chuunin Exam Finals, he figured he'd work on the basics and try to learn a new technique. Simple, right? Nothing with Uzumaki Naruto is simple, and his nostalgic trip back to Wave swiftly turns into an epic journey that will answer a few of his oldest questions, while simultaneously creating several more.

1. Chapter 1

Gah, here we are again folks, another story by this fool~

First of all, let me say that I apologize to everyone who follows me for Guardian Enforcer and Nature's Prince, my updates have been nonexistent due to personal problems, bit more detail on that will be in their most recent chapter when they are posted.

This is a bit of a side project that may or may not be updated depending on the reception it receives from the general community. This will be an official Naruto and League of Legends crossover that will dramatically change how Naruto is involved in the canon. Abilities gained during blank periods or during off screen shenanigans are out the window. Naruto will remain a bit of a comical knucklehead, but you can bet that he will snowball into someone to be feared with time.

There will be no horrid, unrealistic bashing of any characters, even the ones that I have seething, righteous hate for. Looking at you, Sasuke-hime. If there is a strong dislike for a certain character or set of characters, I will attempt to give such dislike reasonable, structured points of reference. For instance, you will not see Naruto standing over Sasuke mouthing off at him for three paragraphs with nothing but ridiculous nicknames. There will be no all caps raging Sakura that gives people hearing impairment for the sake of cliché comedy. I think I've made my point here.

As with any good fanfiction, there will be aspects of romance. I may have hinted at one possible romance, though that can change with time. I always love to hear suggestions on this, so for the love of whatever God you dabble with… review!

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I don't own any of this, duh... well maybe the storyline, and any random origin... you know damn well you don't need to hear this! I AM A POOR MAN!

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Thirteen year old Uzumaki Naruto was not a particularly happy person at the best of times, so one can understand that finding the boy pacing back and forth across the short bridge leading to the training grounds huffing indignantly was common place. His cerulean blue eyes were blazing with untamed fury while his unruly, sunshine blonde hair seemed to writhe and flick in tune with his maelstrom of emotions. He'd been bitterly cursing the world ever since his brief meeting with the Jonin sensei assigned to his miserable team, Hatake Kakashi. He wasn't so much angry with his sensei, because Kami knows the man had no other choice in the matter. No, Naruto was angry with the world and how fate kept abusing him like he was some kind of desperate girlfriend. And like the proverbial naïve little girl he often resembled he just kept crawling back with hopes that things will look up, or at least change into another form of disappointment to break from the monotony.

Things had gone down hill the moment his team had decided to join the Chuunin Exams… well, more like things had decided to simply take the express downhill rather than the sluggish crawl it had been taking for the previous few months. Ever the happy-go-lucky moron that he was, Naruto had leapt at the chance to prove his worth by challenging the exams. He boasted a big game, I mean come on, he had mastered so many wonderful and awesome techniques… well, no, he hadn't. In fact, he had barely touched base with half of the basics since his team's return from Wave. Training schedules had been drawn up by Kakashi-sensei, but most of it had been individual study so that the man could help oversee his teammate's newest toy. While Naruto was proud to have self taught most of his best skills… well, his best skills weren't that great no matter how much enthusiasm he put into his work.

Immediately after the exams began Naruto realized something: he was utterly in over his head! Right off the bat Fate, or whatever cruel deity plaguing him, had decided that a super amazing promotional exam needed a written portion. He could practically feel Kami bending him over the table when he realized the questions sounded more like drunken ramblings. I mean, how in the world was he supposed to know when two groups of ninjas would cross paths if both were traveling along intersecting directions at different speeds? He couldn't even remember how many bowls of ramen… no, that he could remember. Regardless, it was by sheer dumb luck that he'd been able to pass along with his team after the proctor, a scary man with more scars than skin, revealed the true purpose behind the whole thing. Looking back he could only groan in embarrassment… he had made another of his obnoxious, spur of the moment speeches.

With the written portion well behind him he figured that he would be sailing smooth like a fisherman on a sunny day. That disillusion passed with the subtlety of a shuriken shaped kidney stone. Not only was the proctor for the second phase of the exam even scarier than mister 'sleeps with kunai,' this woman was unhealthily comfortable with blood play. Thank god Kakashi had given him that scroll Seduction Tactics for the Sadistic Soul or he might have been even more disturbed by the odd woman. Things did not get any better after that encounter with the 'Sensual Snake.' Pedophile of the Year and winner of Bum Bum Paradise's 'Fanny Bandit Golden Baton,' Orochimaru of the Sannin, caught his team with their pants down in the middle of the forest they used for the movie Jurassic Shinobi. One giant snake, a clash with Hannibal Lecter's biggest fanboy, and the nibble of a lifetime later, and his entire team showed up half dead to the end of the second phase.

A collection of pointless fights were the only relief from the chaos that he had suffered so far, and of course a little salt in the wound does wonders. His own fight had passed in a blur… but the end results were in his favor, regardless of how… unfortunate the situation had been. And cue another of his passionate, knuckleheaded speeches promising an ass beating to a boy with no concept of reality… probably not one of his better judgment calls, but that sweet girl… to hell with it, that guy, Neji or whatever his name is, will regret what he did to her.

Naruto slammed his fist down on the wooden railing of the small bridge and cursed as the wood shattered from the force, "Damn it! Now my hand is probably broken on top of everything else that's gone bad this week… grr!"

Naruto grumbled several obscenities while trying to ignore the pain throbbing from his hand, 'I still can't believe he can't train me this month… stupid council… hasn't Sasuke been given enough? I'm not even asking for all of his time… just a little to help guide me… I need some focus… damn my hand hurts.'

With his thoughts slowing down he let his body slump against the intact railing opposite the now smashed wood rail behind him. He let his eyes fall toward the water below where he could see his reflection clearly against the backdrop of the bright sky above. It was times like this when he was alone and feeling the weight of all his troubles pressing down on him when he let the mask fall. Two dull blue eyes stared into their watery reflection with an empty, deadened expression. He never shed any tears anymore, not since he realized no one cared about his pain. He put up a bold front for everyone else to hide this side of him… this pathetic, vulnerable… worthless side of himself.

'Worthless… pathetic…'

'No! I'm not worthless!' Life and color came back to Naruto's eyes and face as his hands gripped the rail, "I can't give up yet. I don't need Kakashi-sensei to help make me strong… I don't need anyone! If everyone just wants to see me lose then I'll just have to… damn it, I am monologue-ing a sappy speech again…" His head slammed down on the rail with a resounding thud.

---

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure, possibly the strongest senior citizen in the Elemental Nations, was having a tough day. Paperwork that morning had been hellish, in no small part due to the recent appearance of his least favorite student, Orochimaru. Endless security meetings had taken up all of his periods of free time between stacks of papers, effectively forcing him to work non-stop. His buxom secretary had called in sick forcing him to call in one of his Chuunin reserve shinobi to temporarily fill the position… and the only one available was a man. His only saving grace was the potent, rich tobacco imported from Taki. Oh, how those herbs helped keep him from losing his mind… though they do give him quite the appetite.

Just as the vapors were taking effect and dulling the throb of his headache the doors to his office opened with a resounding crash. Peeking over the large stacks of unfinished paperwork he could just barely see the mop of familiar blonde hair walking toward his desk, "Is that you, Naruto-kun?"

"Old man! The heck is that nasty smell?" Naruto's voice echoed around the obstacle currently blocking both their views of each other, "Uhh… old man, you aren't smoking your paper work, are you?"

Naruto watched the old man wave a hand about dismissively while chuckling behind the wall of work orders and mission reports, "Of course not Naruto… paperwork has been printed with fire resistant paper ever since the Shodaime burned the first Hokage tower down in…"

The blonde groaned as Hiruzen went on a little tangent down memory lane, "Listen, old man… I was wondering if I could get a pass to leave Konoha for the month."

The old Kage stopped talking for a moment as he tried to gather his wits, "Wha… a pass? You need a hall pass? You've been out of the academy for about two months or so…"

Naruto palmed his face, "Dear Kami he's smoking that stuff from Taki again… No, I need clearance to exit the village for training purposes. Just for the month."

"Clarence… that name doesn't sound like it belongs in this genre…" Hiruzen took another long drag from his pipe before blowing out smoke rings and laughing to himself.

'You've got to be kidding me right now…' Naruto briefly pulled on his hair before he stopped abruptly, his face splitting with a very foxy grin, "You just keep… doing whatever it is you're doing back there…"

Naruto stepped out of the Hokage office and walked back down the hall towards the secretary's desk. Seated there behind the desk was none other than his favorite Chuunin academy instructor: Umino Iruka. The man's face was a mask of boredom if the half lidded eyes and far-away expression were anything to go by. Naruto could hardly contain the chuckle at seeing his older brother figure mirroring the exact same expressions that he once held while listening to the man go on and on about historically significant nonsense. While he would have preferred the chance to ogle the busty brunette that normally worked the front desk, the sudden burst of nostalgia was a pretty good substitute. The satisfaction that his next move would be all the easier was also a good plus.

Creeping up behind the half asleep Chuunin was far easier than it should have been. When the young blonde was thoroughly satisfied that his former instructor was completely unaware of his presence, he reared back before shouting, "Hey Iruka-sensei~!"

"Bwah~!" Umino Iruka was a proud man. He was a ninja of the Hidden Leaf. He was a terror feared by all of his students. He was the only person not of the Akimichi in Konoha who could manipulate the size of his head. He was also clutching his heart while praying that he wouldn't need a change of pants, though he wasn't in a state to check at the moment, "Naruto! You little punk! The hell did you do that for?!"

"Sucks to be screamed at when you're half asleep, doesn't it, sensei-chan~?" Naruto asked while folding his arms behind his head and giggling viciously, patented foxy, shit eating grin plastered on his face.

"Sensei-chan…?" Iruka asked in an all too calm tone of voice, "I know where you live."

The calm tone, firmness, and finality of his words sent shivers down Naruto's spine, but ever the cocky little shit he merely grinned wider, "Them's fightin' words, ya know? Remember what happened to Oiko-sensei."

Iruka blinked in confusion as his anger slipped away into oblivion, "Oiko-sensei? Who is that?"

Naruto suddenly took on a dark look that was only more menacing as his lips never lost their grin, "Exactly."

Whether it was a malfunctioning air-conditioning unit or his nerves going wacky, Iruka was almost sure that the room felt colder. And then there were the whispered screams of terror that crept up around him, though he could see no one else nearby showing signs of hearing it. Turning his attention back to the young blonde his heart nearly leapt from his chest. The little brat had snuck up so their faces were nearly touching, "O-okay, Naruto, let's stop messing around. Why are you here? Last I checked the Hokage has no meetings today."

Naruto could tell the normally good natured man was lying pretty easily. Kami forbid the man ever play poker with anyone, he would likely walk home naked. There was no way, what with the old man currently burning through his stash of 'Taki Greens,' that there weren't any meetings. It was likely that Iruka was ordered to dissuade anyone from knowing how hectic things had become after the incident in the Forest of Death. Luckily, due to his involvement in said incident, Naruto was fairly certain that he could fool the friendly fellow into believing that he was allowed to be in the Hokage office. Before when he had stormed into the old man's room he hadn't even noticed that Iruka was seated there, and the man had obviously been… distracted so he didn't notice Naruto bustle by.

Naruto nodded to himself before adopting his usual sheepish pose and shuffling his feet, "Well, err… I kind of got called here. You know me." Naruto didn't know how to interpret the knowing look that Iruka gave him, but he pushed on, "While he was talking to me, he was working on some papers. He asked me to fetch him a… uh… Travel Pass! Yeah, one of those, hehe." Naruto put on his biggest, goofiest grins in order to further disarm the Chuunin.

"Naruto-kun, you really need to take your career more seriously, ya know? Being a Shinobi isn't about rushing around and throwing yourself into trouble…" Iruka went on and on about what it means to be a ninja of the Leaf, how important it is to remain professional, how exhausting it must be for the old man to deal with his shenanigans… it was getting ridiculous. Regardless of that, Naruto could see the disappointment Iruka was feeling by the look in his eyes. This whole thing had started as a ruse to try and secure legal permission to escape the hell hole of Konoha, but now Naruto couldn't help feeling like Iruka was deliberately trying to hurt him. Of course the man wasn't doing that, he was way too noble, hell the man had taken a hit for him the night after graduation. It was the complete acceptance that Naruto had been called to the Hokage's office for some form of reprimanding that struck the kid.

Iruka let out a small sigh while shaking his head and wearing a small sympathetic smile, "Anyway… let me get that form for ya. Did he mention how long the Travel Pass was supposed to last? A destination in case we need to call them back in?" The Chuunin knew that the Sandaime and Naruto were close and that if the boy was sent he might likely have told him such details, as long as it wasn't something too serious.

Naruto almost lost his composure when Iruka asked his questions. It was a fine stroke of luck that he had even bought the lie, but this… this was incredible! Naruto could easily slip right out of the village and no one would be the wiser! The only problem was… where the hell was he going? He couldn't just go anywhere, that could cause quite a damn mess. He could lie… but then, what if he did and they sent someone to fetch him in an emergency and he wasn't there? There weren't a whole lot of places he had been, and even less places where he knew… people…

A light snapped on in his brain as inspiration stuck him like a wrecking ball in a china shop. Where could he go where he was familiar with the territory? Where did people who wouldn't turn him away live? Where could he go to train in secret that was perfectly safe for him?

"One-month Travel Pass to Wave Country!"

---

"Ayame, you want to grab this garbage and take it out back?" An older voice called out from the kitchen of a small shack in the Market District.

A young woman standing out front leaning on the counter let out a small huff when she heard her father calling out his request. Ichiraku Ayame was a slender young woman of about seventeen years who worked in the small shack selling ramen with her father, the older gentleman in the back currently yelling about the garbage. Working in the food service industry left the young woman with little choice in outfit, thus she was normally seen wearing a loose robe with various colored aprons tied snug about her waist. She found her wardrobe a bit lacking, as would most young women, but her love for her work overrode her desire to look pretty. Regardless, she kept her hair tied back in a high ponytail with various bandannas with a bit hanging down her right cheek. It helped accentuate her cute face, and it contrasted very nicely with her fair skin.

Instead of answering verbally Ayame chose to just act, considering the lack of customers it would at least give her something to do. Appearing in the back just before her father was preparing to holler again she gave the man a mock glare, which he answered with a nervous chuckle. Ichiraku Teuchi was a handsome gentleman who was rarely ever seen without his trademark smile. As one would expect he held himself with the air of a true chef, regardless of his humble choice in cuisine. Brown hair to match his daughter's was hidden well beneath his chef's cap to protect the sanctity of his precious ramen. Most had no idea what his eyes looked like behind his charismatic smiling countenance. As with most quality chefs the man wore a spotless, tightly tied white robe with folded sleeves and a very messy apron.

Sure enough the bin was practically overflowing with discarded waste and broken supply boxes. Ayame gave a small sigh, "I swear, why don't you ever let me know to take out the trash before Yami has a chance to curse it?"

"You know I don't have time to stop while I am creating perfection! If I turn away for even a second, imagine what might befall my beloved ramen? I… also forget to check…" Teuchi had started strong with a blazing fire in his eyes, though eventually he cowed before the small, albeit intense, glare his beloved daughter sent his way. That was something she most definitely inherited from her mother, Kami watch over her.

Ayame let her boiling stew of ire simmer down to a slightly agitated broth before letting out a soft sigh, "Sometimes I think you're going senile early dad…"

The girl got to work tying the bags and tossing all the recyclable bits into an old milk crate as her father spoke up with vigor, "Nonsense my little ramen fairy, this is the Food of the Gods, Ramen from Heaven, Ambramen! Through it I will live forever, hahaha~!"

Ayame hefted the bag over her shoulder with a small huff before grabbing the crate and heading out the back door. As her father's laughter echoed behind her and was soon muffled by the closed door she couldn't resist the smile on her face. He might be a bit eccentric at times, but Teuchi was a good man and a wonderful father. Most people, particularly the male shinobi population in Konoha, had called the man a bleeding heart. Teuchi would give away free food to the needy, offer his stall to people caught in bad weather without demanding their business, and often times offered council to his customers whenever they were feeling down. If you were to ask Teuchi about it he would wave it off and tangent off about ramen being holy or something else ridiculous. In reality, a lot of young shinobi in Konoha owed their lives to the man for lending an ear when they needed someone most. Talking about your troubles is always best done over a warm bowl of food rather than a warn saucer of sake.

Thinking about how much the old ramen chef helped the people of Konoha eventually led her to thinking about a certain blonde knucklehead, and her already present smile spread even further. Teuchi had really helped keep little Naruto on the right path. The boy had just showed up one night during a particularly terrible thunderstorm. She was eight at the time so she wasn't allowed in the kitchen, but she was helping out the shop by sitting on one of the stools at the bar and drawing pictures of noodle bowls for her daddy's advertisement posters. Just as Teuchi was closing up the front shutters for the night the man noticed some sniffling that was barely audible over the rushing wind and crashing thunder. Naruto, only four at the time, was sitting out in the rain under the very little overhang their shop provided and he was soaked right to the bone.

Teuchi was no idiot, he knew exactly who the boy was and what the people thought of him… but he had always been a firm believer in the stupidity of people. A person is smart, capable of rationalization and understanding. People are dumb, panicky, jumpy and prone to a hive mind mentality where the masses believe in one understanding without giving thought to it. The Ichiraku had always been agnostics because of their unwillingness to let others' ideals sway their personal beliefs if they could perceive that something was askew. Instead of seeing the hell spawn that had taken the lives of hundreds of people, he saw a sad, frightened, and clearly starving little boy in need. That night Ramen Ichiraku stayed open late and Teuchi made sure to fill that little boy's tummy with as much warm ramen as he could guzzle down. When the morning came and the sun finally won out over the rain, a friendship that would last a life time had been formed between an old man, a sweet girl, and cute little blonde brat.

Ayame was brought out of her musings as she bumped into someone on her way to the garbage piles in the back alley. As with many areas of the Market District there were large back alleys where carts could pull up to drop off shipments of supplies to different shops and food shacks without messing up the foot traffic of the main road. Along each back alley were designated spots where rubbish and recyclables were placed to remove the threat of stench near the shopping areas, and also making pickup a breeze for the garbage crew. The only real flaw of the alley system were the ruffians who wandered about in the darkness to avoid the eyes of the patrolling Shinobi Police Force. Ayame found her path barred by three shifty looking men, all older and larger than her, and they were each wearing grins that made her feel unquestionably uncomfortable.

Steeling her nerves she decided to try and talk her way out of this, "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I need to take these to the garbage."

The man whose chest she had bumped into smirked rather viciously, "Take it easy girl, pretty sure you can make it up to me easily enough."

"A little bump like that seems pretty small to expect restitution…" Ayame tried to make her way around the men only for them to follow her movements and block her escape.

There is one golden rule when dealing with ruffians, vagabonds, and altogether bad men… never, ever, use words that are more than three syllables long. Unfortunately, no one had ever given Ayame that particular handbook, which is exactly why she was unaware that she had just poked the lion, "Ya know… daddy doesn't like his baby girl to be so uppity… makes him think she feels like she is better than him. You know what happens when baby girl is bad?"

The brunette was in no way a trained ninja, but she her civilian raised mind could detect the ill intent rolling off of these men. With no way of escape she took a moment to look over each of them a bit to see if she could spot anything that could help her. The ring leader, or at least the one speaking, was about a head taller than her making him about six feet tall with dark brown hair. He was wearing a dark blue shirt and brown pants. His feet were covered in a pair of dark brown leather boots. All together, his height was the only really intimidating thing about him. She could just barely see a lump in his pocket that could be a knife, but he was clearly so full of himself lording over a young girl to weild it. His partners were wearing identical sets of clothing, though their shirts were green and grey. Green shirt had a bald head with a scar on his scalp that shone brilliantly in contrast to his pale white skin. Grey shirt had shaggy black hair that stuck out at angles only hair gel could accomplish. Neither of them looked to be carrying anything on them, though their large fists were more than enough to hurt her if they sought to.

Blue shirt stepped forward and with a swipe of his arm he tore the crate of cans and folded boxes out of her hand. Debris from the craft crashed across the dirt floor of the alley as Ayame gasped. The bag she was carrying was yanked hard enough for her to yelp as her arm that had been holding it over her shoulder was taken for the ride and hurt her shoulder from the jerking. Ayame felt her arms being gripped by two rough hands and hot breath rushed passed her right ear. She felt her stomach turn as she smelled the stench of cheap sake and rotten sushi. Blue shirt was smirking smugly while he admired her front, his eyes lingering far too long on her mostly developed feminine figure. Ayame wanted to scream, to shout, to cry out for anyone nearby, but her fear was racking her body. The leader of her attackers saw her fearful eyes glisten with budding tears and it only seemed to excite him more.

He stepped up closer to the ramen waitress and with a quick grab he held her chin in his fingers while looking right into her eyes, "Can't even talk, huh? Must be some kind of closet slut that only just realized how she wants to be handled… almost a shame to have to share… but that's how you like it, isn't it baby girl?"

Fury. Feminine, righteous, untamable fury rose up in Ayame as this despicable pervert demeaned and degraded her. No one, no one, called a woman something like that and got away unscathed. As the bastard rubbed his filthy thumb across her cheek and lips while his comrades chuckled and laughed, she took action. As swift as the wind she twisted her face around and in an act that she would later regret due to hours of having to brush her teeth, she bit down on his thumb with all the might of an alligator. She had been aiming to take the digit, but sadly her swift movement left much to be desired in terms of accuracy, so she settled for the satisfying chunk of flesh that she was able to rip off the bastard. She immediately spat the offending flesh from her lips with a dry heave as the sickening taste of iron overwhelmed her.

"Fuck~! This whore bit off a piece of my Kami damned finger! You stupid, stupid slut! Screw plowing her, cut her damn throat!" Blue shirt hollered before moving to back hand Ayame with his good hand.

Ayame knew then that she was going to be in a lot of pain. There was no avoiding this, even if she were able to scream for help. These men were likely to slit her throat and escape while people scrambled to summon aid from patrolling ninjas. Her current situation told her the nearest ninjas were obviously far enough away to not notice the crime already taking place. They would likely beat her first, and then they would kill her, or worse… her eyes closed tightly in preparation for the pain that would tear through her face as the man lifted his hand up. Moments passed and she felt nothing. And then, her would be molester screamed for a brief second before his voice was silenced into incoherent gurgles. More of the foul scent of blood filled her nose before she slowly opened her eyes, and what she saw filled her with equal parts hope and disgust.

---

Naruto was so incredibly happy with how things were starting to look up. Sure, the day had started a bit rough, but now that he was all set to leave Konoha for a month he had no regrets. Getting the old man to sign the Travel Pass was child's play, and the fact that his special tobacco had spread enough to effect his ANBU detail was a godsend. He had to wonder how their masks didn't filter out the toxins from the tobacco, but that was something he would investigate later on. Afterward he went right to his apartment to fetch his travel bag and all of his valuables. Besides his precious gama-chan and assorted pictures of his few friends, all he had were a limited edition ramen bowl that he bought about three years prior, and a hand stitched patch of cloth with a swirl that he had been given as a small boy by the old man. He'd used the pattern to copy onto all of his shirts as a way of staking claim on the symbol if he could ever get enough fame to start his own clan.

With several spare sets of clothes and what little stockpiled food he had left in his bag with his valuables he set out to get one last lunch at his favorite place in the world. Ramen Ichiraku was a beacon of light in the otherwise bleak and miserable world that he lived in. He'd been visiting the place since he was four and if he was completely honest with himself it was the only place that tethered him to life. There had been plenty of times during his lonely nights when he contemplated just ending it all. Pretty dark world that forces a child so young to want to leave it that badly, but obviously he had never found the will to do it. And it wasn't the old man keeping him straight, or his love for Konoha, which was laughable in and of its self. Teuchi and Ayame, the only remaining Ichiraku in Konoha, were the only thing keeping him alive, and it wasn't their ramen, though he would never tell Teuchi that.

Naruto loved Teuchi like the uncle that he never had. He wanted to view the man as a father, but ultimately Naruto could never fit the man into that role. Teuchi was never a stern man with him for longer than a few minutes at a time, and then he would switch gears into his usual jovial self singing praises to the Ramen Gods, regardless of the awkward stares he would get. Like an uncle he would often spoil Naruto with free ramen even if the boy had the money to pay for his meal. And then there was Ayame… Naruto had the most immeasurable, unequivocal, unabashed crush on the older girl. When they were little she was the one to teach him how to read and write after it was clear his instructors weren't doing their job. She taught him how to properly do his laundry so he would stop ruining his whites. She was the one to hold him whenever he couldn't stop himself from crying during his visits to Ramen Ichiraku. In a way, she was almost his everything, and he made sure that she had no clue.

There was no way in hell that Naruto would ever give anyone any reason to hurt Ayame, even if he had to act like a complete moron around her to push her away into a much safer sisterly role. He pretended to be clueless with girls in order to keep anyone from realizing how much he cared about the older girl. One would think that a harmless little crush, an innocent fancy of youth, puppy love… there was nothing wrong with it, right? When you have an entire village that pretends you do not exist, a village full of people who scorn you and glare at your back whenever you pass by, a village that would celebrate your death with a grand festival… would you want any of those people to know you might like someone, maybe love them? It would be better for her to keep her at arms length, no matter what.

As Naruto leapt across the roof tops over the alley ways to avoid the roof traffic of his fellow ninjas his hearing caught a string of curses and agitated yelling. He stopped on a dime when he caught sight of three shady looking men surrounding a shorter person, likely a civilian woman. None of them were ninjas, though the thugs looked pretty dangerous for any normal person. A cruel part of life was understanding that men like them existed in every dark corner of the world, even in places that were so proud of their morals like Konoha. Regardless of whom these men were harassing, Naruto wasn't going to let this kind of thing slide on his watch. He was just about to put his bag down before his eyes finally honed in on their victim.

Thump, thump…

Brown hair… white robe…

Thump, thump…

Fair skin…

"Ayame…" Something snapped in Naruto's mind when he saw her. When he saw the man ready to strike her, he felt his body grow warm, and his heart was beating rapidly.

What do you fight for? Why do you get stronger? The only way to truly grow strong… precious people.

Naruto had already thrown the weapon before his mind caught up with his body. He'd never been so accurate with his kunai and shuriken even after hours of practice when he was younger. Now, in a move faster than his body had ever been capable, he had thrown a shuriken with accuracy that even the mighty Uchiha Sasuke would have a hard time tracking with his precious baby Sharingan eyes. The blade caught the man in the neck with such force that the steel star had nearly cleaved right through to the other side. As he fell, the other men leapt into action while frantically searching the area for their attacker. The one holding Ayame threw her to the ground where she let out a pained yelp, her hand landing on some discarded glass from a crate nearby, possibly the recycling from the ramen shack. That did it.

Down below, Ayame was so surprised by the death of her attacker that she was unprepared to fall face first into the ground. Her instincts told her to cushion her fall with her hands, but that ended up doing more harm than good as her right hand was sliced open by a shard of glass from a broken sake bottle. She heard the men behind her scuffling about trying to spy their new enemy. She was aware it was a ninja, and thanked Kami for their timely arrival. She didn't care who it was, so long as she was safe from these men and their horrid plans to use her. The next words spoken by the two men brought her to reality and the hope she had before soared even higher.

"Fuck, it's the demon brat, look!" Grey shirt had finally spotted the boy atop the nearby shop roof wearing that god awful orange monstrosity. How the hell did it take him that long to spot the kid?

"He won't catch us off guard now that we see him, so let's go an-" Green shirt never got to finish his sentence as he was thrown forward by a flying kick from behind.

Grey shirt spun around and saw the blonde brat doing a back flip to get back to his feet from the sloppy drop kick he'd used on his comrade. Growling, the man lashed out with an even sloppier punch relying on brute strength to attack the boy. Let it be known that Naruto was never the best Taijutsu user in Konoha, but even his sloppy form and low Genin speed were enough to evade the thug's attacks. Grey shirt overextended a punch meant to drill through the blonde's head and met air. Naruto took the opening, crouched down, and then pushed off the ground to deliver the world's most earth shattering uppercut to the hulking man above him. The sickening crunch was enough to make Naruto gag, but the adrenaline was pushing him though his struggles. When the man landed his neck received the punishing brunt of gravity's unforgiving pull. It was likely the man would never get up again, but Naruto had no mercy for the man. With a puff of smoke, that Naruto vanished from sight.

The real Naruto was dancing around the thug in the green shirt when an unusual sense of satisfaction washed over him. It wasn't enough to distract him from the sluggish punches and kicks sent his way from the scumbag in front of him. He could tell the man was used to ending his fights quickly when he heard him panting and smelled the thick musk of sweat growing in the air. The blonde dodged one last attack while moving into the man's guard to deliver a punishing blow to his family jewels. Sure, it was a low blow, but considering what he was likely hoping to do with those… Naruto suddenly slammed another punch into those offending organs before grabbing the man by his collar. With all the force of an angry gorilla he sent the man into the wall nearby sending spider webs of cracks around the impact.

Green shirt was in so much pain that he could barely muster the strength to remain conscious. With all the willpower he had left he opened his eyes to stare into the cold and unforgiving blue eyes of Uzumaki Naruto. He took a shallow breath in order to speak in stuttered words, "D-Demon… monster…"

Naruto let all of the emotions he was feeling release in a single punch to the man's chest effectively crushing his ribs and piercing his heart with the sharp shards of bones. As the man died slowly with his heart pumping blood into his chest cavity, he could just hear the boy speaking softly while darkness consumed him,

"I may be a demon… but at least it wasn't my choice. You chose to be a monster… and monsters deserve to be destroyed." The words brought painful memories from his past, but they were oddly satisfying when spoken to the piece of trash in front of him.

Ayame was watching from where she had fallen on the ground, not having the wherewithal to stand up. She had just seen three men brutally destroyed in less than a minute by a young boy she had always seen as a sweet and innocent kid. Naruto… the bundle of sunshine that brought life to their dull little ramen shack every day… had just killed for her. Her emotions were in a whirlwind of confusion as she let her eyes focus on the blonde boy currently standing over the crumpled body on the alley floor. She had just seen three deaths, three very harsh deaths to be sure, so a part of her felt sick. Then came the relief of being saved from a fate that far too many young women suffered every day, and knowing that the men would never be able to hurt someone like her ever again. And finally there was the morbid fascination with the oddly romantic feeling surrounding the whole event. There she was, a damsel in distress, no hope at all, when a knight in… orange armor swept in and unleashed righteous fury on the criminals to save her life. She might have blushed if she wasn't so conflicted.

As the adrenaline started to die down Naruto became all too aware of what he had done. Three men were dead… three men had died cursing his name. He looked down at his hands and even though they were perfectly clean, he could see blood. He fell to his knees and promptly lost control of his stomach. His vision blurred as each heave left his body feeling weaker and weaker. He could faintly hear a woman calling his name, a sweet voice that brought a brief smile to his lips. Colors and shapes swam slowly before he lost consciousness.

---

The first thing that Naruto became aware of was a chilling wetness that was saturating his clothes. The strange thing about the wetness was that he could tell he wasn't wet, even as his clothes grew cold and heavy with some kind of liquid. He couldn't smell anything, not even his own normal scent, which frightened him into opening his eyes and launching his body forward. He retched once as his head swam and he grew dizzy, but when he recovered his eyes grew wide in shock. Somehow he wound up in some kind of disgusting, dark sewer. Looking down he let loose a groan of frustration seeing his body waist deep in what was quite likely the filthiest water he had ever seen. It was about that time he realized that his entire body had been sautéing in the filth cocktail for Kami knows how long, and yet his upper body was dry. He stood up slowly and as each part of his body escaped the murky liquid he felt himself become dry, though somehow he knew he had simply never been wet.

"Okay… creepy sewer place where water is dry… the hell is wrong with you Uzumaki? Got to get it together…"

Naruto was broken from his self pep-talk by the sound of eerie growling coming from further down the sewer tunnel. As he looked around all he could see was utter darkness and that was something he could definitely do without, "Okay, this place could use some lights… like torches or-"

As the boy spoke the walls seemed to flex and blur before torches appeared out of solid metal. Each one was placed perfectly to cover just the right amount of space before their glow would start to dim. As if guided by his thoughts each torch burst to life with a warm orange glow illuminating the unimaginably long tunnel on either side of him. He saw no end to the flood waters plaguing his soggy feet and cursed his luck. Once again his silent prayers were answered as the water sank into drains spaced far enough apart to efficiently drain any possible floods. With the new light and lack of water it looked more like a creepy prison than a sewer.

"Hmm… not as dim as I thought… though still pretty useless."

Naruto leapt and spun around as the deep and booming voice echoed around him, "Who's there?!"

Naruto felt the entire place rumble as he heard the same growl from before echo against the iron walls. Unlike last time this was more menacing, "Come, come and see…" The strange request sounded amused, and was swiftly followed by a loud and unnerving cackle that sent shivers down Naruto's spine.

The walls seemed to shiver and morph as what was once a nearly endless tunnel to his right became much shorter. The newly reshaped tunnel ended close enough for the blonde to see a set of rusted metal stairs reflecting bits of light from the torches hung nearby. Ever the brave fool, Naruto walked down the hall listening to his footsteps on the cold stone floor. At the foot of the stairs he hesitated and listened as the loud and rough voice beckoned him further in. Swallowing his fear, Naruto climbed the steps into what he could see was a much larger room with only two torches illuminating the arch of the door he had just passed through. Looking around the darkness of the room he felt an odd foreboding, though he ignored it in favor of his curiosity. Spinning around during his small tour he felt his back bump into some kind of large wooden bar. When he turned it was just in time to feel a massive shock wave slam into his body and sent him sprawling back. When he had regained his bearings he saw the cause of his sudden displacement.

"I'm not really much for gambling… but I would put some Ryo down on you being the Kyuubi." Naruto said while getting back to his feet.

Standing just on the other side of the massive bar that Naruto had backed into was a massive for-like being with several thrashing tails buffeting the floor behind it. Naruto found it difficult to imagine this creature as a nine-tailed-fox simply because the thing had way too many non-foxy qualities, "I see your observational skills are as spectacular as ever…"

"What's with the bunny ears?" Naruto asked rather bluntly.

Said ears quirked in a very agitated fashion as the massive creature leveled his head to stare into the eyes of his container, "…What did you just say?"

"Well, you're supposed to be a big fox, so I was imagining these small, more triangular ears…" As if on cue Naruto sprouted a pair of classic fox ears which he could feel pushing his hair around. After inspecting them carefully he smiled and pointed to them, "Like these, see? Yours are all long like a bunny. Or would you prefer rabbit? Oh, maybe hare?!"

The overly large beast thrashed against the bars of his hell hole, "You little bastard! You dare mock me?! Do you have any idea what I could do to you!?"

Naruto by that point had his pinky in his still present fox ear cleaning it of imaginary wax, "Not sure if my parents were married so ya got me, yes I dare, and technically those bars seem to be doing a fine job of making sure you can do nothing to me."

'This little bastard is still mocking me…' The nine tailed beast was absolutely livid as he sat his massive haunch down with a resounding crash, "Incredible, you little cockroach… you have managed to gain my full ire within five minutes of out first meeting. I do not know whether to be impressed by it… never mind, my hate for you is so intense that there is no room for any other emotion in my entire being."

"Not sure what ire is, but I'm going to assume its bad. Whatever, not really a goal of mine to please you, oh mighty caged bunny-chan." Naruto pulled his finger from his ear with a resounding pop that would have been comical had he not been doing it deliberately to anger the fox, "Not that you're in the mood to answer questions right now, but if you were feeling generous… where the heck am I?"

"If I were feeling generous I would tell you that this is a place referred to as a Mindscape, which is something that only Jinchuriki and masters of mind arts can boast an understanding of. You can figure out its functions on your own…" The red beast grumbled lowly while laying its head down slowly to rest on giant paws, "You wound up here when you suffered severe emotional trauma. Believe me when I say that I was not pleased to find you invading my personal space…"

"Emotional what?" Naruto rubbed his chin as he thought about what the beast meant before he came to a sudden realization, "Oh right… I just murdered three people in a back alley."

"You found your mate in danger and you protected her. There is no remorse to spare for filth that threatens one's vixen. Either get your priorities straight or forget about becoming a shinobi altogether. Your kind kill one another for pettier things than this…"

Naruto wasn't particularly sure what the monster meant by mate, but he was vaguely aware of the meaning behind the whole thing. Ayame was in danger, and those men deserved no mercy for their crime. Haku, rest his soul, had tried to help him understand this before his untimely death at the hands of Kakashi. In that moment where someone he considered one of his most precious people was in danger he lost all of his inhibitions and acted on pure instinct. He found strength he never knew he had in that instant, and with it he saved Ayame. The thought brought a small smile to his lips, and though the guilt of killing those men was still there, he would not regret his actions again. Looking up at the large beast he gave one of his foxy grins and a thumbs up as his body began to fade.

"You probably didn't mean to… but you really helped me out there, bunny-chan. Thank you…"

The great fox demon let a single eye open lazily to peer into the after image of his container before huffing indignantly, "I might actually like the little bastard if he weren't so insufferable… also, I can never let him speak that horrible name in front of Matatabi, or Kami help me…"

---

Naruto found the experience of waking up slowly becoming a bit monotonous as the day wore on. If it weren't for the pleasant aroma of ramen in the air and the incredibly comfortable pillow he would have probably cursed his misfortune. As it were, this particular awakening was pleasant enough to let last as long as he could pretend to be asleep. As he adjusted his head so that he could bury his face into his wonderful pillow he caught a new scent that quickly overwhelmed the ramen in the air. This scent was sweet… it reminded him of the vanilla tea that the old man would drink whenever the two of them met up for breakfast on Sundays. He knew he'd smelled it somewhere else, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. In an effort to get another whiff of the scent he buried his face into the pillow as deep as he could and took a few sniffs. A small giggle alerted him to his surroundings and helped to jolt his memory back to full capacity.

A younger Ayame was excitedly going on and on about her father allowing her to wear perfume now that she had become a teenager at thirteen. She offered her wrist to a young Naruto so that he could smell it and his eyes glazed over a little. Her giggles woke him from his small stupor in time for him to cheer dramatically for his sister figure, "You smell delicious Ayame-nee!"

As the memories of his younger voice echoed though his head he dared to open his right eye and peek out at the world around him. A quick scan told him he was in the small storage room built into the back of Ramen Ichiraku. The kitchen nearby was abuzz with activity as Teuchi was no doubt hard at work maintaining the cooking and the waiting. He knew the old man was probably doing both jobs the moment his eye turned to view his pillow… or pillows. There, right in front of his face and pressed against his cheek, was the developed chest of his favorite ramen waitress in the world, a white robe the only barrier he was aware of between his face and their... His brain decided to go off for several seconds as all of the blood in his body rushed to his skin so that his entire face lit up in a heavy blush. Without calm and rational thought his body reacted on instinct ingrained into him by every interaction he'd ever had with a woman: he panicked.

The boy flew away from the waitress like lightning before cowering in a ball at the foot of the mattress they were on. He was only slightly aware that the two of them were on the futon Teuchi kept in back for nights when the late crowd kept him busy passed closing and he didn't want to chance walking home. He was in a low bow with his face pressed into the mattress and his eyes closed tightly. His hands were held together at the palms in hopes of painting a picture of remorse and pity. His entire body was shaking as he awaited the thrashing Ayame would give him for his actions. Imagine his surprise when Ayame suddenly lifted him up from his deep bow to hug the life out of him. His clumsy mouth was opening and closing in an attempt to articulate something, but before he could make a fool of himself he felt her body start to shiver.

Naruto knew what was happening, at least he thought he knew. Ayame, sweet and innocent as she was, was crying against his shoulder with her arms holding onto him tightly. Naruto remembered all of the times that he'd been in her position crying his eyes out into her shoulder. The blonde wrapped his arms around Ayame slowly so that he wouldn't shock her, and then he gave the young woman a warm squeeze to assure her that he was there. He didn't know how long she wept, nor did he care really, what mattered was that Ayame wanted to be held and he would never refuse her. In time her sobbing calmed down and then finally she let her arms loosen enough for Naruto to sit back a little and look down into her face. Her face was red, as were her eyes, though she was still as beautiful as she always was.

"Thank you…" Ayame's voice was much softer than he ever remembered hearing. She sounded several years younger than she was. That innocence was still there, thanks to him…

Naruto gave her one of his rare genuine smiles full of warmth and affection, "Any time, Ayame-chan."

Whether it was the radiance of his smile or the use of such an affectionate honorific she didn't know, but she couldn't help feeling all of her anxiety and fear fade away. She let a choked giggle escape as she settled into Naruto further, enjoying simply having someone to hold onto. If she were completely honest with anyone she had a little crush on the younger teen, though she wasn't much in the mood to think much on it after what happened earlier in the day. Even though she had gotten away without those men actually committing the act she still felt dirty… tainted. A thousand and one doubts had been plaguing her all afternoon as she held the sleeping blonde. Who would want her when she had been touched by those savages? Would Naruto look at her differently knowing how weak and powerless she'd been? That smile of his though… it washed away all those negative thoughts like the first spring rain.

"Ayame-chan… I'm sorry if what I did… if I disturbed you earlier. I wasn't thinking, I just acted on instinct and-" Naruto tried to explain away his crimes in hopes of repairing whatever was left of their relationship but he was interrupted by Ayame's soft fingers pressing on his lips to silence him.

The young waitress sat up slowly until her head was a little above his own thanks to her greater height. She let her hand fall as she looked into his eyes with a tear streak smile that nearly broke his heart as much as its beats to skip, "No, Naruto-kun, don't apologize for anything… what kind of hero apologizes to the princess for slaying the trolls, huh?"

The lingering doubts left behind after leaving the fox's domain left Naruto as if he'd been holding his breath and was finally allowed to exhale. He would have said something, a bit of gratitude for her kind words, a small joke to settle the mood, something naïve and idiotic which was the most likely… but he never got the chance as her next move left him stunned. Ayame held both his cheeks in her hands with her thumbs gently caressing the faint whisker marks that adorned his face. In the next second his breath caught in his throat when he felt her warm lips touch on his forehead. If it were possible then Naruto's ears would surely have been spewing out high pressure steam as his eyes glazed over. A moment later he fell over unconscious with a goofy grin on his face.

The whole thing left Ayame in a fit of gentle laughter as she held onto the limp young teen in her arms, "Boys…"

---

The next morning found Naruto standing before the imposing man that was Ichiraku Teuchi. Not a word had been spoken between the two of them since the boy woke up with the man staring down at him though narrowed eyelids. Naruto wasn't sure how badly he was going to be torn into for killing those thugs the day before, but as long as he wasn't banished from the ramen shack then he would willingly take whatever old man Teuchi sent his way. When the older man made his move Naruto stood strong and didn't flinch, which was good because it would have been awkward for Teuchi to try hugging him if he had moved away. Yes, Naruto was being smothered in the overzealous arms of a very enthusiastic father while trying to avoid being soaked by the rivers of tears flowing down the chef's cheeks.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you my boy~! I always knew the Ramen Gods sent you my way for a higher purpose! After years of nurturing your body and soul with the Food of the Gods I finally see… you saved my sweet Ayame-hime my boy! I can't express how grateful I am… how thankful…" Teuchi's voice lost its youthful vigor as he finally let the mask break down to reveal the kind hearted, simple father buried beneath his ramen lust façade. Being a single father he always had to be strong enough to cover those extra bases that his wife was no longer around to handle. To cope with his stress he developed the man who most knew behind the counter: happy-go-lucky Teuchi with his eccentricities and his obsession with ramen. Beneath it all he was just another man trying to be a good father and make his wife proud by raising his baby to be someone great. No one ever asked how he was handling it all, just so long as they got their quick lunch or dinner. Right then as he broke down while holding onto the young boy that he had practically helped raise along with his little girl and the Sandaime he let it all out, he let the wall down, and he thanked Kami that she had delivered that little four year old child to his shop. Without him, he might not have Ayame anymore.

Naruto couldn't help the single tear that fell while he held onto the emotional older man, "Like I told Ayame-chan, any time. I promise, and you know me old man."

Teuchi stood up slowly before wiping his face with his apron, "Hai, I know you Naruto-kun… you never go back on your promises." A bright smile spread across his older face before he clapped his hand down on the boy's shoulder, "Come, get some ramen in you, you slept right passed lunch and dinner yesterday. All you can eat, on the house."

"All right old man, you're the greatest!" Naruto exclaimed while whooping in joy. Teuchi simply laughed at the blonde's enthusiasm as led the pair of them out of the storage room and out into the kitchen. Naruto was quick to dash out of the kitchen and around the luncheonette to snag his favorite stool.

Ayame soon walked into the side door with her arms full of bags and when she spotted the blonde she smiled brightly, "There you are, finally awake I see." She gave a small wink before walking back into the kitchen to deposit the groceries.

Naruto wasn't sure why that little wink made him blush, and he was fairly certain he didn't want to know. Instead of dwelling on it he settled down to wait for his food while busying himself with a list of things that he wanted to work on while on his little training trip. The delay of having to wait an extra day was only slightly annoying, though saving someone he cared about was worth the lost time. He was so engrossed in his thinking that he never noticed Ayame sneaking up in front of him to lean over the counter and peek at his handy work, "What you got there?"

Naruto jumped a little before looking up and immediately blushing when he saw Ayame on her tip toes and leaning forward toward him. While her eyes were on the paper his eyes were staring down her slightly loose fitting robes that were puffed up enough for him to get a decent view down her shirt. Normally her conservative attire would be more than enough to hide such assets from view, but Ayame rarely ever had to lean so far over the counter. Before he could get caught being an idiot he shook himself out of his stupor to reply to the question she had posed moments ago, "Huh…? Oh, this! This is my first list of things I need to work on for the Chuunin Exam Finals."

Ayame's eyes lit up in realization, "Right! I never got the chance to congratulate you Naruto-kun! We were so proud of you when we heard the news!"

Teuchi walked out of the back carrying several bowls of ramen on his arms in the way that only a fine and seasoned chef could, "What's all this hollering about out here?" He grinned at Naruto when he got a small smack on the head with a light towel.

"I was congratulating our favorite customer on his advancement to the Chuunin Exam Finals, baka~!" Ayame's voice was playful as she teased her dad in their usual banter.

Teuchi smiled brightly as he remembered hearing the news from a couple of his usual Chuunin customers, "That's right, hey, congratulations brat we knew you had it in the bag the moment you came here for breakfast the morning of the first day."

Naruto put on his usual sheepish grin while trying to laugh off the praise, "Even a loser can be a winner with Ichiraku ramen in their stomachs, haha!"

Ayame gave the younger boy another small wink while beaming at the blonde, "First we'll need to find a loser to test that before we can work it into our ads, Naruto-kun."

Teuchi walked back to the kitchen the moment he heard the teasing tone his daughter used while trying to rile the boy up. That was a dangerous female weapon that no man could resist, so Kami have mercy when he died from the blood loss he was surely going to suffer. Though… the idea of his daughter boldly flirting with a boy… nah, she would never.

Naruto, completely oblivious, blushed madly regardless of his lack of comprehension. He had never been given much praise, and there was a severe lack of kindness between he and his teammates on a regular basis. For Ayame to even insinuate he wasn't a loser had set him off into feeling suddenly bashful, "Ne, Ayame-chan, you don't have to kid around ya know?"

In a flash that Naruto was certain a Jonin would be hard pressed to evade, Ayame had snatched a pair of tongs from Kami knows where and used them to grip the front of his jacket. She had him yanked nearly over the counter with his feet kicking wildly behind him in a desperate attempt to regain some kind of balance. Next thing he knew she was mere inches away from his face and looking into his eyes with a deadly glint to her dark irises. When she spoke her voice was a deadly sweet tone that dripped with venom, or high fructose corn syrup, not much difference really…

"Naruto-kun… what were you just saying?"

Naruto felt a chill as he started back into Ayame's eyes, "Oh… you know… just idle chit chat."

"Idle chit chat?"

"…Idle chit chat."

"Calling yourself a loser?"

Naruto gulped. "Calling myself a loser…?"

"Are you?"

"N-no…"

"Good, because that would be bad."

"H-how bad?" Naruto's replies were becoming more meek as the exchange went on.

"I'd have to cut off your ramen."

Naruto visibly paled while his brow moistened, "That's bad."

Ayame smiled all too innocently, "Indeed." And with that she gave his cheek a soft kiss before releasing him. The boy fell back in a messy heap on the floor, appendages at odd angles and a look of despair on his face.

"Do I want to know what just happened out there?" Teuchi asked while peeking around the door frame at his daughter where she was seated on her stool to await customers.

"Just doing my part to help boost Naru-kun's confidence and self esteem." Ayame replied sweetly causing the older man to shiver in slight fear.

---

Eventually Naruto was able to escape Ramen Ichiraku, though if he were honest he had no intention of resisting Ayame's attempts to keep him from leaving. His announcement that he would be traveling outside the village had not gone over as smoothly with her as he had first thought. He wasn't sure if it was the incident the day before or not, but the girl seemed very protective of him, almost possessive. It took several promises of weekly letters and updates to convince the girl that he could go, never mind her almost up and going with him to keep him safe. Teuchi had to put his foot down then both to help the poor boy as well as keep the girl from putting herself in harm's way. Naruto was a good boy, but he was a shinobi, and shinobi often attract all manner of trouble whenever they set foot outside their home village.

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly all things considered, Naruto's journey back to the Land of Waves was so peaceful that he had no qualms about traveling at civilian's pace. Without the constant need to keep alert for the sake of a helpless client he was able to admire the beauty of the Land of Fire along the main road. On his last trip to Wave Sakura was the only one among them with the liberty to admire her surroundings, though that had merely been her civilian tendencies kicking in at the wrong time. Eventually the girl came through for the team, but just barely. Now that he was free to behave like a child, he could see where the trees of Konoha ended and the natural forests began. He could smell the difference of scents as he neared the ocean. As he shifted between the two different regions he saw the wild life thin out and exchange for those who thrive off the more humid area near the coast. It took about a day and a half of walking to reach the border of the Land of Fire.

Naruto stopped when he saw the dense fog of the area drifting lazily to and fro, the sun above eagerly trying to break through. The distant cry of gulls in the air echoed life into the dreary darkness. Squinting his eyes he could barely make out any shapes ahead, but with time a structure slowly came into view. The boy smiled brightly when he recognized the familiar bridge, the few positive memories of his time helping build the thing with his team. With a burst of excitement Naruto ran toward the bridge before crossing at a much more sedate pace. Unlike the first time crossing the water by boat he could hear signs of life in the mist below. There were men shouting and laughing on fishing boats, the sounds of ropes and splashing as fishing nets were pulled on decks.

Naruto stopped when he found the end of the bridge, his eyes bugging out a bit when he spotted a sign above the large arch, "Great Naruto Bridge… you have go to be shitting me. That's both awesome… and really embarrassing…" The boy couldn't help rubbing the back of his head.

Out of nowhere a football flew through the air and straight into his face making him fall back on his rump with a yelp. His face grew red while he rubbed his aching nose and cheeks, "Gah, the hell!? Is something going to come flying at me every time I come to this country?!"

Just as the boy was recovering from the fall and attempting to get back to his feet he felt something slam into his midsection forcing the air out of him. He was barely aware of the loud voice crying out just before impact, "Naruto-nii!"

"Inari-kun, don't run off like that boy! The bridge is no place to pla- Naruto boy!?" An older voice called out bringing Naruto out of his daze.

Hobbling out of the fog ahead was an older man with visibly grey hair and shaggy beard, glasses on his nose, and a straw hat covering his head. Like the last time Naruto had seen him he was wearing a sleeveless v-neck shirt colored a dull blue, tan pants, and a pair of comfortable civilian style sandals. The newest addition to his ensemble was a sleeveless white haori with the symbol of Wave sewn into the left breast. Around his waist was an obi fastened slightly to the right of his gut with several tool pouches within easy reach. Now that he had come into view Naruto could see the happy grin on his face and the sign of recognition in his eyes, "Well, well, it is you, ya brat. Couldn't stay away from ol' Tazuna for long, eh?"

Naruto looked from old Tazuna down to the bundle of energy trying to squeeze the life out of him and he couldn't help his goofy grin from shining through, "What can I say, old man? Wave grew on me, hehe. Inari, you've gotten stronger since I left, haven't you?" Naruto knew it hadn't been long enough for the boy to grow much, but he definitely seemed healthier and much happier, for which he was very glad.

Inari looked up with an equally goofy grin that only a child his age could rightly get away with, "Mhm! Kaa-chan says that the Market is selling all kinds of good food now that the trade ships and wagons can get here! It's just like Grandpa always said!"

Tazuna stopped in front of the duo and loosed a booming laugh full of warmth, something that not too long ago would likely have been hollow or nonexistent, "Yes my boy, I always told you things would look up once we got this here bridge back up! Never doubt the Great Bridge Builder Tazuna!"

Naruto resisted the urge to roll his eyes, though he did crack a small smile for the old man. It seemed everyone he met was some kind of eccentric character in one way or another, "I'm glad to hear the people are doing better. I can't wait to see the town!"

Tazuna chuckled a bit darkly, "As long as we're quick. Tsunami hears you're in town and we didn't bring you right over, she'll tan all of our hides."

Inari and Naruto both shared a quick look before shivering. There was nothing quite like the fury of a mother…

Unsurprisingly the town had made a complete one-eighty from the dreadful state it had been in during his last visit to Wave. The people were full of life, smiling and laughing, children running left and right, couples taking strolls down the main road, everything was so warm. What shops had been around before were fully stocked and remodeled with fresh paint and brand new signs, and several new shops had opened up with all new manner of merchandize. Naruto noticed that a new school building had opened up where both children and adults seemed to be attending civilian courses. All in all, the people of Wave were back on their feet and making a dead sprint to a bigger and better tomorrow.

There was one thing that Naruto wasn't sure how to handle as he made his observations… everyone was staring at him. Now, as the Demon Brat of Konoha, Naruto was all too familiar with being the center of attention. Of course, that kind of attention came in the form of glares, sneers, and all manner of insulting whispered comments. Over the years he had grown used to the negativity of others and simply ignored everyone in favor of more pleasant thoughts. The people of Wave weren't glaring, or making faces, or grumbling about his stench, or cursing the ground he walked on. These people were staring at him with a mix of awe, approval, admiration, and in the case of several girls his age, affectionate curiosity. To anyone else they might feel a little bashful, but for Naruto the whole thing made him extremely uncomfortable and his companions were slowly becoming aware of the fact.

"Naruto-nii, what's wrong?" Inari asked quietly, afraid the young ninja was detecting some kind of trouble. Tazuna heard his grandson and couldn't help shake his head at the naïve child.

Naruto looked down at Inari and forced a big grin, "N-nothing, Inari, sorry for worrying you…"

The boy didn't seem convinced if his dead pan look was anything to go by, but Naruto's following nervous laugh gave him enough understanding that the older blonde wasn't going to talk about it. The elder among them smiled softly when he saw his grand child maturely leave the ninja be. It was good to see that he was capable of understanding, though it was sad to know Inari's childish curiosity had been outgrown so early in life. It was a miracle the boy was still able to run and play and have fun with his friends after everything that their people had been through… what Inari had been through. Letting his old eyes drift back to the blonde walking beside his grandson he smiled. That boy and his friends… they stopped his grandson from losing it all, and he would never be able to repay them.

Before long the trio entered the familiar yard of Tazuna's home. Inari dashed forward to quickly fetch his mother while Naruto and Tazuna chuckled at his enthusiasm. With the smallest gone Tazuna placed an old hand on Naruto's shoulder stalling his progress and causing the young teen to look at him questioningly. Tazuna let out a soft sigh before looking the boy in the eyes.

"Tell me, brat, what was that back there? You looked like you were about to be sick." Tazuna's tone left no room for evasion tactics.

Naruto could only maintain eye contact for a few moments before looking at his feet, "Everyone was watching me… I don't know how to feel about it, ya know? Like, back home everyone is usually really angry or disgusted, and I know why they do it… regardless, I am used to being hated. Those people back there were all smiling and waving… that one elderly man even bowed. I just don't get why they would act that way…"

Tazuna hummed softly, his older voice making it sound almost like a low growl, "Listen here boy… I don't know what goes on back in your village. This would be the second time that you've mentioned your mistreatment back there, and frankly I want to know why… but I will respect your privacy and not bring it up unless you do. The fact of the matter is that whatever nonsense takes place back in Konoha has no effect on the people here, you hear? You rallied these people together when not a one of them had any fight left. You brought hope to their hearts and now… now we're free, and even if you weren't the one to rid us of that monster… well, they love you. We love you, brat, for what you did for Inari. You personally saved my daughter, and you motivated that enemy ninja to change his ways and hold off that evil man and his army long enough for everyone to fight back.

You're the Hero of Wave whether you want to be or not, right up there with Kaiza and every other brave soul who fought, bled, and in some cases died to save this country. You better get used to the happy people watching you, the groups of children asking for your autograph, and even the packs of rabid teen girls hoping to sign marriage contracts with ya."

Naruto had been on the verge of tears during the entire little speech and even though it was just as cheesy as one of his own… it moved him. Thankfully Tazuna eased the mood back to normal with his last comment and a very comical wiggling of his pinky finger that caused both man and teen to burst into laughter. Naruto wiped the lone tear from his eye as his fit wore down, and then he swung his head around when he heard a feminine squeal coming from the front of Tazuna's home. Tsunami, just as pretty as she had been before he left, was glowing as she took short, quick strides across the lawn toward them. Warning bells went off just before Naruto was brought into a back breaking hug by the older woman, his face smothered into her chest in a very compromising fashion while his arms and legs flailed about in desperation.

Tazuna chuckled viciously while watching from the side as his daughter cooed gleefully, "Naruto~! It's so good to see you back! And so soon! Inari-chan hasn't stopped talking about you since you left."

Naruto went limp when the realization sunk in that there would be no escape from the valley of death, "If knife do fee you too, Funami-fan…" Inari and Tazuna were trying and failing to keep their laughter under control as they heard the blonde's muffled voice.

Tsunami finally let the boy loose only to hold his cheeks in her hands so that she could look deeply into his eyes with a scrutinizing glare. Her next few actions had him spluttering and squirming in her grip. First the devil woman somehow yanked his orange jacket off while sucking her teeth and observing the many holes and stains. When the fool lunged for his jacket he was caught in her iron grip as she examined his old shirt and all the damage it had suffered during missions and training. By the time she was done she'd snagged his entire jump suit and his shirt leaving him in only his mesh shirt, chibi fox print boxer shorts, and his shinobi sandals.

"I will be taking these and all your other clothes for proper cleaning and repairs. No arguments!" Tsunami glared menacingly at the boy who was half way to shouting, "And you need to have a proper meal, look at you! Practically skin and bones!"

"Hey now, I have muscles!" Naruto attempted to put on a gun show, but his young body was hardly developed enough and due to his malnutrition he might as well have been showing off underinflated balloons.

Tsunami watched as the young shinobi sank to his knees despondently, a mysterious cloud of dark rain forming above his spiky blonde hair, "Right… I will be inside preparing some food. Be inside before you catch a cold or so help me, the sniffles will be the least of your worries…"

"Women are scary, huh Grandpa?" Inari questioned while hiding his face behind his football.

"Well…" Tazuna started to speak before an eerie chill sent shivers down his spine. When he turned toward the house he couldn't see beyond the darkness of the front door, though a set of red eyes sparkled dangerously from within. He began to sweat before quickly replying, "N-no, Inari-kun, they just care very, very much…"

The chill lifted rather suddenly before both grandfather and grandson nodded to one another. The duo each grabbed one of Naruto's feet before dragging him toward the house. Gurgles and sad moans followed the blonde along with a visible trail of despair in the form of dark water pooling in his wake.

---

"So you'll be staying here in Wave for a month, eh boy? Have you got any plans for this training of yours?" Tazuna lifted a saucer of sake to his lips before tossing it back, a huge step up from the large gulps he once took straight from the ceramic bottle.

Naruto was eating a healthy portion of stir fried vegetables, white rice, and a side of miso soup under the watchful eyes of Tsunami. His clothes were all in the wash and would be ready by the next morning to be sure that every stain was seen to and every bit of damage was sufficiently repaired. He looked up from his bowl of soup to respond, making sure to swallow first to avoid a swat from Tsunami and her dreaded dish towel, "Nothing specific yet, just a schedule that I hope to follow as soon as I settle down. I am way behind, and I need to really buckle down and work myself to the bone. There is this massive as- butt hole…" He'd paused when he heard a small growl from behind him, "…that I need to defeat in the first round and to be completely honest… not entirely sure I can do it."

Tazuna hummed quietly while wracking his brain for anything he could offer the boy to help him alone. Wave wasn't a militaristic country so they had very little to offer in combat training and even less in terms of unique equipment to give him an edge. Tsunami chose that moment to speak up with her normal pleasant tone, "Tou-san, what about all of those scrolls you found in Gato's old weapons cache? You said you were going to leave them there until we could find proper buyers, so they must still be there."

"Tsunami-chan, you're a genius! Wait right here, boy." Tazuna corked his sake before shuffling off into a room deeper in the house.

Naruto finished off his soup with a smack of his lips and a deep, satisfied sigh, "That was so good… Gah!" He leapt when a fresh bowl was placed down along with a hunk of very fresh looking bread. When he looked around at Tsunami he could see passed her sweet smile to the mother lioness within.

"A growing boy must eat enough to remain healthy and strong, Naruto-kun. I trust we have an understanding, and I won't have to get the food processor, right?"

"A-absolutely not, Tsunami-san!" Naruto let loose a small squeak when the woman flashed next to him with grace that most kunoichi would kill for, "I-I mean, y-yosh! I'll eat every bite, Tsunami-san- Ahck! Tsunami-chan!" Naruto was eyeing a very intimidating ladle that had appeared an inch from his nose.

Once the boy had submitted and used the more affectionate term he was released from her righteously indignant aura. Knowing that the woman was nearby he dove into his fresh food with reckless abandon and even finished the vegetables he'd been given. Those were replaced just as his soup had been, but he chose the lesser of two evils and continued to eat without complaint. On the inside he was utterly confused and wondering if every woman in his life was going to be violently forceful. This of course caused several women across the elemental nations to sneeze in tandem, though none of them would ever realize this, and neither would Naruto for that matter.

Just as he was finishing up the last of his forced rations Tazune strode in with a large map rolled up under his right arm. Seeing the man's burden Naruto was quick to remove his empty dishes so that the table would be clear for Tazuna to spread out the map. Of course Tsunami snatched the dishes away and promptly replaced them with a single plate of sweet dumplings in a caramel sauce. Try as he might, Naruto wasn't in a position to protest, so he settled down to watch Tazuna struggle with the stubborn map roll that kept trying to roll back up each time he spread a corner flat. Inari watched from the side with his own little bowl of dumplings while his grandfather let loose a string of cleverly veiled curses.

"Son of a witch, piece of sheet rock… you mother thumping… gah!" Tazuna lost his temper and grabbed several items from around the kitchen to hold down the stubborn corners while everyone giggled or sniggered.

"Whoa, this is a really detailed map old man! Is this all of Wave?" Naruto asked curiously after swallowing down a large lump of his sugary treat.

Tazuna smirked while his eye twinkled in delight, "Indeed it is brat. This map was commissioned by the former Daimyo of Wave before he was exiled by Gato. The cartographer was a man known as Tadataka-sensei, the first man to map out the entirety of the Elemental Nations before his death some twenty years ago. We recovered it from that despicable mansion Gato had built after he burned the former Daimyo's palace to the ground. Thank Kami the arrogant slime ball was too lazy to actually go through his ill gotten gains, lest he might have sold this to one of those big time collectors in one of the capitals. Here…" Tazuna used his glasses to pinpoint the location carefully while keeping his hat away from the light. His wrinkled finger finally stopped beside a small picture of an ornate fountain, though the size of the little image left much to be desired, "…this is the spot where we found the cache that Gato left behind. You'd never figure there was anything there, but those of us native to Wave know this island like none other.

You'll find a waterfall there, not too big mind you, but enough to conceal a small cave behind the rushing water and mist. Inside is where we found the mess of crates and barrels full of spears, swords, and various stolen scrolls and such. Bunch of it is definitely shinobi mumbo jumbo, all of them had the symbol for Kirigakure on them. We would have sent word to them, maybe get on their good side and set up some trade deals, but that damn civil war going on over there would bring nothing but trouble our way, so we were going to wait a while before trying to sell them."

Naruto had no idea about any civil war in Kiri so he was a bit excited and prone to moving off topic, "Wait, Kiri is in a civil war? And how did a bunch of their stuff get here?"

Tazuna decided to humor the boy since he seemed so eager, "Yes, their civil war has been going on for a long while. Don't know much of the details, but refugees wandering the mainland used to talk about some kind of… genocide going on. Rule of thumb is to ask no questions if you don't want trouble, so I'm afraid that's all we know for sure. As to how that stuff wound up in that cave, Gato must have been making illegal trades with one side or the other, or he could have even been buying the stuff from the black market. Plenty of people out there would steal and sell just about anything, regardless of how dishonorable it may be."

Naruto nodded his head in understanding. To a ninja village every technique is a precious resource that must never leave the village no matter what. In Konoha alone only the most mundane and widely known techniques are even available in the Shinobi Library. Anything truly powerful is kept under heavy lock and key and can only be made available by commissioning a copy from the Hokage. There are a lot of steps and blue tape, but Naruto was only a Genin so he had yet to see the truly fearsome beast that was Konoha bureaucracy.

"The location is about three hours on foot from here, northwest. I would recommend heading there in the morning due to your current lack of clothes…" Inari chuckled from the side while Naruto looked dejected, "…in the meantime you are welcome to stay here for the duration of the month. Tsunami would cut me with a rusty spoon if I didn't offer."

---

With the plans settled the family, plus one, spent the remainder of the day catching up. Naruto had very little to share since their last meeting, so he mainly listened to all of the progress Tazuna had made cleaning up the mess left by Gato and his empire of sin. Listening to the old man go on about all the repairs, all the interesting things his men had found hidden around the small island nation, and his general distaste for everything that remotely reminded him of Gato was highly entertaining. Inari spent some time talking about the school that the town had built to promote education in the recently poverty stricken country. Tsunami spent her time simply listening in between trips to check on her laundry. To Naruto's embarrassment she brought one of his pairs of spare underwear out to repair a few holes caused by his heavy training sessions. When the sun went down into the western sky Naruto was immediately sent to bed like some kind of child, and although he did protest the whole thing… it was nice to have someone give a damn.

The blonde woke the next morning in a cold sweat with a kunai held firmly in his right palm. Judging by the window near his bed it was probably about five in the morning, which caused him to groan in frustration. It had been another nightmare from his youth… another in a slew of nightmares that forced him to never forget the demons of his past regardless of how much better things had gotten since Iruka gave him his headband. Resigned to an early rise from his comfortable bed he slipped out of the comfortable blankets to search for something to wear. His wandering about looking for clothes ended rather abruptly when he tripped over his pack effectively tipping over a neat stack of bright white shirts and surprisingly vibrant orange pants.

"When did Tsunami have time to…" Naruto felt a shiver run down his spine just before he spun around to face the very woman who's name had just slipped passed his lips.

Tsunami was holding a tray of food that could easily feed several people and he had a sinking feeling that she expected him to eat it all alone, "Good morning, Naruto-kun… you weren't thinking of trying to slip away early before everyone was awake and settle for a ramen cup for breakfast… right?~"

Naruto watched the woman tilt her head to the side with a gentle smile on her lips, but he wasn't fooled. This woman was teetering on the edge of sanity with all of her motherly instincts going haywire. Was it endearing? Yes, yes it was. Was he comfortable with her overzealous dedication to doting after him? That would be a huge negative. Was he fool enough to try and persuade her to stop? There aren't enough languages in the world to express how much 'no' he would like to convey towards that idea.

"Of course not, Tsunami-sa-" Cue menacing growl, "-chan… I would have just washed up and… waited, 'ttebayo…?"

"That's what I thought, now eat up, then take a proper bath, and I will have your clothes ready for the day." Tsunami sounded far too pleased with herself as she set down the slightly overflowing tray of vittles and left as swiftly as she had appeared, or so he figured.

"Damn… how do I keep meeting such weird people…? And are all women so-…" Naruto heard something that sounded eerily like a kitchen knife being yanked free from some kind of polished wood. He let his last comment just die right there before diving into his breakfast with abandon, hoping to Kami that the action would sooth the savage woman.

---

What was supposed to have taken about three hours had easily stretched over five when Naruto realized that he'd been using a broken compass. After traveling for well over an hour the positioning of the sun overhead brought sudden realization crumbling down on the blonde. How could one have a broken compass one may ask? This was no ordinary compass, nay this particular compass was in the possession of one Uzumaki Naruto. Out side the ill reputed dens of gambling, the kid just never had any luck. Having traveled an hour all ready, and then back tracking had eaten up another hour, and of course Tsunami held him up for another half hour to eat what the woman considered a proper lunch. Naruto wasn't sure where he was putting all the food the woman was pushing on him, and the idiot was conveniently unaware of just how much ramen he often wolfed down on a daily basis.

Currently the young teen was slicing his way through incredibly thick shrubs while trying to keep his path straight. Even a fool like him found it odd that the forest was so overgrown when a team of men had supposedly been emptying out the weapon cache only recently. Between the humidity, the relentless insects swarming for a taste of Uzumaki blood, and the near endless greenery blocking his path his, patience was wearing thin. With a great huff the blond brought down his kunai to end the lives of several thick vines only to slump forward when he saw the next thick bundle of leafy barricade in his way not three yards away.

"Grr… this… this is not funny anymore." With a menacing growl and a deadly glint in his eye Naruto was suddenly surrounded by a horde of thirty exact copies, all of whom sported identical crazed expressions.

"Charge!" A chorus of loud obnoxious screams tore through the peaceful forest as the small platoon of identical ninjas ripped, sliced, and stumbled their way through every barricade that lay before them. Families of small animals scattered before their indignant fury.

In what would later be described as roughly an hour the bumbling buffoon brigade fell into disarray when their group broke through the final bit of resistance into a large clearing. Thirty shouting teens suddenly exploded into a large cloud of rather thick clouds that left their originator coughing lightly.

"I really need to learn how to suppress that weird smoke stuff…" Naruto's monologue stopped when he saw the waterfall near the northern edge of the clearing cascading down into a slow flowing river below. It wasn't a particularly large waterfall, but the mist created by the descending rush of water was enough to create small bits of color in the air. Everything around the waterfall seemed full of life, as if the area was a source of some kind of weird natural magic, even if there was no such thing. If the trip there hadn't been such a huge, undeniable pain in the ass he might had admired the area for it's beauty a bit longer, but Naruto wasn't known for his patience, and there were several super amazing technique scrolls just waiting for him behind that waterfall…

"Wait… this might not even be the right one… how many waterfalls are there in Wave?" Naruto took a moment to squint his eyes in irritation. Overhead the faint cries of a crow calling out something eerily similar to 'baka' could be heard, "To hell with it, Kami knows I need a break anyway. If it's not there I'll just rest a while and keep going."

Naruto readjusted the bag on his shoulder before walking over to the large pool of water at the base of the waterfall. If he knew how to walk on water like his sensei he might have had an easier time finding a way behind the fast falling shower. That being said, he had to conduct his search using the slow method, but luck was on his side when he found an easily climbable group of rocks on his side of the pond. As he made his way up the slippery stones he could see the darkness of a cave ahead and he mentally cheered. With the hard part behind him it would be smooth sailing from here on out…

Fwoosh! Hum-~

"The hell is this now?!" Naruto exclaimed from just inside the entrance of the cave.

In true Naruto fashion, the teen walked confidently into the cave without any hesitation, a regular cock on the walk swagger to his step. As if on some kind of morbid cue line of possible things to ruin his day the entrance to the cave had erupted in a flash of blue before erecting a large barrier of energy. Even Naruto knew not to try touching it when he noticed the water drops sizzling into oblivion whenever they had the misfortune to bounce toward it off the rocks outside. Now some might panic in such a precarious position, while others may rationalize and try to form a plan of escape, but Naruto was a special kind of person. Naruto wasn't a coward, but he wasn't a thinker either… no, he was a brave, stupid idiot.

"Can't scare me, you hear?! I came here to get strong, and no stupid… blue… thing… is going to stop me!" He gave the energy barrier a rather rude hand gesture before turning and walking further down the cramped tunnel.

After a half hour of bumbling about in the dark cave with nothing but a few slowly fading glow sticks it became pretty clear that the stock of old ninja scrolls was utterly useless. In retrospect, it made total sense that rogue or even rebellious ninja would save their best and sell only low level techniques to clueless civilians. Then again this was Naruto after all, so he wouldn't have thought of that on a good day. Feeling lost and dejected the boy slumped down against the back wall of the cave, huffing as he threw his bag to the side.

"Dang it… I was really hoping there would be something super cool here to help me train…~" He'd decided to go full crybaby while rivers of tears ran down his cheeks. As if to further salt the wound of his shattered dreams his current glow stick decided to die casting darkness all around him again, "Damn these stupid things… stupid shop selling me old crap all the time… stupid everything!"

Naruto sighed heavily and berated himself for acting like a child for possibly the hundredth time that day. Sobering up with a few slaps to his cheeks he shook himself of anymore immature thoughts to focus on the situation at hand. Reaching around behind him into the pouch he kept on the back of his belt he rummaged around for another of his low quality glow sticks only to accidentally cut himself on some razor wire he kept for emergencies. This of course brought on a slew of grumbled curses as he pulled his hand free of the pouch to flick the thick blood from his hand. While he fussed about his quickly healing fingers he didn't notice the blood spattering the cave wall behind him. He did, however, notice when said wall began to quake and shift behind him. Needless to say the whole thing spooked the boy who leapt to his feet and spun around to face whatever new hell he'd stumbled upon.

The first thought that ran through Naruto's head was that the wall opened up to another cave that was even darker than the rest. That thought was blown away after several odd floating crystals sparked to life creating an eerie blue glow. With the new light Naruto came to the quick conclusion that his time spelunking had come to an end in favor of tomb robbing. That was what the whole are reminded him of… a tomb… and tombs meant dead people… which meant…

"I'd have taken anything besides this. Give me Momochi Zabuza on a sugar high, a naked Sasuke covered in grease, Sakura on her period… anything but ghosts." Naruto mused with a solemn voice that echoed off the newly revealed walls. Once again, to help rub in that fresh wave of emotional damage, a howling breeze drifted through the now gaping entry way.

"Nope, nope, I'm not doing this. There is nothing in the Elemental Nations that could make me go in there." Naruto grabbed his bag off the cave floor before turning and heading back towards the waterfall. As he grew closer he saw a defenseless fish flop out of the water fall to the large stone just outside the glowing blue barrier, "Aww, poor fishy…-" Said fishy flopped and flipped right into the barrier which caused it to burst into flames.

"…That's just not fair." Naruto dropped his bag to the floor of the cave once again while his shoulder slumped in defeat. He stood still for a moment watching the barrier hiss and sizzle as water kept splashing against it, the poor fish lay dead and blackened on the ground just outside, "Okay… so without any kind of earth techniques I would have to find a way to break this thing down, and probably suffer an agonizing death…"

He turned back to the eerier glowing tunnel at the back of the cave, "Likely death by ghosts… or death by blue wall of doom… ghosts… scary, slimy, evil ghosts… or searing, flaming, burning death by blue wall… burning… ghosts… Fuck me, 'ttebayo."

Naruto turned back towards the scary tunnel before biting back his fear of ghosts and soldiering on. He knew if he kept letting his childhood fears rule over him he would never become a proper ninja, but damn ghosts were scary. Come on, you can't even fight the damn things. Science, ninja techniques, religion, nothing could explain those things! Anyway, he made his way back to the strange tunnel and on closer inspection the walls and ceiling were clearly carved from solid rock using some kind of precision tools rather than techniques. Earth techniques, no matter how well controlled, would always leave some kind of pattern, like swirls or odd scratches that melded into a uniform pattern. Naruto ran his hand along the wall and it was flawless. He noted that the floors were made out of a slightly darker stone starting a few feet away from the door that had opened and continuing in a pattern similar to tiled floors.

Eyeing the strange floating crystals he judged them to be positioned every ten feet or so, and each cluster composed of three crystals cut into oblong diamond-like prisms, "Those things are so cool… even if they do make this place a bit creepy…"

"Affirmative, young human…" The sudden voice brought Naruto out of his musings and had him drawing a kunai to defend himself.

Naruto stood still as a statue as he faced what he hoped wasn't an enemy, though not as much as he hoped the thing was an illusion. It was a great… big… metal man! There was a head with bright yellow eyes sunken into what might have been a copper skull, though the thing was rusted so badly it was hard to tell. The torso was large and round like a giant orange, and there were a bunch of metallic tubes and wires interwoven near the shoulders and pelvis. Rows of rusted and broken spikes jutted up out of both shoulders giving it a very dangerous look, even with all of the decay. The arms and feet were crudely shaped, though their side made up for their rather blocky design. Behind the monstrosity were two short smokestacks that were letting loose small tufts of lazy white smoke. It hadn't made a move yet to attack, though Naruto had to wonder how the hell the thing snuck up on him like it did.

"The heck are you supposed to be…?" Naruto spoke warily, trying not to invoke the wrath of the automaton.

The thing's head tilted slowly to one side while the glowing eyes seemed to observe the boy for several moments before it spoke in the same weird, grinding voice straight out of some science fiction movie, "Language recognition complete: Japanese… I am a steam golem, designation: Blitzcrank. Classification: sentient biomechanical entity, approved and certified by the Council of Zaun."

"Okay…~ What is a steam golem? And for that matter… what the hell is one doing in a place like this?!" Naruto started out with a cautious, confused voice, but that soon elevated to a disbelieving, accusatory yell.

The golem, now named Blitzcrank, lifted one of its oversized fists to its head in order to scratch at his metal skull in an almost sheepish manner, "Your questions are complicated. Analysis of steam golem: autonomous mechanical construct powered by steam engines to provide energy for basic, intermediate, and advanced functions. Analysis of current location: Currently providing protection for Underground Shelter."

A lot of that went right over Naruto's head leaving the boy with many more questions, though he was sure he would be getting just as many complicated answers, "Shelter? You mean this place is like… a safety shelter? Like the tunnels in the Hokage Monument?"

"Information on Hokage Monument… nonexistent. Underground Shelter protects and sustains Professor Viktor, formerly of the College of Techmaturgy of Zaun." Blitzcrank replied in his monotonous, grating voice.

"Whoa… wait, wait… you said sustains… if that word means what I think it means… are you telling me there is someone living here?" Naruto's voice took on an eager tone as he pressed for more information.

The large metal man gave an almost comical nod as his head bobbed back and forth several times without prompting from his machinery, "Affirmative. Due to perimeter alarms inactivity, you did not enter this place by force, correct?"

"You mean did I break in? No way, I don't even know how to break out of this place!" Naruto waved his hands about in a flailing motion to try and dissolve any misconceptions about how he entered the place. The amusing display had the desired effect, though the large sweat drop developing on Blitzcrank's head may not have been a good sign.

"Analysis… you must have activated the blood seals placed here by our last visitor, young Namikaze Minato of Konohagakure."

Naruto blanched a bit, "N-Namikaze Minato?! The freaking Yondaime came here?!"

'This human is so odd. Father will enjoy speaking with this one, I think.' Blitzcrank showed no outer response thanks to his rather limited facial expression capabilities, "Affirmative, though this title…Yondaime… is unknown. Namikaze Minato discovered Underground Shelter 101 approximately sixteen years prior to current date. Minato-san exchanged additional protection for several books of our Magical Arts to conduct independent study. He promised to return, however his absence has stretched beyond preset parameters."

Naruto felt a small pang of guilt surge through his stomach at that point, "He… he's not coming back. He died… a little over twelve years ago."

Blitzcrank visibly lowered his gaze toward the floor, his gyros humming slowly while his smokestacks stopped spewing their odd vapors, "Understood… that is unfortunate. Minato-san was very kind. He promised to return in order to… irrelevant. Please follow me, young human. I will escort you to Professor Viktor now. You have nothing to fear, so please do not engage in unnecessary violence."

The machine stood tall once more before proceeding further down the tunnel that Naruto had already been following. The boy watched the heavy foot falls and listened to the crunching and pounding wondering how the hell he'd been snuck up on before. Realizing he was being left behind he jogged to catch up, though he kept a good two feet away from Blitzcrank at all times, "Hey, big guy, how did you catch me off guard before? You're not exactly the quietest guy around."

To Naruto's surprise the thing let loose a hearty, albeit mechanical, laugh while resting a hand on it's rotund belly. "The movement sensors detected your presence. In my haste to confirm the possible threat I engaged my anti-gravity gyros, eliminating the need to walk. Your analysis of my movement was highly accurate. I sometimes forget that I am made of such obtrusive materials."

"Erm… are you saying that you can fly?" Naruto couldn't help his childish curiosity, though from the reactions he was getting the robot didn't seem as annoyed as people usually got when he didn't fully understand things.

Blitzcrank's eyes seemed to close with little shutters to form an amused expression, well as amused an expression as he was capable of, "Me flying… that would be quite a sight. My flight capability is similar to that of chickens. I may hover for a time until my steam pressure falls, which on average lasts five seconds at a time. Time to replenish steam is about fifteen seconds, give or take. If I so choose I may walk during this power boost, which is still fast but also louder."

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of this large metal man running around and making a ruckus like a wedding carriage covered in cans, "I just realized that you're kinda talking a little more normal now. Before you were all… machinie?"

"Affirmative. My speech parameters were set to basic. Transition from one language to another requires several of my systems to reboot to integrate the changes." Blitzcrank turned right at an intersection before heading down some stairs, "Forgive my voice. I am afraid that I was not programmed with anything besides this… machinie… voice tone." He let out a small mechanical chuckle.

Naruto couldn't help but grin as the large mechanical creature chuckled. It was an odd sound to be sure, but it was clear that the thing was enjoying speaking with him. Much like the people of Wave this robot didn't see him as some annoyance to be brushed aside. This thing… Blitzcrank… only saw some kid who wandered into his odd underground home. He was just a kid with a lot of questions that he seemed pleased to answer for him. It was sad that this machine who had no reason to care one way or the other about him was showing more kindness than most of the people back in that village he called home.

"Oh, Blitzcrank-san, sorry for being so rude heh… my name is Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto leapt in front of the golem and held out his fist while wearing a big, goofy grin on his face.

Blitzcrank looked down at the offered bro fist for only a moment before lifting one of his large fists and carefully pressing it into Naruto's, "Uzumaki Naruto… pleased to meet you."

Naruto let out a whooping cry of joy while pumping his fist into the air, "Yosh! From now on you're one of my precious people, so you never have to worry again because I'm gonna get super strong and keep you and your home safe!"

'Strange… I see his expression is much like many of my old aquaintences. Humans complain about machines and their lack of emotion, and yet they seek to hide their own behind walls of deception. Such curious behavior.'

After Naruto's inspirational little proclamation the two descended into a companionable silence for the duration of their walk. From what Naruto could see the entire facility was abandoned, and what wasn't empty had caved in or simply cut off as if the builders purposely left areas unfinished. It was a pretty lucky break that Blitzcrank had come along, otherwise Naruto was sure he'd have died after getting completely lost. The first exciting change for the duo was when Naruto spotted a large set of ornate double doors at the end of a short hallway. Blitzcrank kept up his pace until he reached the door and gave the entry a solid rapping three times. Naruto wondered what the doors were made of to withstand such harsh treatment, but whatever musings he'd planned were dashed to pieces when he heard a thickly accented voice call out something unintelligible to his ears.

"Enter!"

Blitzcrank gave the double doors a mighty push forcing them to swing inward and to Naruto's shock they were about six inches thick. When the room came into view the young ninja felt his breath rush away. The room was robust, as tall as the lobby of the Shinobi Library back in Konoha and nearly as wide and long. Several support columns stood at equal lengths to hold up an upper floor that formed a balcony overlooking the ground floor. In the center of everything was the most beautifully crafted fountain that Naruto had ever seen. It was a large circle with four very ancient looking extensions that almost appeared to be clamps of some kind. In the center of the fountain was another blue crystal, but this was clearly the grand daddy of all the smaller sources of light throughout the complex. Four oddly shaped statues seemed to float around the giant gem stone, though he couldn't make out what they were supposed to be.

The left and right walls of the chamber were covered with bookshelves and work benches. Nearly every shelf and surface was taken up with endless messes, but he could clearly see a sort of… order to the chaos. There was no food anywhere, though there were an unrealistic number of oil cans scattered across the floor, some even leaking a little to give the air a rather nasty odor. Blitzcrank saunter casually toward the fountain before walking to the right of it toward the back of the room where Naruto couldn't see due to the giant blue crystal blocking his view. With nothing better to do he walked over to said fountain to get a look at the water, only to yelp in surprise when he caught sight of what he'd call a bottomless pit of death. Darkness like nothing he'd ever seen stretched down further than his eyes could see, though there was an oddly intense beam of light directly beneath the crystal. The light seemed to radiate with warmth, but it wasn't harsh, rather it felt… alive?

"What have you brought me, my son?" The voice from before echoed off the walls, even though the tone sounded soft and weary.

Blitzcrank responded without hesitation, "The source of the intrusion was a boy, Professor. Designation: Uzumaki Naruto. He claims to have entered without the use of force."

Naruto walked around the fountain slowly so that he could peek at whoever the big guy was talking to and he gasped. The back of the room was composed of two slanted walls extending back to form a triangular space capped with a perfectly round point. The walls were bare, though they had been carved with recesses and arches near the ceiling. The floor formed a platform that ascended for about five steps before leveling out into a circle with dozens of runes giving off a mystical glow. Blitzcrank was standing to the side with his back turned toward Naruto and he was speaking to… what might be a man.

Professor Vikor, the Machine Herald had given up his humanity long, long ago. The memory of the day that he had finally ascended to full machine status had been one of immense joy… well, perhaps not joy, emotions were a human burden after all. Every piece of his body had been upgraded, evolved beyond the limited capabilities of insignificant humanity. If only he'd anticipated… how difficult it would become. He had envisioned a world where man could forsake their petty emotions and desires and embrace a future of cold, calculated perfection. The Glorious Evolution was to be a new dawning for Runeterra! That was… long ago.

Now the man turned machine could only look back on his own foolish ambitions with shame, an emotion that he'd tried and failed to discard along with all of the others. All of his efforts had been for naught, and he had to suffer the crushing guilt along with all of the others who escaped… His once proud mechanical body no longer held the same magnificent shine, instead rust had been allowed to overtake many of his joints. The brilliant blue glow of his mana that shined from his eyes had dimmed to give only a hint of his former strength. The proud scepter that he'd once held to weave spells and do battle against the heathens of humanity had been traded for a much more appropriate staff to help support his weakened structure.

As he stood listening to his son, the once mighty Blitzcrank, his old eyes caught sight of a mop of blonde hair peeking around the old nexus fountain. If he'd had his old face, he was sure that his eyes would have widened. After sixteen years of waiting had he finally…? No, Blitzcrank had called him something else… Uzumaki Naruto? But the boy was the spitting image of his old friend… Blitzcrank noticed his father's distracted posture and turned to face the young ninja who let out a small curse before ducking back down to try and hide, though his spiky hair was poking out rather obviously for all to see. Both creator and creation couldn't help chuckling at the absurdity of the boy's actions.

"It has been a very long time since I had to use this language… I hope I remember it well. Come out here, boy, and let us look upon you." Viktor called out in the native tongue, one of the many dialects he'd learned through years of synchronizing with thousands of different summoners.

Naruto cursed inwardly at being seen spying on his big buddy and the new metal man. How many of these robots were there in this place? So far Blitzcrank didn't seem like the bloodthirsty, give me your first born, I'll be back, kind of robot… but this new guy was a wild card. One wrong move and he could go all 'your blood will lubricate my junctions' or something. Blitzcrank followed up his friend's urgings with one of his own and the blonde could only sigh. If his new friend was willing to trust this guy… he would give it a shot. Kami did Naruto wish he had more techniques to use in combat. Manning up, the knucklehead stood up fully before walking around the fountain toward the two man bots.

"Err… sorry for spying… I'm Uzumaki Naruto… who are you, old mech?" Naruto tried to be respectful, but he just couldn't resist the urge to give a possible new friend a risky nickname. It was sort of a test to see if the people he met could handle his personality, and most failed.

Viktor gave the boy a long look before chuckling, "Call me Viktor, no surname. Would you care to explain just how you found your way into our little home?"

Naruto saw no point in lying considering all his options for escape ended in some kind of horrible death, "The short version is… I came out here to find a cave where some friends of mine found a stash of weapons and things. The minute I walk in, this weird… blue wall appeared that fries everything that touches it like freaking bacon! I figured I would check the stuff in the cave for anything to help me get out, but it was all useless. I got tired and sat down by the back of the cave when my light went out. I went into my bag…" Here he turned to show the two of them his small pouch, "…and then I cut my hand on this cheap spool of wire I got at the equipment surplus shop in the village. Next thing you know, this door opens up. I swear I didn't break anything to get here, I didn't even know this place existed."

Viktor tapped a metal finger against his chin while he considered what the boy had told them. After a moment he looked at Naruto with what might have been a look of realization, but the only hint was a slight brightening of glowing mana eyes, "Tell me, Naruto-san, when you cut your hand… did you flick your fingers in pain? Perhaps to clear away the blood?"

Naruto assumed his thinking pose while his face scrunched up. With a snap of his fingers he stood grinning widely, "Uh-huh, that's what I did. It hurt a lot and I waved my hand around to try and make it sting less while it healed."

"Of course! That clever man! He sent you here in his place to keep people from discovering our hidden shelter. It all makes sense after all, he did say he was working to become the leader of his village. Tell me, how is he?" Viktor asked with a hint of excitement to his voice for the first time in many years.

Blitzcrank was about to stall his father from pursuing this line of conversation, but Naruto beat him to the punch, "How is who, old mech?"

Viktor sauntered over to Naruto with slow, easy steps so that he wouldn't damage his joints, "Come now boy, don't play coy. You're the spitting image of that blonde boy. You even seem to have the same kind of energy and enthusiasm as he did. You've certainly got Minato's eyes and hair, but that face must be your mother's. Did he marry for love or politics? I tried to warn him to find love before his career went too far, but I bet he ignored me."

Naruto staggered back a few steps as his world began to crumble, "Wha…? I don't understand…"

Viktor tilted his head slightly before speaking once again with a slow and curious tone, "Boy… if the barrier seal activated at the waterfall, and your blood activated the seal on the main entrance… then you must be directly related to Namikaze Minato. He had no parents, and he had no brothers… so then you must be his son."

Naruto fell to his knees shocking both Viktor and Blitzcrank, "My father… Yondaime… why? Why would he…?" Naruto's head throbbed and memories of his childhood flashed by. The stares, the glares, the insults, the isolation, the discrimination… all of it had been forced on him by the actions of the Yondaime… his own father? Naruto's vision swam as the emotional trauma was too heavy for him to handle, and eventually his world went dark.

---

There you have it, my beautiful senpais, first chapter done and what a doozy this bass terd was to edit. Not so much the quantity of my errors, so much as my desire to read a chapter that I just spent hours typing being very low. Still, hope you enjoyed yourselves, and I want Reviews people!

Try not to play with fire, flames hurt everyone!

What happened with those bodies left behind in the back alley? When will Hiruzen realize he let one of his Genin, a Jinchuriki no less, slip through his fingers while he was under the influence? Why were his ANBU stupid enough to turn off their poison filters?! And how could I, a heterosexual male, dare to insinuate that Iruka isn't as attractive as a busty female secretary?!

Stay tuned to find out most of those questions and more~