What's this? A completely new story while I'm supposed to be on hiatus to better focus on my school work taking a break from my stories because I'm having trouble working on three?

Meh whatever. This is kinda like how Gone Ghost got started and considering how positively that one was received…

So once again I'm going into a story with no plan and no idea what the hell I'm doing because that worked really well last time.

Now to my returning readers you may ask, why Naruto? Allow me to respond with, WHY NOT? Seriously I used to have bitter feelings towards this fandom but seriously I understand why it's so popular now. All the potential bloodlines and jutsus and amusing characters. I find it hard to turn away now that I've found it.

So uh if the summary doesn't explain it well enough for you well…

Oh just read and figure it out on your own.

Uzumaki Naruto was a member of the Uzumaki clan and a recently graduated genin of Uzushiogakure (Village Hidden in the Whirling Tides). While he was not part of the main family his portion of the branch was quite close to the main having only branched off as his father being a younger sibling to the current clan heir.

He wasn't all that impressive to look at despite being part of the founding and perhaps most respected clan of the village. He was on the short side and his love of ramen (That kami blessed food of the gods) likely did not help his height. His inherited red hair was spiky in a fashion that while not normal among the clan was not too odd. While his blue eyes were piercing and had a constant joyous spark in them. His outfit was fairly standard save for the bright orange jacket that mortified his mother yet never failed to cause his father and uncle to burst into (very manly) giggles.

Naruto's household family was on the small side, especially compared to the entire clan. There were of course his parents but he also had two younger siblings. His younger brother Shio and younger sister Kushina.

As it was that family had become a tad smaller recently due to the fact that Kushina had been sent to Konohagakure (Village Hidden in the Leaves) for reasons that he could not get out of either of his parents nor uncle and grandfather. He had managed to learn that it had something to do with Senju-Uzumaki Mito. Unfortunately that was the extent of it.

Despite the fact that he missed his (somewhat annoying and hot-headed) sister, not that he could talk about hot-headedness, he had continued learning Fuinjutsu as was common among all members of the Uzumaki clan, main or branch. The idea of an Uzumaki who had little to no training in sealing was unheard of. Even toddlers knew the most basic seals.

Of course at age eleven Naruto was quite well versed in the art of he was not a prodigy, he was certainly above average. According to his grandfather (the current clan head) he should be an Artisan by the time he made chunin.

He had even begun experimenting on his own, which was not at all uncommon among clan members of his age group. Of course anyone under a certain age were supposed to have a Master or at least an Artisan in the room to make sure they didn't blow themselves up, but Naruto had forgone that little detail. Not because he was sure he didn't need one but mainly because he didn't want to go looking for one considering his parents and little brother were out of the house and he had no interest in going through various cousins until he found one well versed enough.

Naruto was attempting to make some changes to the basic sealing scroll, other people had made changes before him but he was trying something a tad different. He was attempting to make a smaller seal hold more. The concept was not unheard of but no one had succeeded yet and he wanted to be the first to do so.

As he made the final brushstroke on the experimental seal he paused for a moment before studying it. It certainly looked like he had done it right. If he was correct it would allow for larger items to be sealed into the scroll. He glanced around the desk he was working at and noted a medium sized box of brushes. He shrugged, might as well make sure it worked before attempting to seal anything bigger. So he placed to box on the scroll and activated the seal.

Now recall that Naruto is above average but he is not perfect. If he was then he might have noticed that part of his experiment would not allow objects under a certain weight and mass be sealed inside. The brush box was unfortunately one of such items that did not reach the minimum requirements of the seal. So it instead used the closest thing that fit the requirements. This was one unfortunate Uzumaki Naruto. In an instant the hapless Uzumaki was sucked into the seal, leaving behind an empty room.

Now under normal circumstances his parents would have noticed his disappearance and eventually figure out where he was and release him from the scroll and likely scold him for scaring the crap out of them and then ban him from anymore experimentation for awhile.

Unfortunately there was a tiny little problem that would stop this from happening. Also by tiny problem it means extremely devastating problem.

That would of course be the siege of Uzushiogakure and it's eventual destruction.

The attack was supposed to be quick as forces from Iwa and Kumo attacked under cover of darkness with thousands of shinobi from each village. Unfortunately the invading forces forgot to account for the countless trap and alarms seals that surrounded the village that both slowed the invasion force and alerted Uzushio's forces to the attack.

The siege lasted for days and with the continuous losses Naruto was listed as MIA. By the time the reinforcements managed to arrive from Konoha, the village was in rubble and most of the survivors had already fled, but not before making the invaders fight for every inch and leaving an invasion force that once numbered as thousands now barely scraping five hundred.

So it was that one little sealing scroll was left forgotten on a desk in the ruined Uzumaki Clan Compound.

Almost thirty years later…

Four individuals made their way over a ridge of mountains. Two of said individuals were appeared to be rather tired and nearly falling asleep on their feet. The other two however, well…

"Come now my most youthful students! We have almost arrived at our destination!" A booming voice came fromt the lead figure dressed in green with orange legwarmers as he jogged *ahem* most youthfully.

"I look forward to whatever it is you wish to show us Gai-sensei!" The shorter figure, who could pass as a shorter clone of the leader, added in, "And if it does not properly impress me then I shall do five hundred push-ups with one hand! And if I can not do that then…"

The two other members of the group which consisted of a girl with her brown hair in two buns and a boy with pale eyes and long black hair panted as they struggled to keep up.

"I swear *huff* there is no way those two are even human." The girl panted.

"I don't understand the purpose of this detour." The boy muttered, "We've already completed the mission why not just head back to Konoha?"

This group was Genin Team 10 or Team Gai if you prefer. It consisted of jonin sensei Mighto Gai and his three genin pupils, Rock Lee, Tenten and Hyuuga Neji.

"Aha!" Gai suddenly cried as he reached the top of the ridge. "Hurry my youthful students and prepare for a short history lesson!"

"History lesson?" Tenten muttered with some confusion. History had been part of the academy curriculum but she hadn't paid much attention to it aside from studying for exams. Also Gai was not really the type of sensei she would expect a lesson like this from.

As the genin reached the top of the hill they all went wide eyed as they stared down at a mass of ruins.

What one would have been larged multi-story buildings were now crumbled to the ground on the both sides of a dazzling blue river.

"Yosh! Gai-Sensei, what is this place?" Lee asked as he stared at what would have once been a bustling hub of human interaction.

"Behold my students! Uzushiogakure, the Village Hidden in the Whirling Tides, and once Konoha's eternal ally." Gai explained. "Come! We shall go at a walking pace from here as I wish for you to truly appreciate this place as I tell you its story."

As the quad walked down ruined streets Gai began explaining the history. "As I already said this is Uzushiogakure, this village was founded by the Uzumaki clan much like Konoha was founded by the Senju, in fact the two clans were related."

"Uzumaki…" Tenten quietly said aloud, "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"Why because the Shodaime Hokage's wife was a member of the clan." Gai explained, "Their marriage was to help bring our two villages together and indeed it did."

"What happened?" Neji couldn't help but ask as he stared at a ruined pillar with a rather familiar looking symbol on it.

"About thirty years ago near the end of the Second Shinobi War an invasion force consisting of thousands of Shinobi sent from Kumo and Iwa attacked in hopes of catching them off guard. However the most youthful members of the Uzumaki clan were seal masters." Neji's eyes widened at this but he said nothing. "They had many defenses around the village that alerted them to the attack and they managed to fight of the invaders for three days before they were overrun."

"Why didn't Konoha send aid Gai-Sensei?" Lee asked his role model.

"Alas we did Lee!" Gai said as manly tears began to fall. "But by the time our relief force arrived it was already too late. Our allies had been forced to flee. They did force their opponents to fight for every last inch and managed to decimate their force so that when Konoha's relief arrived they were able to finish off the unyouthful invaders."

"Gai-Sensei." Tenten spoke up, "Isn't that the symbol chunin and jonin have on their vests?" She asked pointed at one of the curious spiral symbols that had been scattered around.

"Yes my youthful student that is indeed. It is the symbol for both the village and the Uzumaki clan. In honor of our youthful allies we bear their symbol in memorial to their loss." Gai explained a look of respect in his eyes.

"Oh Gai-Sensei." Lee sobbed his own manly tears. "It is so tragic what befell our once great eternal allies! In their honor I shall do one thousand sit ups and if I can not do that then I shall-"

"We should probably set up camp." Neji cut in and Tenten sent him a gratified look. "It's beginning to get dark and we don't know what sort of wild animals could be inhabiting these ruins."

"You make a valid point Neji." Gai nodded and closed his eyes in thought. He opened them and stopped walking and took a good look around. "Perhaps their!" He pointed towards a group of buildings in relatively good shape.

His genin voiced their agreements and the group set off towards the buildings. Upon arriving they found that the largest building was in what could be called impossible pristine condition. Lee and Tenten made to enter while Neji surveyed the surrounding buildings, but they were quickly stopped by their sensei's hands on their shoulders.

"I would not enter their my most youthful students." Gai told them and took a good look at the building. Before Tenten and Lee could voice their confusion Gai bent over and picked up a piece of rubble. He examined it briefly before throwing it at the building. But before it reached the structure a glowing blue barrier shimmered into existence and the rock bounced off.

"Just as I thought." Gai noted as all three of his students stared in surprise. "This is likely the Uzumaki clan compound. It appears they put up seals around the more important structures to keep intruders out."

"It is no matter!" He suddenly perked up. "The other buildings are in reasonably good condition and we can bunk inside one of them!" He trotted off towards a smaller and slightly run down building that was still in considerably good shape.

That night…

Tenten groaned into her pillow as she tried to ignore her sensei and more "youthful" teammates' snoring. Eventually she sighed in defeat and tossed her covers off. As she stood up she noticed that Neji's mat was also empty. She frowned but figured her somewhat more normal teammate was having similar sleeping problems.

She wandered through the old run down house and looked around. Pictures and other various mementos lined the walls. One picture caught her eye. She walked over and picked it up brushing off a few layers of dust. A smiling family of five posed for the camera which was obviously an older model from the coloring of the picture.

Everyone in the image had red hair, the father had hair that hung down to the base of his neck and the mother had her hair done up in bun in the back. The three children stood grinning the oldest had spiky hair that stood out a bit despite it sharing the proper color. He stood in the middle with his arms around his younger siblings shoulders. The younger boy resembled his father without the beard while the little girl had a big grin on her face and flashed the camera a victory sign.

She stared at the picture of the happy family that was probably long dead and felt a sense of sorrow well up inside her. She closed her eyes and sighed putting the picture down. Before she could do anything else she heard something fall on the ground in another room. She quickly slipped a kunai of her pajama sleeve. It was completely normal to have a deadly weapon in the sleeve of one's bed clothes right?

Tenten silently walked towards the room where she heard the thump. She stood just outside the door for a moment listening before leaping into the room brandishing the kunai.

She immediately relaxed when she saw it was Neji who had also tensed at her unexpected entry but had yet to relax.

"What are you doing here?' He hissed.

"Looking around." She whispered, "Couldn't sleep." She narrowed her eyes realizing he had yet to relax his stance. "What are you doing here."

He said nothing but turned back to the desk he was investigating before finally saying "Nothing just looking into a… personal matter. It's not important."

Tenten knew there was something he wasn't telling her a walked up to the desk coming to a standstill beside Neji. She looked over the desk and took note of the various scrolls and brushes on it. Apparently this was the workspace of one of the clan's aspiring seal masters.

"You interested in Fuinjutsu?" She asked Neji recalling the name for the art of sealing. "I'm not sure there are many people in Konoha who are interested in it."

"I could name a few." Neji muttered with what sounded like bitterness which caused Tenten to raise an eyebrow with curiosity and concern.

Her gaze traveled back to the desk and she noticed the most prominent item being a scroll with a basic seal on it. "I wonder if there's anything in there." She muttered almost to herself.

"Who knows." Neji shrugged sounding uninterested.

"Well it's not very big maybe there are a few kunai and shuriken inside. Could we open it up?" She asked her teammate.

"I don't see why not." Neji agreed seeing the benefit of having some fresh supplies after their latest mission where they had used up some of their throwing weapons fighting bandits. Without anymore debate Neji activated the seal.

Whatever they had been expecting to pop out of the scroll they were most certainly not expecting a spiky haired redhead in a horrendous orange jacket to appear in midair with a puff of smoke and land on top of Neji.

And that's a wrap!

Love it? Hate it? Got ideas for me on where to take this? Let me know in the reviews and I'll be seeing you next time the mood strikes me!

Until next we meet! Stay youthful my friends!

~FriTik

R&R