So, this is my new big story to replace Lost Idol, which I am ending for the foreseeable future. It is a concept that probably exists in a few places on this site, but none that I have seen so I have decided to give it a go.

I know I said I was going to do a different story called Naruto:Icarus which had Orochimaru as the Yondaime, but I scrapped the idea since I didn't really have any long term ideas of what to do with it. With Lost Idol, I had ideas but I lost interest with the story. The Hat Hangs Heavy has some clear ideas for the future, as does Second Chance. But while I had some cool ideas for Naruto: Icarus, it would have likely ended up going the way of a few other fics I killed off after a few uninspired chapters.

Sidenote, an idea I had for the story is up for grabs by whomever is interested. I call it the Uchiha Penance. The full explanation is on my author's page.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy and please leave a review. The next chapter will be much longer, since this is just a prologue. Enjoy!

Not for the first time, Naruto Uzumaki cursed his luck. Normally, this was brought on by the underlying hostility and glares sent to him by random civilians and shinobi. But it wasn't about them this time.

This time, it was about a choice he made. Two choices, actually.

The first came almost three years before, during his ninth birthday. The Old Man had been nice enough to get him an apartment and move him out of the orphanage. That was one of the benefits of being a shinobi in a hidden village, free boarding if you so chose it. Perhaps it was early to call him a shinobi, but it was a matter of when and not if. So the Old Man was nice enough to let him have an apartment. There were a few options offered to him, and it came down to two apartments. The first offered air conditioning and a bigger kitchen, while the second offered an extra room and it was closer to his favorite ramen stand. He decided to go with the second apartment, but looking back he regretted it.

His kitchen was kinda tiny, the extra room was only okay, and the time to get to Ichikaru's from both apartments where only a few minutes apart. And, during the summers, Konoha nights could be a bitch. His room became a humid mess that was almost unbearable.

His second choice was only three months ago, on what fan he should get to replace his old one. He had the options of a cheap 100 ryo secondhand fan or a brand new 300 ryo fan. Considering how much instant ramen he could get with 200 ryo (about 25 cups), it was obvious to him that he should get the cheap fan. The damn thing broke in a few months, and now he had to get a new one. But he didn't have the time to do it because of the academy. So he had to sleep in his humid mess of his room, and no amount of stripping down was helping. He wasn't about to go fully nude, so he did the next best thing. It was also the sort of thing that his teachers had stressed him not to do since it was a bad idea for a ninja, but who cared? He opened his window and let the cooler night air lull him to sleep. The breeze was a blessing to the blonde thought of having put himself into danger didn't even cross his mind.

And in truth, he hadn't. A window, or a door, was ultimately a minor inconvenience for an experienced shinobi and one they could get right through. Even the usual traps one may set for intruders could be evaded by someone highly skilled. So even if he had kept his window locked, filled to the brim with alarms, it would not have made the task of breaking into his apartment that much harder for the technically deceased Obito Uchiha. The window being open was just a bonus, as soon as he was sure it wasn't some clever ruse that allowed for alarms he did not foresee. The boy obviously had some talent, but he was still too dull to be deadly.

So, quietly entering the room to avoid waking up his target, Obito expertly stuck the paralytic laced senbon into Naruto's neck. He had made sure to use a large dose on the boy, since he had a strong immune system because of the Kyuubi. It was simply making his sleep deeper, so that he could get many hours from Konoha before the boy awoke. Obito knew he would struggle and try to escape his fate, but Obito would not make the same mistake twice. Just like he would never trust Kakashi Hatake with someone important, he would not let the Kyuubi container escape from his grasps again. He would take him to the site at the Land of Rivers, and the beast would be his. Obito couldn't wait.

…

Almost 9 hours later, when the sun was high but not as high as it could be, Naruto Uzumaki woke up to the smell of nature. At first he assumed it was because of his open window, but then he realized he was moving. Naruto knew that didn't make sense, so his eyes shot open to forest all around him.

Naruto began to look around frantically, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. He quickly realized he was being carried under the left arm of a man with an orange mask and black cloak with red clouds on it.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto bluntly asked, beginning to struggle underneath his arm. He realized he had his hands tied together under him, but his legs were free.

The orange mask was now facing Naruto."I see, you're up. Well, I expected you to awake soon enough. Call me Tobi." The man told him.

"Okay Tobi, why the hell am I tied up? Where are we?" Naruto was squirming but wasn't making much progress.

He heard a short chuckle behind the mask. "That doesn't matter. Just stay quiet, and nothing will happen to you."

Naruto looked at him like he was insane. "What the hell are you talking about? I know what you are! You are a kidnapper! But why would you kidnap me? I don't have any parents who can pay the ransom." Naruto was hoping the man would let him go when he found this out.

Tobi shook his head. "Akatsuki does not care in the least about a ransom for you. You have something far more valuable than money within you. But don't worry, you won't have to worry about it for much longer."

Naruto didn't like the sound of that. With an idea of how to escape taken from his experiences with his sensei Iruka, he put his plan into action. He threw his momentum fully downwards so his head was pointing almost directly at the ground. With a few violent shifts, Naruto slid from the non iron tight grip of Tobi. Naruto immediately rolled as he fell, quickly ending up on his feet. Without even looking back at Tobi, Naruto ran back the way he came. He didn't know what this Tobi guy wanted, but he wasn't going to give it to him!

Tobi let out a sigh, and quickly caught up to Naruto and landed in front of him. With his exposed eye, Tobi activated his Sharingan and put Naruto in an advanced genjutsu that would put him into ease and be an easy carry for a while. He knew the genjutsu would eventually fade because of how it worked, but he would deal with it once it came. In just a few days, the task he started almost twelve years before would be finished and the first step of the Moon Eye Plan would be in place. And there was nothing in this world that could stop him.

…

Him and his big mouth. He had jinxed himself, and now he was dying again, and Madara was not around to save him. It was inevitable, they realized that someone would have to enter his mindscape for the final steps of extraction. But they hadn't expected Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki to be their, protecting their son from him. So while Obito was forced to fight off his sensei and his wife, Akatsuki was able to complete the task of extracting the Kyuubi. But it all came at a personal price.

Somehow, in their last moments, they figured out how to counter his Kamui perfectly, with Kushina holding him down with her chains and his sensei delivering a fatal blow with a Rasengan. It was odd, facing death a second time. He found his regrets magnified, but he was more at peace with the fact.

He now had to trust Zetsu with completing the plan, but at least the first task was done. Zetsu understood the plan better than himself, so Madara's dream would become a reality. And at least he would get to see Rin again shortly.

His head fell sideways, facing the body of Naruto Uzumaki. To his mild surprise, he saw the boy's chest still rising and falling. Then again, Obito thought to himself, his mother did survive her extraction for some time before succumbing to the strain on her body. The boy would likely do the same As thought faded from him, Obito assured himself that Naruto Uzumaki would be following him to Kami shortly.

Obito Uchiha had a bad habit of underestimating an Uzumaki.