[I do not own naruto or any of the franchises mentioned to drive this fiction further.]

8 years AK (After kyuubi), konoha.

Deep within the emerald canvass known as the land of fire, life flourished, unhindered by the death and destruction which dominated the land around it… the world of shinobi, a world of liars, cheats, killers… and surprisingly, life, did flourish as it did with every day under the eyes of its celestial guardian, her golden glow blessing the earth under her radiance. Yet, even with her divine shine… there still reigned darkness in the hearts of man… yet, there was something… strange, about one man. A boy… a boy named.. hm… it seemed this name did escape her. Perhaps, because he does not see her radiance that often... preferring to enjoy her sister's silver chill of a touch. but even she, a golden blaze which did look over this world… could not foresee that which would come next for her ward.

Naruto Uzumaki, dressed in the classic orange jumpsuit which spoke of his… idiocy, moronics and straight up dunce-hood, would sigh as he walked through the roots of his village's surrounding forests. Why would one such as he, a paraiah, be allowed to walk outside these walls exactly? Well… "NARUTO-BAKA STOP HOLDING US BACK! WE ONLY HAVE 2 MORE HOURS BEFORE WE REACH CAMP!". The beauty of academy field trips… having recently uncovered a large ruin, buildings and even what seemed to be ancient hieroglyphics of a civilisation long lost to man, the civilian council had taken it upon themselves to convince their leader to send the classes of shinobi hopefuls to the site, intending on training some of them in history classes… sadly this class involved the shinobi 'hopeful', known as naruto Uzumaki, a regular dumbass when compared to his peers…

This… wouldn't be the case by the 12th hour…

"OK OK I'M COMING ALREADY, GIVE A GUY A BREAK!". The blond would speed his steps up, barely missing roots, stones and other items the environment just seemed to place in his way, as if on purpose. He missed the laughter of the class up ahead, thankfully, less he see that he was in fact proving to be the current source of entertainment. When he finally reached the group, he was… not pleased to see that they had already started off ahead without him. Judging by his speed, and how it was mid-day, he very much doubted he'd be able to reach the camp within the time period mentioned… meaning he either had to pull something off, or accept humiliation. His answer, came in the form of… both. Climbing the tree to his left, he'd begin jumping through the trees with as much agility as one with his lack of dexterity could possess… needless to say, when he finally reached the group, he did not do so gracefully, falling out of the 'barrier' which formed the clearing… right down onto the floor below, a sickening crunch escaping his body.

But the students, teachers, all of them did not care, simply laughing at the boy for hurting himself in such a stupid way, even as he stood up with his fingers bent at a weird angle. They knew he healed quick, and the teachers used this as an excuse to hide the hatred, distain and outward lack of care for the boy… at least one of them did. The only teacher who cared somewhat for the boy, iruka umino, stepped forward to help the blond.. when he stepped away form the teacher, hiding the mangled arm. "naruto, give me your hand..". the child simply shook his head however, grinning brightly "Na! its ok iruka-sensei, it's not as bad as it looked!". But alas, it was… and far worse. The burning pain made the tears threatening to break loose, burn with anger at being held back. part of him wanted to just give in and accept the laughter, but alas…a child's pride is far stronger than any reason there might be. Putting the mangled hand within the confines of his pocket, biting back the gasps of pain he felt, he'd simply turn and begin walking… right into the campsite he had tried so hard to reach.

"… ok class, get your stuff unpacked and find the tent marked with your name. sundown is in a few hours so you'll have more than enough time to eat and set up… do not leave the site without a chunin guard, and do not enter the ruins at all. Got it?... ok. Go on you brats". As the children's laughter rang out around the campsite, naruto was left alone… staring at the place where his 'tent' was supposed to be. Not possessing enough money in his monthly allowance to purchase a tent or sleeping bag, he was oh so graciously gifted with a small hammock at the very edge of the campsite.. where anyone could pick him off without a moment's glance if need be. But, hey, he was used to it. he didn't really attempt much that night, trying to hide himself from the rest of the camp or risk more humiliation from his injury, staying mainly in his hammock as he enjoyed the one book he brought with him. "and so, the gusty shinobi leapt from atop the waterfall, still blinded from his own blood across his eyelids.. with sword in hand, his master's child in other, he did leap in faith of his own luck, getting ever closer to the rapids below… chakra, flowing franticly to his legs, he turned in the midst of the water's spray, catch-" "NARUTO!"

Jostled by the shout, the boy fell from his hammock, only for his eyes to widen as he saw iruka stomping his way over to him with a look of rage on his face. "I have been calling you for roll call, for close to 10 minutes now you little brat. Great sage, scare the life out of me why don't you!?... put the book down, its time for lights out. And if I find you up eating ramen, I'm personally dragging you back home and forbidding you from any more trips outside from Konoha. Capiche!?". Now naruto WANTED to point out that if he was going to be angry, he could be angry at whoever sent his hammock this far out, but alas… a teacher's anger is not something to be argued. Putting the book back in the bag which he had underneath him, the corner just sticking out, he pulled out what blankets he could afford to bring and covered himself up for the night, blowing out the lantern above him… aware of that night's following events.

Clearing, ruins, 3 hours from midnight.

"…!" naruto's eyes opened in a snap, his danger sense going off as he sat up within moments of being awakened. Beneath him, be it raccoon, rat or something else, he heard the sound of shuffling… his bag being opened… and the turning of pages. Now naruto was most certainly smart enough to know not to anger a wild animal, but he was sadly also possessive enough over his very few possessions… that his intelligence went flying out the window. Drawing a kunai which he often kept with him when asleep, he leant over the hammock… and fell back quickly onto his broken hand which caused him to cry out in pain. None of the camp being awakened exactly, but the assailment being scared off within seconds, naruto's book in it's grasp. "w-what the hell..". watching the particularly large shadow escape into the ruins, where a long tail seemed to follow it, he quickly regained his senses and ran after it… not realising he was heading right into the ruins which they knew nothing of. "GIVE ME BACK MY BOOK!". The creature seemed to have either not heard him, or ignored him, as the last of it shot down into the darkness of the ruins below. None of the camp, having slept close enough, heard him either, leaving him alone to dive into the ruins after the book thief.

His feet moving of their own accord, he followed the creature using sound alone, cursing himself for having so stupidly forgotten his lantern as he ran off after them. He was caught unaware, when he felt something wrap around his body and yank him into the wall of the ruin… a harsh… sickening crackling sound coming from him, followed by an agonising scream of true pain as he felt his hand, still somewhat broken, now fracture as splinters of bone stuck from the skin. His eyesight began to fade, pain overcoming him as he let loose tears of burning agony, only for them to snap open upon seeing something that most definitely should not have been there. Metal. What he had been slammed into, seemed to have been a wall of sheer metal, bars like safety rails sticking out… and his hand caught on one such rail. Whatever had wrapped around him was now gone, but he had been disorientated… how he had come to be here, he knew not, following his mind but not his eyes.

His book being long forgotten, he now focused entirely on his own survival, the rates of which seemed to be slim… he could starve, the impact of whatever his attacker was could have knocked the entrance to the ruins closed… using a small trick he had learnt from his survival classes, he held up his hand and channelled chakra through it, the glow hardly enough to light up more than a few feet from his position… but more than enough to make his way down these metal hallways. "I didn't think the ancients had access to this… and this writing, it looks so… familiar… what is all this?". his voice echoed down the hallways, leading him onward.. echoes meant open spaces, and with nowhere to go but forward, he hurried on.. finding himself at what seemed to be a T-shaped hallway. "..s..idona… I can't read this.. but the only one that isn't scratched out is… this way. 'tsumugi..'…"

The walk was by far, long. It was… not comfortable either. With every step in one direction, he found himself being shocked by what he saw.. windows, large shattered windows reaching to a strange world that seemed to just travel downwards forever, ruins of it's own…that seemed to be more modern than his own world. As he continued walking, he was caught off guard as something wrapped around his waist once more. Bracing himself, arms over his head for impact, he was… just lifted up. His eyes widened to find that this time he was able to see what it was pulling him, a large pink tendril of flesh, holding him above the fallen world below him. Tears of fear began to escape him as he thrashed, wanting the nightmare to end…. Just as he was about to give up and accept his end at the hands of whatever monster he was caught by, his eyes widened to hear a… strangely melodious voice enter his head.

"…I'm sorry…"

Illuminated by his chakra lone, he looked around for the source of the voice, only to feel something… draining him. He did not feel pain, more akin to feeling himself slowly grow lighter as he looked down at the tendril beneath him, a red glow akin to chakra traveling down it as it began to illuminate… something beautifully monstrous. A maiden, larger than the mountain of his idols, cast in the same fleshy metal which held him… and a stranger, thicker tendril in front of him, all glowing with this strange red chakra, this one possessing… an eye? "I'm sorry..". his eyes widened even further to find this creature… was crying? "h-hey what are you!?". It's cries only got meeker at his shout, making him…sorta feel bad. "i-it's been so long i…I just wanted a new book to read.. p-please don't hurt me..". as the maiden's hand lifted him from the tendril's grasp, this main one dropped the book in his lap, sniffling as she backed away.. "h-hey…. It's um.. ok?". Holding his hand out as a sort of placating gesture, he winced at the movement of it… drawing another gasp from the creature. "D-DID I DO THAT? OH MY, I'M SO SORRY!". Naruto gasped as the creature shot towards him, holding his hand as he winced in pain… only to find that his skin, and the bones inside it, were slightly starting to heal.

"..a..are you a gauna…?". His eyebrow tilted, as did his head, looking upon the strange creature with confusion. "what's a gauna...?". the creature too, seemed confused at this as she tilted her head, the large maiden behind her doing the same. "well.. they're like me. if you aren't a gauna, what are you…? Your body naturally makes heigus particles, t-the blue stuff-" "HEY LADY, I DON'T KNOW WHATEVER A HAGGIS PARTICAR IS, BUT THIS IS CHAKRA!". Flinching at the shout, the creature nodded, seemingly thinking to herself as she looked at him. "either way… It seems to be bringing me back to full power. I don't suppose you could explain to me where I am..? is tanekaze ok?". Naruto once again tilted his head, before a rare moment of intelligence dawned upon him… sadly without any grace. "oh, you're in a bunch of ruins outside my village, lady. And I think you're the only thing left alive right now…". He could tell by her next 'expression', that what he had said was…probably not the smartest thing to say. "d..dead..? n-no! izane, tanekaze! WHERE ARE YOU!". The large maiden behind her began to look in a panicked manner, clawing at the buildings as she began to cry in hysterics. In a rare moment of bravery which wasn't fuelled by stupidity, naruto stood up on the shaking hand, climbing up it's arm as he tried to hold on for dear life. "l-lady, these ruins are really old…and everything's smashed… I don't think they survived whatever happened…"

The woman, frozen in angered hysterics, broke down as she fell to her knees against the floor below, her hands going up to her face as she cried. Naruto, being on her arm, was unable to keep a grip as he fell onto her shoulder, wincing as he felt his newly healed hand hit the hard surface. He, In what could be considered a dumb attempt to cheer them up, hugged the rather large jawline of this creature. "….you shouldn't lose yourself to the sadness lady. If they're gone, then you should live for them… live the life they couldn't". he doubted his words would do much for her, but hey… no one lost anything by trying. He was pleasantly surprised to find that she did in fact, stop crying somewhat, only to wrap her hand around him. "….tsumugi… my name is tsumugi…". He nodded, smiling as he waved his hand to her. "naruto Uzumaki.. nice to meet you tsu nee-san!". He was surprised to hear a gasp of shock from her, but was even more surprised to find this maiden lowering him to her… "did your chest just open up?". "well… yeah.. I'm a hybrid garde type battle-class unit… my cockpit has the capabilities to regenerate me so..if you can make ha-chakra… then maybe it'll heal you up fully too?".

"MAYBE YOU COULD STOP SUCKING ON MY CHAKRA LIKE A FUCKING LEACH YOU DAMN BIOLOGICAL MACHINE-ASS WHORE!". Both naruto and tsumugi jostled as they heard the voice, the red glow being halted from her body, naruto barely sitting down in the cockpit as he frowned. "…naruto, you have something inside of you…. Do you want me to handle this?". the boy tilted his head again, shrugging. "um… sure?". He regretted his answer as soon as it was given, a blast of this 'heigus' energy tsumugi mentioned being blasted into his stomach, both his and this mystery voice screaming in agony… until only naruto's remained. He was surprised to find that, when his sight returned to him… tsumugi was gone. As was the large being he was held in… instead, he felt…. Light. Lighter than light, near weightless… "WHAT THE FUCK!". Floating in the air, he was shocked to find a mixture of crimson and blue sparks emitting from behind him, holding him aloft as he thrashed, trying to find a balance. "…naruto?". he stopped, suddenly reminded of the absence of his new friend. "TSUMUGI, WHERE ARE YOU!?".

"….behind you… there was…something mean inside you. So I put it to sleep and… the energy I stole from it.. it's core, it was killing you… so I used it to change you into something like me… I'm sorry". He turned, finding that tsumugi was in fact behind him… but at his size. the woman, or rather the girl he had just met, could be seen clearly now, with the same crimson sparks being shot from a strange, triangular device on her back… made from the same flesh-metal which made her. "like…you?". "yes… a guana human hybrid. It seems you kept your form, but like me you are… comprised of an enna and a core. Your enna is a flesh-comprised metal alloy, and your chakra is like heigus now.. with how much you put out, you're like a class-5 gauna…". The awe in her voice seemed to carry her words far into the boy's mind, a mind… which seemed much clearer than before. "ok… so… my core… is where. My heart?". The woman shook her head, drifting over to hold the freely floating boy still. "no… your body was destroyed in the flash… so I had to rebuild an enna using most of my own body around you.. hence the size. your core, is your left eye… it was all that remained. I'm…I'm sorry. I didn't know that would happen..".

Despite the shocking news, naruto didn't seem to feel much surprise… a scary occurrence to him, but at the same time, he found himself just… not caring. Only one thought came to mind now… what would he do, to leave this place? He had to beware the chunin, especially with tsumugi as they would fear her immensely. As if acting off his own thoughts, tsumugi gasped as she felt her body begin to change. Pink skin became peach, spikes became flat and soft skin, devices and armour becoming clothing… leaving a girl with black hair, her left eye marked with six parallel pupils, in a white suit. "…I see… it seem's with this new energy source, my body adapted to fit it's past host…like a gauna… thank you naruto, it seems your interactions with me have granted me a human body". The blond just nodded, dumbfounded by what had just happened. He was doubily surprised to find her grasping his hands while crossing her arms over, doing the same to him. She giggled at his face, talking like a bigger sister would to their sibling. "this is a clasp formation silly… I'm going to teach you how to fly before getting you out of here. ok?".

And teach him, she did… well on into the night. Unaware that above the surface, naruto's disappearance had been noted, and a search party had been issued… the entrance to the ruins gone, and long forgotten.

The next day, ruin surface (sidona seed ship fragment, port entrance)

"….so you're telling me you think naruto just ran off…? What kind of shit do you think you're spinning here. tell me again, what happened..". the old man known as hiruzen sarutobi, frowned as he looked at the caved in entrance to the ruins, the battered form of a platinum haired academy teacher at his side, held down by anbu. "i-I told you sir, we woke up to hear and see the entrance to the ruins sinking into the earth…after that, we discovered naruto's hammock empty and only his book missing. I suggested we leave, less the ground swallow the campsite too". The hokage shook his head, stepping forward as he took a drag from his pipe. "….mizuki, you're an academy teacher. Anyone could tell, you knew this meant no threat… and with the imprints in the grass, anyone could tell that naruto was probably dragged into those ruins by something. So you left, using this as a way to hide your hatred…and hopes that he died in those ruins.".

The teacher was about to speak once more, only for the hard, metal plated fist of an anbu to silence him. "…you are stripped of your position at the academy. You will serve 10 consecutive years, back to back, under suspicion of attempted murder, neglect of your position… and sabotage of a Konoha asset. Be lucky I don't execute you for this…". the venom in the old man's voice struck deep, even with the children who watched from afar. They all, shocked and afraid, had watched as these ruins nearly swallowed them up…and some even shed tears of fear to know that it had taken one of their own. But before another word could be said, the ground began to shake… and crack. "EVERYBODY GET BACK!". hearing their leader cry out the order, everyone retreated to the treeline, some getting jutsu ready for the threat… only for them to be blinded by azure light, as the ground was burst open by an explosion of pure chakra, sounds of energy rushing out of the hole. "WIND STYLE, GREAT BREAKTHROUGH".

Clearing the dust and debris from their sight, they were caught off guard to see both the subject of their concerns… and a girl, both flying in the air. From their backs, arms and legs, had sprouted triangular, pink flesh that seemed to have hardened into a metallic substance, crimson and azure sparks flowing from both. Landing on the ground, naruto chuckled as the flesh receded back into his own body, the girl following suit as she hid behind naruto, the blond now only noticing the group watching him. "….um… hi?". Before the hokage could step forward however, he was surprised to find one of his own anbu shoot forward with their tanto drawn. "THE DEMON'S BROKEN FREE!". He was stopped short however, naruto simply holding the blade at bay with his arm as it gained the same metallic pink sheen, the tanto eventually breaking against his arm as he lashed out with his own punch, the same engine driving it forward as the anbu was forced to bend over his fist, leaving the winded soldier to be picked up by the others… his eyes locking on the hokage as he sighed. "we have a lot to explain jiji…"