Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the characters just my ideas :)


CHAPTER ONE

"NARUTO!"

"NARUTO, GET UP!"

"NARUTO!"

A slender girl with long, brown hair and eyes, and fair skin stormed up the stairs and banged on the first door to her left.

"NARUTO!"

Inside the room, a blonde-haired boy stirred as the loud banging woke him from his sleep. Naruto groggily rubbed his eyes as he slowly stood up to stretch before he walked to the door to open it.

"Demo...Ayame-chan" he said yawning as he opened the door.

"Get up or you will be late for school. And don't forget your errand for Madame Shijimi" she said.

"Ok, ok" murmured Naruto.

Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he began to get ready for school.

After he finished his morning rituals in the bathroom, Naruto grabbed a burnt orange shirt and a pair of dark jeans from his closet and rapidly began dressing himself. After he finished tying up his shoes, he flew down the stairs and wolfed down the breakfast Ayame prepared for him. Once he finished eating, he grabbed his backpack.

"Naruto-kun don't forget your lunch" said she smiling as she held his homemade food in her hands.

"Thanks Ayame-chan" he said taking his lunch as he ran out the house to get to school.

After Naruto was out of the eyesight of Ayame, he slowed his pace to a walk. Thoughts of skipping briefly crossed his mind. "But then Iruka would be upset..."

As Naruto passed a small playground, he saw other children playing on the slides and merry-go-round with their parents, and immediately he felt sad. He'd never had anyone to play with him. He did not even know who his real parents were. Iruka and Ayame were kind enough to adopt him, but he still felt as if a part of him were missing no matter how much love and affection Ayame and Iruka gave him. To him, they were like siblings to him.

-flashback-

One night, it was raining heavily and Iruka was coming home late from work. Unfortunately, he had forgot to fill up on gas, and right at this playground, his car gave out. At this time Iruka and Ayame, the daughter of the owner of Naruto's favorite ramen stand in the whole wide world, Teuchi, were dating. Iruka gave her a quick call to inform her about his situation, and she and her father agreed to come help him out.

As Iruka waited for Ayame and her dad, he heard a small wailing noise outside car. He stepped out of his car to find the source of the noise. Lo and behold, a small baby laid in the sandbox, crying as the rain smothered him A soaked piece of paper was nestled between his blankets. Barely eligible, Iruka was able to make out the name "Naruto". He quickly took off his jacket and wrapped it around the infant and rushed back to his car. When Teuchi and Ayame arrived, Iruka showed them the baby, and they took the baby home for the night.

The following day, Ayame contacted the police about the baby to see if a missing persons report had been filed. Nothing could be found about the small baby. There was no date of birth, social security records or any type of information pertaining to the baby. Unfortunately, Naruto was taken away and placed in the orphanage.

At the orphanage, Naruto struggled with learning to read and write at first. The caretakers grew impatient with his lack of progress and disregarded him. The older kids mocked and beat him. The only light in his hell was Iruka and Ayame's visits. They took Naruto out on his birthdays and holidays to celebrate.

For years, Ayame and Iruka fought for legal custody of Naruto, and finally two years ago they gained guardianship of him when he was ten years old. That was the same year Iruka and Ayame got married. And when they gained custody of Naruto, they bought a new house and let Naruto pick his room first. Under their care, Naruto flourished.

Yet, trouble still came his way. Because of the outlandish whisker marks on his face, many of the children at school mocked and bullied Naruto. Naruto spent more time in the principal's office than in class. Again, his studies slipped. Then one day, a new kid appeared. His name was Sato Okinawa. Immediately, the girls crooned over Sato, declaring him their future husband. In class, Sato was a genius, making the highest grade on every assignment. In sports, he dominated. Naruto felt resentful of the affection he immediately received. What made Sato so special from everyone else? Naruto felt if everyone gave him the opportunity, he could be just as good as Sato. But, Naruto was a misfit. With his unruly blonde, cerulean blue eyes, and whisker marks, he stuck out like a sore thumb. So, Naruto began skipping school. However, that stint did not last very long. Once Iruka found out he was skipping school, he admonished Naruto. From then on, whenever he stepped out of line, Iruka was there to put him back in place.

- end in flashback-

Despite it all, Naruto was still grateful for everything Ayame and Iruka sacrificed and gave to have him as their son. Now, all he hoped for was a younger sibling to play with and mentor as the older brother.

As he thought of having a younger brother or sister, a smile graced his face. With those thoughts in mind, he resumed his walk to school. Still stuck in his little dreamworld, Naruto briefly glanced at his watch and froze. He was five minutes late for class.

"OH NO! IRUKA'S GOING TO KILL ME!" he shouted as he took off, racing to the school.


"Hey Naruto wanna come over to my house?" asked one of Naruto's friends.

"Thanks Eiji but, I have to run an errand for Madame Shijimi today" replied Naruto.

Naruto leaned against the school playgrounds fence as Eiji looked around at the bustle of people passing by. This was Naruto and his friend's meeting spot. Naruto's group consisted of Chouza, Eiji, and Haru. Chouza was a skinny boy with copper colored hair. His father was owner and chef of the local barbeque and grill restaurant. Haru was the laziest kid in the world, but had a cunning mind that proved useful in many of Naruto's pranks. He had long hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. His dad worked as part of the Konoha police force. Eiji's mom was the owner of one of the local grocery supply stores that Naruto and his family frequently visited.

"Man, school is such a waste of time" sighed Haru as he slowly made his way to where Naruto and Eiji were.

"You say that everyday" said Eiji

"Eh, doesn't mean it isn't true" replied Haru

"So, what are you up to? Naruto has an errand to run and my mom wants me to help today at the store" asked Eiji, absentmindedly rubbing his chin.

"Huh, I think I'm going to stay here awhile longer" replied Haru

"You mean until your mom finds you" snickered Naruto

"That woman is always yelling about one thing or another" said Haru, "I'm used to it now, just like my dad."

Naruto and Eiji sweat dropped at that comment. "Anyways, it's time for me to go. See you guys tomorrow" said Naruto.

Walking the same route as this morning, Naruto hastened to get back home. He had thirty minutes to eat, then leave on his bike to search for Tora. That cat was the stuff of legends. Elusive and crafty, many had failed in capturing the cat. All except Naruto, and tonight he would succeed again.

Placing his bike on the side of the building, Naruto entered the abandoned shrine searching for Tora.

"Stupid cat, where are you?" he muttered, searching behind boxes and under chairs.

Continuing through the building, he began to get more and more frustrated as each second passed by and he had yet to find Tora. Though, if Naruto were in Tora's shoes (or paws?) he would have run away too.

Despite, or better yet, because of the huge amount of affection Madam Shijimi showed to the cat, which includes nearly squeezing the life out of the cat, Tora constantly runs away. However, due to being the mayor of Konoha's wife, Madam Shijimi offered very generous rewards for finding her cat. Some people would think it ridiculous but Tora was one nifty cat who knew how to get around Konoha city. In his opinion, the cat could have robbed the bank and got away with murder. Tora was a professional escapist and knew places to hide where no one would ever find the cat.

But Naruto had been chasing this cat since he was eight years old and, now at twelve years of age, he knew every place the cat would go to. The Tanaka shrine was the cat's favorite place to hide. The shrine had once belonged to a prestigious family known as the Tanaka's who was one of Japan's oldest descents. However the family, boasting fifty members, was murdered. Only Shinji Tanaka, a grandson, was the sole survivor. Shinji sold all his family's estate, paid one last visit to the shrine of his ancestors, and permanently left Japan.

Ever since the murder, people who visited the shrine claimed that the shrine was haunted by the souls of the murdered family whom were searching for revenge against their murderer. Of course there were the daredevils looking to dispute this claim by setting up camps within the shrines intending to stay the night and prove everyone wrong.

For the most part, each person that stayed in the shrine would come out the next morning unscathed. At least physically. Everyone who spent the night came out uncharacteristically subdued and unwilling to speak of their experience of staying one night in the shrine.

However, he wasn't going to be stopped by some little ghost story. He was Naruto Uzumaki, dattebayo!

All he had to do was get into the shrine, find Tora, and get out before the sun sets. Then he would have enough money to eat at Ichiraku's. He just hoped he wouldn't run into that jerk Sato. Sato's family owned numerous restaurants in Konoha. As such, the Okinawa family was moderately rich. For appearance sake, he appeared to be the perfect child. He made the highest grades in school and participated in athletics and many school events. It was trivial to the adults that Sato acted as he was of royal descent. But Naruto knew what he was truly like. He and his group of friends were the dark spot in Naruto's school life. They took every opportunity to belittle or mock Naruto because of his appearance. Most of the teachers refused to believe Naruto when he told them of Sato's bullying. Because of his family, Sato had everything rolled out on a red carpet right at his feet.

Naruto had to struggle since day one, earning everything he got with hard work. But his results were lackluster. Naruto was currently the dead last at the Junior Academy, shortest among boys and girls in his class, and the most untalented. Shaking his head, Naruto determinedly squashed those thoughts. He wasn't dead last and one day he would show Konoha City. But first and foremost he had to find that pesky cat.

"Tora!" Naruto hissed quickly scoping around in the main yard in front of the red torii gates before heading into the main hall of the shrine. He came to a stop in the main hallway which led to the back of the shrine where a well was situated. An old man's tale went that back in the feudal ages the Tanaka's ancestors warded the well to prevent evil spirits from seeping into the human world and lived here in the shrine as its protectors. Down the hallway, doors lined the walls on each side; no doubt rooms that had been used by the Tanaka's. There were a total of fifteen rooms. More rooms were situated on the second floor where also a dining room was set up. He had once wandered up there looking for Tora, and had found the cat on the outer balcony that wrapped around the whole upper level.

He strode down the hall, taking in the paintings and ancient scrolls that hung on the walls. Many different time periods hung there. Naruto recognized a painting from the Meiji period. The old man at the ramen shop had many paintings from the Meiji period in his shop.

He came out into an open area; there was a medium sized room that split the back porch into an opened porch on either side of the back hall that opened onto the backyard, giving him a clear look at the small bamboo forest that the few priests who occasionally came out and took care of this shrine had grown. And back behind that was another district and many intersecting roads. But still there was no sight of Tora.

The door to one of the room was slightly ajar. He carefully pushed the door open. In the middle of the room was a medium-sized rounded well built out of cherry wood. This whole room was built of the material. And there sitting on the ledge was Tora.

Tora regarded him with a smug look as if to say 'You finally found me', swishing his tail back and forth.

"Mangy cat" muttered Naruto walking up to the well. Tora let Naruto pick him up without the usual clawing that followed the previous times Naruto had gotten close to the cat. Madam Shijimi probably fed Tora around this time and the cat was ready to go home. Of course, Madam Shijimi would take the cat back in more than welcoming arms as she always did, proclaiming her love for the cat. It was a good thing Naruto had decided to find Tora right after school. With his payment, he could treat himself to a quick round of ramen at the old man Teuchi's ramen stand before heading off to school in the morning.

"One miso ramen coming right up!" he thought, mentally drooling at the thought of a hot, fresh bowl of noodles with delicious miso broth.

With Tora comfortably tucked under one arm, Naruto strode through the hallway.

"….Come, Hero of a Distant Time…"

"Huh?!" exclaimed Naruto jumping. The voice sounded like a young girl probably around his age. It drifted down and around the whole hallway and echoed in the silence. Tightening his grip on Tora, Naruto sprinted towards freedom. He got the cat and now it was time he got his payment.

Just as Naruto passed the first well, he heard a creaking noise, as if wood had broken. Turning around, he did not notice anything out of the ordinary. Turning around to leave, he heard another noise, but kept walking. An arm made out wood sprung from the well, grabbing Naruto and pulling him in.

Naruto screamed as he fell, waiting for the impact with the bottom of the well. As he fell further and further down the well, he began to notice small changes. The interior of the well had changed from wood to stone and the air was no longer cold but warm with foreign smells contained in it. Sounds permeated the air. He could hear the sound of old man speaking in a dialect he didn't understand and the faint murmur of women speaking some type of incantation filled the wells.

He continued to fall passing some the objects turned into vague shapes then everything faded into a deep impenetrable black. Naruto felt his descent began to slow. Briefly, he was floating before he was doused in a blanket of water. Floundering around, Naruto realized he was underwater and began to swim to the top. Breaking the surface, Naruto swam his way to the shore where he crawled to the edge of the forest.

Suddenly a loud squeal sounded from his left frightening the teen. Scrambling quickly to his feet, he took off into the forest as fast as he could go; stopping once he was out of breath. Deciding to rest, Naruto leaned back against the tree as he took in his surroundings. Tall trees loomed above blocking out the sunlight. Small rays of light barely filtered through the canopy. Birds fluttered back and forth through the air calling to each other. All around the forest teemed with animal life. Panic set into Naruto's stomach. He was hungry, tired, and alone.

"Where am I?" Naruto uttered as he stared around the forest.

A peculiar scent that smelled like food wafted towards the teen. With a growling stomach, he slowly made his way towards it, wary of coming across something dangerous. As quietly as possible, Naruto snuck his way forward before coming upon a lone burning fire. Above the fire sat a spit with a piece of meat slowing cooking with a small pot hanging below it. Cautiously looking around, he made sure no one was present as he slowly crept towards the cooked meat. Just as he reached for the meat, a blade appeared at his throat.

"Who are you? And what are you doing out here?" a harsh baritone voice questioned as they jerked Naruto back away from the spit.

Falling roughly to the ground, Naruto quickly spun around to see his attackers. With their faces set in scowls, two men who appeared to be middle-aged with white, pupil-less eyes stared down at the teen. Both were dressed in white shirt with loose sleeves, matching pants, and these oddly shaped sandals that at the middle of their calves. One had dark brown cropped hair while the other had shoulder length hair. Both regarded the teen with disdainful stares.

"My parents told me not to talk to strangers."

One of the men roughly grabbed Naruto by the front of his shirt, lifting him off the ground.

"Hey, hey, don't hurt the kid. Put him down Kenshi and put your kunai away, Yuuhei" Coming out the woods, a man dressed in garbs similar to the others stood before the trio.

"But sir..." began one of the men as he placed Naruto back on the ground.

"It's all right. I'm pretty sure the kid just got himself lost in these woods. There's no need to get all up in arms." The older man said as he took a seat before the fire.

"He could be a spy, Ryoshi-sama. We are sworn to protect you and as such we must take out all possible threats, no matter how insignificant."

"This boy is not a threat." Ryoshi replied, waving off their accusations. "Enough with the negativity lets enjoy our food. "

Turning back to the fire, Ryoshi tore a piece of meat of for the boy. Placing the meat in a bowl, he poured some soup into the bowl and handed to Naruto. Naruto wolfed down his food.

"Hello, I'm Ryoshi Hyuuga. So what's your name kid?" Ryoshi asked

"Naruto Uzumaki" Naruto said in between bites of food.

"What are you doing out here by yourself?" Ryoshi asked as he calmly chewed on his meat and sipped on his miso broth.

"I don't know how I got here. I think I fell out the sky"

At this, the guards faces burned red with indignation.

"Sir, he's clearly lying! No one can fall out of the sky! He is clearly a spy!" Kenshi, the guard with the short cropped hair, indignantly replied.

"You fell out the sky, hm?" Ryoshi inquired as he leaned back to gaze into the sky, ignoring Kenshi.

"Yea. I was in this shrine when a piece of wood lunged out of the wall and grabbed me." Naruto replied as he reached for another piece of meat, not noticing the incredulous look Ryoshi gave him.

"Could you be the child of prophecy" muttered Ryoshi as he stared deep into the flames.

"What was that sir?" Naruto asked as he took a deep bit from his meat.

"Oh, nothing" Ryoshi calmly said as he moved to pour himself some more broth. Just as Ryoshi was moving the ladle to to pour his broth, the bowl split in two as a shiny,metal black object embedded itself into the ground.

"Wha…?" Naruto questioned before Ryoshi pulled the teen to the ground. Quicker than Naruto could follow, Kenshi and Yuuhei had already moved into their battle stance in front of Ryoshi, scanning the trees and surrounding area for intruders.

Quickly dousing the flame with the leftover broth, Ryoshi pulled Naruto along with him as he fled from their campsite.

Kensei and Yuuhei jumped up towards the trees, trailing behind Ryoshi as he carried Naruto along with on, staying below on the ground.

Explosions boomed from behind them, trees falling aside in the wake of destruction. Sprinting from the smoke, three man rushed at the two guards.

"Yuuhei, stay with Master Ryoshi" Kensei said as he stopped preparing for the attackers.

The three men drew long blades to fight the guard. Kensei swirled as a blue substance enveloped him, blasting the three men away from himself.

As Kensei fought to hold the three men off, Yuuhei rushed to catch up to Naruto and Ryoshi. Suddenly, a hail of kunai rained down on the young ninja from the left. Yuuhei managed to dodge a few, but Naruto could see he was heavily injured. The assailants leapt from the trees. Even though he knew this was his last fight, Yuuhei fought valiantly to protect the boy and his master.

"What's going on Ryoshi-san? What about Kenshi and Yuuhei?" the bewildered teen asked as he followed along behind the older man. Racing past the trees, Ryoshi brought them to a stop in the middle of a clearing. Above, the canopy blocked out any sunlight. Ryoshi warily looked around before turning to face Naruto.

"This is the price you pay for having a Kekkai Genkai. Every wants your power and will stop at nothing to have it. I'm sorry Naruto-kun but you have come at a very bad time. The entire land is at war with each other. I must return you back to your time quickly." Ryoshi said as he knelt before Naruto.

"I don't understand." Naruto muttered as tears slowly ran down his face. Panic set into the teen's stomach, paralyzing him before the older man.

"I don't expect you to, kid" Ryoshi said, shooting a wry grin at Naruto as he reached into his robes. Pulling out on amulet on a leather cord, Ryoshi placed the talisman around Naruto's neck and began chanting incantations. Suddenly blue points alighted on all five digits of Ryoshi's right hand. In response a red chakra flared around Naruto in a protective cocoon.

"You must be the one" Ryoshi thought in awe as he regarded the sight before him. Shaking himself from his stupor, Ryoshi finished his incantations.

"Goodbye Naruto-san" Ryoshi said as he pressed his hand to Naruto's abdomen, "when it is time, the amulet will bring you back."

As excruciating pain rushed through Naruto's body, a brightlight blossomed all around the teen rendering him unconscious.


End of Chapter One

Thanks for reading and please review. :)

Also, critique is welcome but NO FLAMES/FLAMING. Thanks!

UnderTheUnderneath & Dark Kamiya

I would like to thank the Crafty Cracker for BETAing for me!