A/N: WARNING! MAJOR CANON CHANGE FROM THE OUT-SET!

For those who are curious, this is NOT the continuation of the teaser I recently posted. This is something similar, yes. I already have lot of that other story (Entitled 'The Whispering Wind') typed up, and it's a lot better than this. At least, I think so. If only because I didn't have to write out the whole Mizuki scene. But I digress. Without any further delay, I present:

The Ultimate Life-Form

Written By P.D.P Warrillow

Location: Somewhere Within The Forests of Konoha...

Naruto stood, frozen in fear, as Iruka collapsed in front of him, slowly. He was loosing a lot of blood. Naruto could see it pooling on the ground, spilling from the kunai wounds on Iruka's back. Naruto could feel his heart beat going faster and faster. 'Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump' it went, faster than Naruto could keep up with.

Naruto's eyes traveled upwards, fixing on the man who had committed these monstrosities. Mizuki. He was grinning insanely, eyes fixed upon Naruto, twirling a giant shuriken above his head. Naruto knew, in that moment, he was going to die. He wasn't even a genin, he had no useful jutsu, he had no means of defending himself. He was on his own. He had nothing to help him. He had no allies ready to leap out of the bushes. He was defenseless and alone.

Strangely, even as Mizuki got closer, Naruto's heart-beat slowed. 'Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump...' It went. Then something strange happened. Something that shouldn't have happened. The object he had stolen from the Hokage's office began to glow in his blood-stained hand, and, inside Naruto's mind, a voice spoke. It was an ancient voice, one that hadn't been heard since an eternity ago. It spoke these words in a calm, yet commanding voice: "You are not alone... We are with you..."

Naruto didn't even have time to cry out, as his world went black...

Location: ???

Naruto awoke to feel a strange floating sensation. The blond felt strangely... calm, and serene. He cracked his eyes open. Blackness. It stretched before him into oblivion. He knew, in an instant, he was looking at infinity.

(As we all know, this is untrue. Naruto is not looking at infinity, because infinity is flat and rather boring. What Naruto is seeing is 'An Impossibly Long Distance' which is (unlike infinity) rather interesting and impressive. Now back to the story)

Naruto looked around slowly. The trauma from the fight coupled with this uncomfortable feeling of weightlessness had slowed his movements down to a slow, agonizing crawl. Slowly but surely, he made a 180 degree turn and saw a sight that made his eyes widen.

Naruto gasped, his pupils dilated and he stared at this amazing sight. A shining light, of the most brilliant green Naruto had ever lain eyes upon. It was sparkling, undulating and ever moving. It grasped his imagination and held it in a vice-like grip.

Naruto gazed, enchanted, at the beautiful sight before him. Suddenly, he felt a... presence. Within the amazing color before him, and at the same time, around them. It was a shimmering apparition, a vague body made of the brilliant spectrum before him.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but the strange being made a halting gesture with his right hand(claw?), and spoke.

"We know you have questions... Oh so many questions... But time... No time... You wish to save your teacher...?" it questioned, it's voice sounding as though many people were talking at the same time.

Naruto hesitated for just a moment, then nodded.

"Yes!" The blond answered in a loud, determined voice.

"Very well... Take this gift..." The light being said, reaching out to him from its place in front of the gems. Naruto suddenly became worried. "What are you-" he began, only to find that the creature had already shoved it's hand through the boy's stomach. "The Ruling Green will... activate your sleeping genes..."

Naruto screamed. The pain was excruciating. He could barely move, he could barely even think. But, just when Naruto was wishing it would end, it did. Quite suddenly and without warning. And then Naruto was falling. Falling into the blackness...

Location: Somewhere In The Forests of Konoha...

Mizuki chuckled. It had all been too easy. His mission was almost complete. 'Just one more little detail to take care of...'

He glared at the unconscious Iruka before him, before letting his gaze drift to the blond boy, who was staring blankly ahead with hollow eyes. He had always meant to kill Iruka before his long-term infiltration mission was completed, as he had hated the Chunin ever since Mizuki had first met him.

The boy, Naruto, was just an extra. A bonus, if you will. The kid had annoyed him to no end, with questions like 'Why is an old man teaching us?'. He had told the damn brat a million times that his hair was silver, not gray!

He spat on the ground and pulled out his Giant Windmill Shuriken, and spun it above his head. "It's time to finish this!" he roared, and brought the shuriken down, straight at Iruka...

CLANG!

Mizuki's eyes widened. "Wha... How!?"

Naruto was blocking the Windmill Shuriken with his own tiny kunai. This was wrong because Mizuki knew that no matter who you were, you do NOT block a Windmill Shuriken with a kunai. Kunai simply weren't strong enough to block the superior weapon. Except, apparently, when genin get really pissed at you.

Naruto glared at Mizuki with hate filled eyes. And then dissapeared. "Wha-" he managed to say, before Naruto's foot connected with his jaw. Mizuki flew away, before smacking his already damaged skull against a tree. Mizuki lay there, bleeding, with his eyes unfocused. The last thing he saw before Naruto followed up with a skull-shattering punch was ANBU Black Ops appearing around the clearing, and Naruto, already getting ready for the finishing blow.

'Two hits... That was all... just... two...' And then, Mizuki's world turned black... permanently.

Location: Konoha General Hospital

Naruto awoke to the beeping sound of a near by machine. Blearily, he opened his eyes. He saw white walls, clean floors and a bedside table with flowers. The hospital? Were his injuries that serious? He began to sit up.

"Sir, he's awake!" came a female voice. Naruto looked ahead to see a nurse standing with the door half open. She looked like she had only just walked in. 'Who was she-' Naruto's thoughts were suddenly cut off as an elderly man walked in. Not just any elderly man.

"Old Man Hokage!" Naruto called, grinning as he sat up straight. The Hokage smiled warmly at Naruto. Then turned to the nurse.

"You may leave now."

She bowed, "Yes, sir." and left. As soon as she closed the door, two ANBU appeared behind the Hokage. One of them spoke up. "Sir, we already know what happened. Why bother troubling Naruto with questions?"

The old man sighed. "Yes, I know. But we must be one-hundred percent sure. I assume you know what would happen if we got it wrong?" Asked the old man, looking at the ANBU who had spoken. He stiffened. "...Of... of course, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage nodded, then turned to Naruto, who was very confused by what had just transpired. The Hokage gave Naruto a warm smile. "When your ready, Naruto, I want you to tell us exactly what happened." The grin on Naruto's face lessened slightly. He knew this was serious.

"Well, I guess it started when I failed the bunshin test," said Naruto, not quite meeting the Hokage's eyes. But the old man didn't interrupt the blond boy, so he plowed on "Mizuki said that, though I did everything else right, the bunshin was a serious blow to my grade score. Said that there was a very small chance of me getting through. But," And here, Naruto's eyes hardened as he realized he'd been tricked, "Mizuki said there was another way. An extra-credit exam, he said that all I'd have to do was sneak in to your office, and-"

Naruto stopped and glanced around the room, before spotting what he was looking for: His clothes, lying in a neatly folded heap in the corner of the room. Naruto leaped out of bed, wearing his hospital gown and crouched over his clothes, rummaging through the pockets. "Here it is!" He announced, triumphant as he held aloft his prize. "He said I'd have to steal this!"

The Hokage and his two ANBU escorts didn't react as much as he thought they would, what with the huge emerald Naruto held aloft. It was a sparkling gem, of the purest, most vibrant green you could imagine. When Naruto had first seen it, he was sure it was a priceless artifact, such was its ethereal beauty. However, now that he had seen their lack of reaction, he thought otherwise. It was with a heavy heart that he continued his story. 'Is it really worthless? Did I go through all of that for nothing?' he thought.

Naruto never stopped to think that maybe, they already knew he had it...

A/N: Yes! Finally finished! Those of you who were paying attention may have noticed some major canon changes. (Two or three were contained in this chapter, I think...)

If anyone can guess them, well, I dunno. You'll feel better about yourselves or something. YAY!

Also, can anyone guess the cross-over? I wont reveal what it is unless someone guesses it.

Cheers, from Force 'Hog, The Chocolate Milk Messiah