This was an idea I've had for a while now. Since I'm getting back on this site after such a long time away I figured it would be good a good way to get back into things. Don't expect me to update this too often but I'll try when I'm not busy. On to the story.

Chapter 1: Sound

Deep in Kusagakure there was an old horse drawn wagon slowly making it's way down a dirty road. The wagon was surrounded on all sides by men and women who wore similar clothing, green jackets and a headband with a leaf symbol somewhere on their person. In all there were eleven of them total. One steered the horses, three followed from behind, two were on either sides of the cart, two walked ahead of the vehicle, and the last man stood atop the wagon to keep watch over the others.

The security surrounding it aside, the wagon itself was nothing special. It was just a simple wooden cart with four walls devoid of any windows and a flat roof. The only thing noticeable about the cart was the impressive number of locks keeping the only door shut. There were at least four metal locks on the door along with two sealing tags. A couple of the guards would occasionally glance at the locks with worried expressions as if to check whether or not they were still in place and secure.

Inside of the wagon sat a young blond haired boy no older than five years old. He simply wore a torn and dirty brown shirt that went halfway down his thighs. The boy's wrists and ankles were bound by iron shackles chained to the floor. However the boy paid no attention to his poor clothing or the metal restricting his movements, he had long since gotten used to it. The boy was far more interested in staring towards the door with wide blue eyes. Light would filter in through the crack and he could make out a few of the outside world's bright colors if he stared hard enough. Both the light and the color were unfamiliar to the boy, but now he was enthralled by them.

The boy continued to stare as the wagon made it's way down the road. That was another thing which held the boy's attention, the rocking of his prison. Dark rooms were a very common thing for the child but none of them moved like this one. It's steady rocking was a new sensation that nearly lulled the blond to sleep several times, but he was so insistent on studying the light for as long as possible that he resisted. Eventually the outside world had grown dark and, seeing that there was no more light or color to observe, the boy let himself drift off to sleep.

When the blond awoke it was to the jingling sound of metal. The wagons movement had stilled and light was once again coming in through the edge of the shut door. The boy continued to stare at the door, where the sound came from, in anticipation. Soon the jingling stopped and door was quickly thrown open. Far more light than the boy had ever seen before shown in, blinding the boy. The blond covered his eyes and screamed in pain at the burning sensation. Admits the pain he felt he began to wonder why that beautiful light had decided to suddenly hurt him now.

After writhing on the floor for a while the child could make out the sound of his shackles unlocking, before something grabbed his arm and forced him to stand. The boy kept his eyes closed as he was dragged out of the carriage and into that light which was both warm and painful to the boy. When the dragging stopped he tried once more to open his and see world around him, but once more the light stung his eyes and kept them closed. Time and again the boy tried to open his eyes until he could finally manage a small squint. Soon the squint began to widen and the boy was once again looking around with his curious blue eyes.

He was surprised to find that, rather than a small dark room, he stood under the clear blue sky. The boy marveled at the deepness of the sky's colors and the way puffy white clouds drifted on the wind. His attention focused on a single ball of light in the sky that shined brighter than anything else. He continued to stare at it until his eyes began to burn and he was forced to look away.

The blond began observing his surroundings on earth next. The boy was surrounded by walls in a small enclosed area. Behind the walls was a large castle like structure reaching into the sky. Several of the people who guarded the carriage were currently having a conversation with some men wearing helmets and outfits that were entirely green. Occasionally the group would cast the boy a glance and continue talking. There were several other people in the area wearing a wide range of clothing with headbands of different designs. Each of these strangers were aligned with the boy and none looked happy to be there.

Soon the guards of the wagon finished their conversation with the other men before departing the area, not once giving the boy a second glance. The boy, for his part, remained where he stood. None of the people around him looked familiar, not that the boy really knew anyone to begin with, and the men standing in a line with him weren't moving so maybe he wasn't supposed to move either. With that thought in mind the young blond resolved himself to stand still for however long he had to.

The wait was a painful experience for the people waiting in that line. The weather was hot and sunny, there was nothing to do but stand still, and there wasn't a drop of water to be found anywhere. The line up was growing frustrated as time progressed, but the young boy continued to observe the world around him with his curious eyes. Two hours later the wait ended when someone approached the group.

He was a tall man with long black hair and dull eyes. He was pale but stood up tall with confidence and purpose. The man was obviously important if the way everyone around him acted was any indication. "Welcome to Hozuki Castle or, if you prefer Blood Prison. I am your warden Lord Mui and I expect you to address me as such." He spoke loudly and without stutter, his tone asserted his dominance without ever once becoming threatening. "This prison is inescapable so I suggest forgoing any notions of freedom during your stay. If you insist on leaving you will either have to wait until your village sends a written request for your release or die. I'll let you decide. If you're still alive twenty years from now and your village still hasn't asked for your release you will be executed for the sake of saving space and resources. I will now place the Heavenly Prison jutsu on each of you. This jutsu will suppress your chakra and kill you if you wander too far away from me."

With his small speech done and over with, the man made his way over to the first man in line. Meanwhile the boy stared at the man in awe. How did he do that? How did he claim everyone's attention so easily? The boy thought for a moment and concluded that it must have something to do with that sound coming from his mouth. It was a sound he rarely heard and never understood. To the boy that man was just making random noises with his mouth yet he carried such presence. The boy idly wondered if he could make such noises from his mouth too. He was tempted to try but the man from earlier was still making noises as he made his way down the row of inmates.

"You're inmate E-04." The man followed up the noise by pressing his hand to an inmates stomach. Strange marks formed on the prisoner who proceeded to double over in pain. The man withdrew his hand and moved on to the next inmate in line. "You're inmate E-05." Another hand press. "You're inmate E-06." More marks appeared. "You're inmate E-07." New grunts of pain. "You're inmate E-08." And now it was the boy's turn. The man towered over the blond, looking down on him with merciless eyes. Without hesitation the man calmly said, "You're inmate E-09."

Slowly the hand reached out for the boy's stomach in preparation for the jutsu. The blond tried to back away, he saw what happened to the other inmates when they were touched. Before the blond could take two steps back the man's hand shot forward and made contact with the boys stomach. The pain was another new experience for the boy. Unlike the stinging pain dealt by the light from earlier, this pain was a slow burning sensation from within his own body. Unable to withstand the pain for long, the boy doubled over as he breathed raggedly. Over the pain, the blond could faintly hear Mui as he continued down the line.

When he finished with the last of the inmates, Mui went back to his original position before the line up. Several minutes passed before all the inmates were able to get back up again. Seeing that everyone else was getting up the blond pushed down his pain and stood as well. When everyone's attention was back on Mui he returned to making those strange sounds, "From here we will perform a brief medical examination. Comply with the guards or suffer the consequences." With that the man turned and walked away.

The blond stared at Mui's retreating backside until he was roughly shoved to the side. The boy looked in the direction the push came from and saw a guard frowning at him. The boy blinked at the man which was responded with another shove. Taking the hint the young child began following the other inmates indoors. Minutes later the boy was sitting on a bench with several other inmates.

The prisoner on his right looked down at the boy and asked in a gruff voice, "How'd a brat like you wind up here?"The blond, unsure of what the mouth noises meant, just blinked at the man. "What's the matter with you? Answer when someone speaks to you!"

"Inmate E-02 quiet down!" Shouted a guard off to the side.

The inmate looked irritated and went back to quietly sitting on the bench. The blond was just confused now. What did those noises mean? Everyone seemed to use and understand them but their meaning was completely lost on the boy.

Time passed and the boy just sat there on the bench, patiently waiting for something to happen. Every now and then a guard would emerge from one of several doorways, make a mouth noise, and go back in. Every time this happened an inmate would get up to follow a guard into the doorway they emerged from. Eventually the boy heard a familiar mouth noise from earlier that day.

"E-09!" Shouted a guard from a doorway before going back in. The blond remembered that noise coming from the tall noise maker not too long ago. He was awoken from his reminiscing when the guard from earlier came back. "E-09!" He said louder than before, "This way!"

Everyone's attention was focused on the child now so he figured it was his turn. The blond shoved himself off the bench and trotted after the man. Once he entered the doorway he found himself standing before a rather large man sitting on a stool. In one hand he had a clipboard and in another he held a pencil. "Okay E-09, go ahead and strip." the man tiredly began.

The boy cocked his head to the side, once again confused. He was able to pick out the distinct sound of 'E-09' but everything else was just random noise. The man repeated the instructions but the child still didn't get it. Eventually the man made some mouth sounds towards a guard who forcefully removed the boy's shirt. The blond struggled at the sudden contact with the guard but it was futile and his bare naked body was exposed to everyone in the room. The sudden contact with the cool air made the boy shiver, but the examiner paid it no mind.

The guard who stole the shirt circled the boy a couple times to examine him from head to toe before nodding towards the examiner. The large man on the stool barked a few more orders and once again the child only recognized the sound of 'E-09'.

When the boy just stood there the man repeated his instructions which fell on deaf ears. The examiner was getting frustrated now and he wasn't the only one. The child just couldn't understand what was going on. The sounds which had recently captivated him were now being used to taunt him every time he failed to grasp their meaning. Why did these guys keep making these sounds at him for? What did they want?

When the large man's instructions went ignored again he glared at the boy while his pencil snapped in half. He looked like he was about to make some very loud mouth noises at the child when the guard from earlier calmed him down a bit. Some noises were exchanged between the two before the guard stood to face the boy fully. The guard raised his left leg to stand solely on his right and took a couple hops. He repeated the process with his other foot and pointed at the boy.

The child smiled in relief. Was that all they wanted? Why didn't they just do that in the first place? It was much simpler than the mouth sounds. Without anymore hesitation the child mimicked the guard and smiled in victory. The large man face palmed, jotted down a few notes, and muttered "He doesn't even understand words."

The examination continued like that with the boy mimicking every action he was shown by the guard. Soon the guard returned the child's shirt and motioned for him to follow outside. After a small walk out the building, into the night, past an empty courtyard, and into another building the blond found himself in a large room with many prison cells inside. His guide took him to an empty cell where he received the gesture to enter. He complied without complaint and the cage door was shut behind him.

Footsteps echoed away from the cage while the child took stock of his situation. His prison was a wooden cage void of any furniture besides a simple mat to sleep on. It wasn't the worst cage the boy had ever experienced, in fact it was probably the nicest. The last prison cell he endured was made of concrete and iron which often got too cold for any sense of comfort. The boy, having nothing better to do, lied down on his mat to stare at the ceiling above him. In the distance he could hear the whispering and murmurs of his fellow inmates.

The blond wasn't sure whether to smile or frown at the presence of the mouth sounds. The boy had become disillusioned with the sounds now, they only mocked him after all, yet a part of him held the hope that if he listened long enough he would be able to unlock their hidden meaning. After deciding to think about it another time, the boy shut his eyes and fell asleep.

The blond was awoken by the sound of opening cages when morning came. Curious, the blond walked towards the wooden bars to peer between them. Outside of his cage the guards were going around and letting the inmates outside of their cages. The prisoners left the cages and obediently stood in front of them while the guards continued their task. Eventually they got around to the child's cage where he was released like the others to mimic their stillness before his prison. The guards moved on and released the rest of the prisoners from their cell. Once everyone was out a guard barked out a couple sounds for the prisoners to hear, all of whom began moving towards the exit of the cell block. The blond did as he always does and followed them outside into the courtyard.

The area was packed with hundred of inmates broken up into their own small groups. The size of the groups varied. Sometimes it would be two people facing each or walking side by side. Other times there would be large amounts of people all gathered together in a huge crowd. The people weren't organized by any specific trait, as far as the boy could observe, they just stood near whoever they wanted to. Occasionally a group would break up and each member would go off to join another group. Sometimes only one member would leave the group to go off on his own.

The whole thing was overwhelming for the child. He had never seen so many people before. The sound emanating from the crowd was unclear and had no pattern to it. Unlike the mouth sounds from yesterday this noise clearly had no meaning to it. As the boy looked around he tried to figure out what he was expected to do. Should he join the mass of people before him? His eyes glanced towards a small group five. The men were all standing around flapping their mouths at each other. It took the blond a second to realize they were making mouth noises at each other. If he joined that group they might expect him to make the noises too. The thought of attempting those noises made him anxious. Fear paralyzed him, but the boy began to notice some of the men shooting him glances. Soon the child realized he was the only one standing alone.

Desperate to escape the inmate's attention, the young prisoner swallowed his hesitation and marched towards the group of five he saw earlier. The march stopped a couple of feet away from the group who was unaware of his presence. The child did nothing in the hopes he wouldn't draw attention. Those hopes were dashed once one member pointed him out to the others. When the entire group faced him, the boy found himself staring up at a fairly large man.

"What do you want brat?" The man asked in a deep voice.

The boy knew he was expected to make some mouth noises of his own now, but which ones? What sound could he make to satisfy the man before him? The man's frown deepened as time moved on. If this continued the inmate would surely get angry. All at once the boy gathered up his courage and made the best mouth noise he could manage.

"Kean ang da!" The boy shouted.

Everyone in the immediate area was silenced by the odd proclamation. Nearly all the inmates who heard the boy were staring in confusion, not that the child noticed. He was too busy waiting for the man's response. Did he make the right noise? Would this man accept his answer to the challenge he provided?

Meanwhile the man held a look of utter bewilderment on his face. Slowly the confusion gave way to anger before he roughly pushed the brat to the floor. "Stop wasting my time." He growled while turning to his laughing company.

The boy just sat there, dismayed at his failure. What was so wrong about the noise he made? The boy got up and walked away. Maybe he could be in a group by himself. That way he could make his own mouth noise and no one would get angry. Eagerness took hold of the boy as the idea seemed exciting to him. The boy began searching for an area to start his group when he felt someone grab his shoulder.

The boy, startled by the new presence, whirled around to face a tall individual. His cloths were worn down like all the other inmates, but unlike the rest his face held a kind smile. The man's long hair was a pure white while his eyes were darker than most. The man kept his hands up in a calming sign of surrender as he slowly bent down on one knee.

The young blond cautiously observed the man before him. The last thing he wanted to deal with was people getting angry at his noises. The inmate was aware of the child's distrust so he made sure he came off as nonthreatening as possible.

"Hi there." The man spoke, "Are you okay?"

The blond's reply was a pout. There was no way he was going to make another noise for someone to get angry at. The man's smile grew slightly when he saw the childish reaction, but remained patient for his answer. The blond thought about walking away and leaving the man behind. He could also try making another noise so that he could be done with this. Each answer he thought up for his predicament was shot down since he didn't want people angry with him.

Eventually the man began making more noises. "I understand if you don't want to talk, but I would like to know your name."

The boy remained silent as he continued to observe the white haired man. Unlike the previous guy, this person seemed more accepting. Would it be okay for him to make a mouth noise with him? The child resolved himself to attempt one noise with this stranger. The only question was, what noise should he make?

Unaware of the blond's thoughts, the man began speaking again. "Oh I should probably give you my name first." He chuckled a bit before gesturing to himself, "I'm Sakumo Hatake. What's your name?" As he asked his question he gestured towards the boy with his hand.

Noticing the movement, the blond concluded that the correct noise had something to do with him personally. The boy quickly tried to find a noise that was connected to him. He soon settled on the most distinctive sound he recently heard.

"Yee sero neen." The blond stated simply.

The man was taken aback by that. "I'm sorry what was that?"

The boy knew the man expected something else by his reaction, but he refused to give a different noise. It took a lot of thought to come up with this one. "Eeee zsero neene." The child stated more firmly only to be met with more confusion.

The boy wouldn't allow his noise to be rejected again. Not after he worked so hard on it. "E zeera nine!" The blond declared before frowning at the man.

Sakumo hesitated for a moment before asking, "E-09?"

The child's face immediately brightened.

"No I was asking about your name, not your num... wait. Can you understand me?" The Hatake asked, half surprised half worried.

"E-09!" cheered the boy happily. He did it. He got the man to accept his noise.

"Well that answers that." Sakumo said with a smile. Once he got the blond to calm down again he looked him straight in the eyes. "Would you like me to teach you how to talk?"

"E-09?" The boy asked unwilling to risk using a new sound.

"I'll just take that as a yes." The man replied with a chuckle. "Well before we do anything else you need to get a name." With that said the man rubbed his chin while carefully studying the kid.

Under the older man's gaze the blond began to fidget. Why was he being examined like this? A moment later Sakumo snapped his fingers with a smile.

"I got it. From now on your name is Nine." He said with a smile. The boy tilted his head in confusion so the ex-shinobi tapped him on his chest. "Nine." He said simply.

The blond took a deep breath before replicating the sound. "Nine."

"Yes that's your name." the man smiled happily. The child got excited at making another correct noise before his eyes locked onto Sakumo's outstretched hand. "Let's become good friends. Okay Nine?"

The boy took the man's hand before smiling himself. Maybe making noises with others wouldn't be so bad. "Nine!" He cheered.

AN

Well that's the first chapter of this story, and if it's not completely obvious Nine=Naruto. I have a pretty good idea of where I want to go with this in the future so look forward to it. If you have any criticism or advice feel free to leave me a comment or PM. Now I need to go write the next chapters of Fox Tale and The Rune Knight. I'm sorry for everyone who has been waiting forever for it I have no excuses.

On a completely unrelated note who else felt like breaking their 3DS while playing Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest?