It was so light. Or rather, he felt light himself. It was a weird sensual whooshy feeling in his gut…like he was floating. Was he? It was too dark to tell where he was… Who was he? Why was he here? In this dark place? As these questions rolled in the back of his mind, he rolled over on his side, a light plant cushioning him all around…and causing his nose to get itchy. Blinking, his eyes opened. He sat up promptly and sneezed.

"Huh?..." he murmured, shaking his head, running a hand through his spiky soft hair. His triangular bangs hung in his face and his hair seemed to be a little long…about down to his shoulder blades. He blinked again. He was in a strange forest like place. The trees circled him and he was in a clear opening like area. By him, a small stream made a gentle gurgling noise as it ran down its track and a few birds were bathing themselves in it. He watched fascinated. "Where…where the hell am I?" he asked aloud, to no one in particular. He got to his feet and instantly crumpled to the ground, due to the lack of feeling in his legs. "Wh-whoa…" he yelped as he fell over. He rubbed his leg with his hand, urging feeling to return. "How'd I get here?...why is it so hard to walk?" He wracked his brain but he couldn't honestly think past anything…He managed after a few minutes to take a few teetering steps over to the stream and he looked in, because he wanted to see what he looked like because he couldn't seem to remember. He had blonde hair, nice light toned skin and blue azure eyes. He couldn't remember his name. He frowned. Why couldn't he remember anything? He stood up now and staggered back a little bit. He got used to his balance and then looked around himself. He felt very hungry. He looked down at himself and noticed he was wearing a black shirt and black pants….and weird blue sandals. He felt a small dull pain on his navel and he lifted up the hem of his shirt curiously and winced, noticing nothing. But he could've sworn he was bearing a rather heavy scar of some sort. He frowned to himself again. This truly was most peculiar. He checked his pockets. He had no money. He groaned. He may have no memories but it seemed he had memories of everything not directly linked to himself. He knew the basics of living and survival. He knew what trees were and colors of the rainbow. He had a vague idea even of what ninjas were and what their point in life was. Not that he knew how that related to him any. He figured that he'd find a way to earn some money first, and then after he ate, he'd get answers. Somehow. He also had to do something about his long hair. He figured it was too much of a hassle to take care of and wanted to cut it…but there was nothing to cut it with. Deciding he'd have to wait until he got into a village of sorts, he sighed. He heard shouting his way and turned suddenly curious.

"Hey! Get back here you ass!" he heard a scratchy voice yell and he turned in time to see some black blurr whizz down the creek with loud splashing, holding something that he couldn't make out. Next thing he knew, he saw a blonde blurr following right after. He watched fascinated and blinked in surprise. They were walking…no running on water?

He instinctively didn't know why, but he felt a pull in his gut telling him to follow after that blonde blur. He stumbled none to gracefully and no where near as quickly as he tried to keep those two in his sights. He managed [how, he had no idea] to catch up to them because he was determined. The black blur stopped and he got a good look at the face of the chasee. It was a man, and he wore a mask of sorts, and his outfit was black and something instinctively told him that that was a Chuunin outfit. The blonde blur was wearing an orange jumpsuit and didn't appear to notice him. Ok, interesting… he thought to himself. The kid looked to be around 13, and he had spiky blonde hair and whiskers on his face? He watched as the kid summoned a bunch of clones and whooped the opponent without much effort. He suddenly started as he noticed a blur behind the kid.

He panicked.

"N-Naruto!" he yelled as he instinctively dashed out and grabbed Naruto with the speed of a god.

The whiskered kid yelped in surprise as the random person grabbed him around the waist and hoisted him out of the harm's way of this ninja's apparently crazy knuckle blades. Swiftly , he swirled and somehow he blocked the enemy ninja. Something registered in his mind as kid good, ninja, bad, and he twisted, delivering a swift blow to the enemy's neck, cutting off his air supply enough to force him to pass out and crumple to the ground. Panting, he turned back to the kid, who was just sitting, blinking profusley, and gazing at him like he was some wierdo. Which, he probably was. Naruto just gaped. "how….how do you know my name?" he asked.

Ok, so he didn't know how he knew this kid's name either. "I…I heard it around…" he fibbed.

"…hmmph…well…you don't seem bad…." Naruto said, eying his new aquantance with interest.

"…That's good?"

"What's your name?" he quipped up.

"I…I'm…..Nato…" he said finally. It had sort of just popped into his head so he decided to go with it.

"Hmmm… Nato? What village you from? I don't see your headband…but you obviously must be a ninja…you're dressed like one…" Naruto said conversationally, while retrieving an object….from the unconcious ninja.

"Village? Oh…um…I …I'm traveling right now…my village is small and unimportant…" was Nato's quick response.

"Huh…but you must have it…" he pressed, looking at Nato with a frown. Nato blinked.

"Have what?"

"…The desire to protect your village," came his simple response.

Nato figured that would be reasonable if he actually knew where in the hell village he came from. He wanted to stay with the kid, but suddenly, he sensed multiple prescenses and he quickly turned to Naruto making a shushing noise. "…Don't tell anyone you met me, please…" he said, staring earnestly back at the whiskered kid's honest face.

"….Give me a good reason not to," the kid said mischeviously.

"…I don't have a good reason…" Nato's face fell.

Naruto surprised him by laughing softly. "You're not a bad guy…. I can't help but trust you. Fine, I won't tell them….will I see you around Mister?"

Nato nodded. "Sure…but I …I'm not familiar with your village…."

Naruto frowned. "You must be from far away mister, the Hidden Leaf Village is the biggest village ever in the Land of fire."

Nato felt his cheeks warm a little from embarrassment. "Of course….that's…good to know now…" he mumbled. Naruto grinned and reached into his pocket. He scribbled something on it and handed it to Nato. Before Nato could ask him what it was, Naruto indicated with his eyes that it would be seconds before his friends caught up. Nato nodded curtly, and gratefully before quickly melding back into the trees. He didn't know why he had felt the urge to hide from the others, but he was happy. He couldn't explain it. He ran for a little bit in the forest, feeling the leaves crinkle beneath his feet, feeling the wind whip past his long hair. He figured he'd get a haircut in a bit. He didn't know why he was feeling this odd rush, this exhilaration but it was because of that kid. Random encounter or fate? Nato wasn't quick to believe it was fate. He just figured he needed a clue…and maybe his first was that whiskered kid.

He opened the note when he stopped to get a drink of water at a nearby stream:

Alright, Sparky,

Thanks for your help! I go to Ichiraku Ramen in Konohagakura, if you want to chat, please come visit! You're a funny guy. I'm training to become a great ninja! So I'm busy but I may make time for you .

-Naruto Uzamaki

Nato raised his eyebrows. "Sparky?" ….well he supposed it was reasonable since his hair was blonde. Still, he felt that the kid sure wasn't shy. He definently had a potty mouth to boot. He'd heard Naruto speaking to the enemy before he'd intervened earlier. Fascinating kid…but Nato wondered if he couldn't at least help the kid improve his manners. He seemed well behaved enough in his encounter with him. Nato paused by the stream, washing his face with the cool water, and enjoying the peaceful calm. He recalled his instinctive fighting and wondered if he….if he was a ninja? …could his memory loss be associated with it? Nato felt like he was thrust into a jigsaw puzzle… and now he had to solve it.

Nato sighed again. He pocketed the note, and stood up. He felt like he'd be better off alone for the meantime. He stretched a little while taking in his surroundings. Am I…a ninja? He looked at his hands, and wondered how he'd known to attack as he had. While sorting through his thoughts, he decided to trek as far as he could before night fell. It seemed to be the middle of the afternoon so he had time definently. He started on his trek.

Just to his luck, he didn't get to a village until evening. His legs were tired and yet Nato was on alert. For what, he didn't know. Sighing, he looked around. He was getting rather funny looks but he figured that was because of his long hair. Feeling a little self concious, he began to wish he had got it cut earlier. He put his hands in his pockets, wishing he had money and wondering how he'd get work this late in the evening. He shivered a little, there was a cool evening breeze and he didn't have any jacket. "This is wonderful…" he muttered to himself huffing.

He didn't notice a few shadows following him. He spotted a particular little wooden shop with a tiled roof. He saw that there was a sign asking for help. He decided it wouldn't hurt to check it out. He stepped inside the shop and was surprised to find it was actually bigger on the inside. It definently looked smaller on the outside. The bell tinkled announcing his presence and a young woman with short raven hair with sidebangs to her left side of her face stood there in a white apron to greet him. Her eyes were green and she had a warm smile.

"Ah hello, welcome to Miki's bed and breakfast," she greeted Nato. Nato blinked. He'd been tired, he hadn't realized that now that he thought about it…there were three floors….

Nato cleared his throat suddenly feeling self conciously stupid. "Er…I'm…uh…well…the sign said…" he said, clearing his throat.

"Ah…that help wanted sign…it seems no one has picked up but you…you're interested in a spot?" the girl asked, tilting her head to the side curiously. Nato didn't know exactly what to say.

"Er…it's…it's more like…. I need the money…" he confessed meekly.

The girl smiled. "Well, I suppose I'd be doing our ninjas a disservice if I didn't help you out…not that we have any ninjas here," she said, walking over to the stairs. "What brings a ninja such as yourself, down to the Land of the Waves?"

Nato had no honest answer for that.

"Er…I'm traveling…" he replied. "I'm…I'm Nato," he said, smiling and holding out a hand to greet her formally.

"I'm Miku, my mother is Mika…my grangran is Miki," Miku said smiling to Nato. Nato nodded, smiling at her shyly. She shook his hand.

"You're a very polite fellow, aren't you?" she said heartily as she tugged him along with her to the stairs.

"Ah—er…so I'm told," he said shyly again.

"Well, Nato-chan, we have a place for you." She smiled at Nato and instructed him further, "Up to the second floor, first door on your left. You can take room 2B. How long …do you plan to stay and help?"

Nato was surprised at his good fortune but he didn't want to seem like he was mooching for a day… he felt kind of bad and it's not like he could remember anything he needed to get done right away. He frowned to himself, he still had to find that kid again. Well, until then, at least if he stayed here, he'd have a roof over his head… "Ah…I…I suppose as long as you need me…" he answered finally.

Miku smiled at him, "Well, you stay as long as you wish, but if you shirk work, I"ll use my cheese shredder on you," and Nato nodded furiously, mumbling.

"Y-yes Ma'am."

"…I like you. You're to wake nice and early for work…oh and you may scare people dressed like that. I'll lay out an outfit of my father's, you can wear that so you're more low-key. " Nato nodded gratefully as he proceeded to follow Miku up the stairs.

She handed him his room key and then turned to go back downstairs, "I'll be in the kitchen, cleaning up for the evening. This may be a bed and breakfast but lunch and dinner are apparently also served here."

Nato smiled. Well, at least he had a roof over his head. He looked down the hallway and noticed how the floor was a little creaky…and the doors of the rooms –including his own—were old. He walked to his room and unlocked the door. He stepped inside. It was small but there was enough room for a bed, a small table, a dresser, and a small window that Minato could look out of to see who walked around on one side of the establishment. Nato glanced to the small bed and he flomped instantly on it with a contented sigh. Damn, feels great to have something soft under me… He rolled on the bed for a moment like a doggy. Pausing, he sits up. He felt like he was detecting multiple prescenses, maybe…2? But was it his imagination? He'd detected multiple prescenses earlier as well…but how he had no idea. He looked at his outfit. ….He changed his shirt, but kept the black pants. Now he wore a white long sleeved shirt and a white vest like top with the Inn's logo on the back. It tied at his waist with a red belt. It was like a long V design down to his pants line and the red belt was to keep it together. In other words, it was like wearing a karate outfit. He checked himself out in the mirror and felt satisfied with his look. He heard a knocking on his door after he was finished and he turned in time to see Miki enter quietly with a tray that had some soup and rice. She smiled at him.

"Eat up, you start work in the morning," and she left, after he assisted her with setting the tray on the small table by the door. He sat down and instantly dug in, eager and hungry. With food in his belly and a warm bed, Nato had no problem falling asleep. In the meantime, the shadows outside in the street below were trying to detect him but they couldn't figure out why they couldn't.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this. Things start picking up in the next chapter. This is an AU and is for fun. I really feel like this story has potential and would love reviews. :) no flames, please. Also, If there are questions, please feel free to PM me. I will either answer them or have them answered through my story. I keep to the storyline of Naruto mostly so don't worry to all you hardcore fans, but there will be chagnes since MINATO is alive and since there are three OC's in this. but that's it. everyone else isn't and OC. before you judge my OC Miku, I believe you all will like her if you give her a chance. !anyhow! ciao!