Location: Ruins of Konoha No Sato

Among the sea of corpses, lay a blond boy. His hair was bloodstained crimson, and his chest rose slowly. This was Naruto Uzumaki, the child of legend.

A ghostly figure suddenly appeared above the young blond. The figure's head was topped with two horns and a pair of Rinnegan eyes that glowed brightly in the dim air. A frown spread across his face, tilting his head sideways to see the bodies of shinobi and civilians alike that spread across the streets. Blood flowed like a river. He looked to his right to see the smoking ruins of a once Great Monument. The fighting had long since ended. He narrowed his eyes to look upon the blond once more. "No, I shall not let it end like this," he muttered as a white light glowed across the child's body before disappearing. "My work is done." He took one last glance around, searching for any life. "I'm sorry that I couldn't help more," he uttered before fading away.

Scene Break: Limbo

The figure appeared beside the unconscious blond in the colorful swirls of another dimension. "Greetings, my old friend!" he said with a smile tugging at his lips. "Tell me, do you have an answer yet?"

Red chakra seeped out of the blond, slowly forming a fox. "Father, is it really you?" asked the fox, narrowing his red, glowing eyes,

The sage nodded his head, floating with his legs tucked underneath himself and his staff firm in his hand. "Yes, it is me." His lips pursed together. "Do you know why you are here?"

"Yes," snorted the fox. "The brat's dead, correct?" The fox stared down at the still form of his carrier. "Actually, he's still breathing, huh? I'm surprised. You'd think he should be dead."

"Yes, " the sage grunted. "Normally, you would be correct." The sage stopped before floating downward to check the boy.

"Great," said the fox rolling his eyes. "Just great. You haven't seen me in eight hundred years and this is the greeting I get? Father, why am I still here?"

"Kurama, don't act so high and mighty with me. It was cute when you were a kit, now you are an adult, so act like it! I saved this boy for a reason, you know. I'm sending the both of you to a different world where he can have peace and continue to help people."

"But, Father!" the fox reasoned. "He's just a brat, so how can he help anyone?"

"Do I need a reason to choose my heir?" the sage asked. "He is the child of fate." He paused to raise his staff, a white glow engulfing it. He tapped the boy's temple with the end of it. "He should wake up in a few moments." The sage narrowed his eyes. "My mother will be revived soon, it would seem, and she will destroy all I hold dear. But, I have found a way to save you two without her knowing. She can travel to different dimensions, but there are some worlds out there even she doesn't know about. I'm sending you to one that needs great help. I think you two will flourish there."

"What!" started Kurama. "You can't be-" The sage wacked the fox with his staff.

"Don't interrupt me again!" He shook his head. "Now, I want to speak to him alone. But first, I want your word that you will help this child. He's lost so much already, so I'll suppress his memories, and they will come back at a later time. I think I'll give him my eyes. That would be helpful. You must help him learn to control them, one path at a time. Oh, give him this once he's mastered my gift." The sage threw a scroll to the fox.

The fox caught the scroll and raised an eyebrow. "How am I supposed to give this to him? The seal here will cause some problems."

Waving his hand, the sage smiled. "I'll fix the seal. No one will be able to tamper with it afterwards. You two will become one when that time comes. My child, I hope you see the reason for your hatred is futile. This," he pointed toward the boy. "…is my heir, and my legacy. He will ensure our world hasn't died for nothing." The smile on his face was fading away. "All those deaths. The massacre will slowly come back to him. He will have a harsh time, I hope you are there as a friend for him. He will need you."

The fox could only nod solemnly. "Fret not, Father. I'll ensure the boy lives on." His voice softened. "It's the least I could do, since I took his parents from him." There was sadness in a voice that used to only know of hate and malice.

"Thank you," the sage muttered, watching as the last of the red chakra seeped back into the blond. "Now, you should up rise, boy." He spoke in a chuckle. "It's been too long since I've had this much fun." The sage flashed through hand signs as white and black chakra swirled above the boy's body and formed the yin/yang symbol before seeping inside the seal on the boy's stomach. "Fuin!" The sage shouted, channeling his chakra. A new seal that overlapped the other appeared on the boy's stomach. It was a circle with the nine tomoe marks in the outer circle.

The sage nodded his head, pleased with his work. "We have much to discuss." He flicked his head with his finger. The boy roused from his sleep and sat up to rub his head.

Naruto's blue eyes snapped out suddenly. "The village! My friends!" His eyes darted around frantically. A hand fell on his shoulders and Naruto looked at the old man floating next to him. "Who are you?"

The sage smiled warmly. "My name is not important. I've long since crossed over into the next life, you see." He paused to look upward into the swirling colors of nothingness he had become accustomed to over the millennia. "I was too late to save your friends, I'm afraid. But I saved you. I have intervened here to right a wrong."

"What!" exclaimed the blond. "You can't be serious? My friends are all…dead?" His hand squeezed into a fist. "Why did you save me and not them?!"

"Because you are the most important, young man. More than you know. Now, I can't allow you to wallow in depression. I've almost ran out of time, so I'll leave you with these words, my boy: your will shall decide your path. It will be the pillar of light to the darkness for those lost." He shrugged then. "Or it will lead them to damnation. It all depends on you."

Naruto seemed to ignore the sage's words and looked around the plane of existence he was currently in. "Huh, that's weird. It's like a swirling rainbow or something. So, am I dead, then?

"No, you're in limbo. Before I grant you my power, I've named you my heir. You know me as the Sage of the Six Paths, the founder of the nindo creed, father of the current shinobi system."

"How? You died years ago. You can't be here unless I'm dead, right?"

The sage shook his head irritably. "Calm yourself, child. I told you already; you're not dead." The sage extended his hand. "Fuin!" He lowered his hands and smiled. "Now, I've just given you my dojutsu. Use it wisely, my boy, for you shall not remember this meeting. Now, prepare yourself. I'm sending you to your new home." The sage began to flash through a flurry of hand signs.

Naruto wanted to ask more questions, but his eyes began to hurt. Before he could ask what happened to them, he felt a blissful sleep envelop him. Somehow, he forgot about the pain and accepted the gentle darkness.

A smirk tugged at the sage's lips as he saw Naruto fall asleep. "I've chosen a worthy heir," he muttered to himself. "I hope Kurama will keep his word." A large, white portal opened and the boy's body slipped into it. As the portal closed, the sage smiled. "What a worthy heir, indeed."

Scene Break: Shiganshina District, Wall Maria

A blond-haired man, wearing the military uniform from the garrison, stood watching as a hole in the sky opened up and closed. But what really caught his attention was what fell out of the portal.

With a grunt, Hannes used his mobility gear to send a cable into the nearby wall, flinging himself up to intercept the falling body.

He caught the boy before using his harness to land on an adjacent roof. "What?" he muttered watching red liquid seep through his clothes. His eyes bugged out at seeing the pool of blood beginning to form underneath them. "Shit!" Hannes cursed. "I need a medic. I don't have long. Shit!" His eyes darted around the familiar houses of the district. There was one place he could always use, and it was close. He jumped off the roof and used his gear to fly just a few houses down. Within a few seconds, he landed right in front of a simple one-story house with a quaint chimney sticking out.

"Carla!" Hannes shouted as he kicked open the door.

A dark-haired woman in dressed in a simple green dress stood by the table in front of the door and stared wide-eyed at the visitor. "Hannes!" she exclaimed, noticing the soldier before she saw who he was holding. After seeing the blond boy whose bright jacket was stained crimson, she screamed. "Oh, my God! Bring him in now!" She stepped aside, motioning for the soldier to carry the boy in. "Put him on the table. I need to see how bad he is."

Hannes swung his arm across the table and cleared it off to place the wounded child on the table.

The unknown blond swung his arms around on the table, his eyes rolling aimlessly. "They're—" he croaked, "dead..."

Hannes looked up at Carla. "Have you seen him before?" he asked.

Carla's hazel eyes sharpened, and she fetched a basin with cool water. "No," she said. "I haven't. Maybe my husband has? Can you remove his clothes?" She placed her hands on him to keep his arms down.

Hannes stared curiously at the orange jacket he pulled off the boy. "I've never seen clothes like these before.'

Carla ignored him as she struggled with the boy's arms. "God, he's strong! He can't be more than twelve years—" Her train of thought died when she saw his eyes flicker open. "Hannes!"

Tugging the child's unusual pants off, Hannes looked up at her. "What? Can't you—" He paused, seeing the purple eyes with one grey ring surrounding each pupil staring up at him. "The fuck is that?" he cursed. "Does he have an infection or something?"

"They killed…" Naruto croaked out, groaning in pain. "We're all...gonna…" With a heave of his chest, his eyes closed and he fell unconscious.

"Hannes, go find my husband and notify the Garrison," Clara said. "They will need to see this." She paused at seeing the soldier in front of her frozen-stiff. "Now, Hannes!" she snapped.

Hannes could only stare at her in horror. "He fell out of the sky, Carla. How are we going to explain this to them?"

Carla's eyes widened and stared at the ghastly wound in his chest. "I don't know. We'll just leave that part out. I wonder where his family is…" She could feel tears begin to form. How would she handle something like this if it was her child?

"Stay here, Carla. Just try to stop the bleeding. I'll bring who I can." Hannes disappeared out the door and jumped away towards the rest of his troop.

Carla looked over the wounded boy. She quickly dug into a nearby cabinet to grab the supplies she needed. She started with taking wet towels and placing them on the wound to clean it. Thankfully, the blood was already beginning to clot in some areas, so she pressed hard. She had managed to stop the bleeding by the time the front door opened again.

"Carla?" Grisha called as he stepped inside. "We're home." His mind stopped when he saw the dried blood and the body on his table. He quickly turned to the door and spoke to the children who had yet gone inside. "Eren, Mikasa, stay outside," he said firmly. He closed the door on the confused expressions of his son and adopted daughter. He rushed to table in urgent fashion and opened his doctor's bag. "What happened, Carla?! Who is this boy?"

Carla looked up at him with frantic eyes. "I don't know. Hannes brought him in. He went to get help." She paused for a second. "He said he found him lying in the street in a pool of blood. I cleaned the wound and stopped the bleeding, but it still needs stitches."

Grisha's hands clenched. "Who would do this to a child?" He fumed looking at the boy's odd tattoo below the wound. He noted the peculiar black markings around the naval. "I've never seen anything like this…" he muttered, tracing the seal. He shook his head and started to prioritize. "Carla, get me my suture kit."

As Carla handed her husband the kit, the door opened once more. "In here!" yelled Hannes as him and three other men came into the house. Two of them were other Garrison soldiers, and the last one was a strange man in a black cloak.

"Shit!" exclaimed one of the soldiers. "The hell happened?"

Hannes nervously shifted his feet. "I just found him in the streets. I don't know how he got like this."

The soldiers nodded. "Did you find any papers on him or something we can use to identify him?" one of them asked.

Grisha shook his head as he answered, his dexterous hands already stitching the wound. "There was nothing. His unusual attire tells me he's not from here. That's just speculation, though. Is there's nothing else, soldiers, would you mind leaving my house? I need space to work."

"If I may, I'd like to stay," stated the gruff voice of the cloaked man.

"Why?" asked Carla. "Can't you leave him? He's just a child."

The cloaked man's eyes narrowed. "Yes, but I want to know what he saw." He paused, pointing toward the metallic objects sticking out of the boy's clothes. "I see knives and some weird looking weapons. It's clear he fought somebody to be in the state he's in. It's my duty to ensure I see to this. With all due respect, of course."

Grisha nodded his head. "Fine, you can stay but wait outside, please."

The cloaked man nodded, his cloak revealing the blue and white wings symbol emblazoned on the back. "Thank you, I'm sure the Survey Corps would be interested in this boy."

Grisha nodded. "Yes, if this boy's physique and attire describe him well enough, then believe Levi would be very interested indeed." He then lifted the boy's eyelids to uncover the odd orbs underneath. "Have you ever seen anything like this?"

" No, I haven't it," said the cloaked scout. "I know it's not related to a Titan. I've never seen any with eyes like that."

He exited out the door with the rest of the men, leaving Carla and Grisha to tend to the boy's injuries.

In the darkness of Naruto's mind, two red eyes opened. "So, this is our new home?" said the fox to himself. A booming rumble shook the cage's door. "It would seem we suffered some damage from the journey over. Well, hopefully those people can help the boy." He searched around his cage and felt the pipes jutting out in all directions from him. Kurama's eyes widened when he looked down at the cage. "The door's gone!" he exclaimed. His eyes narrowed in thought as he tried to assess

Scene Break: Yeager's Household, Shiganshina District. A Few Hours Later.

Purple eyes slowly opened only to snap shut from the bright light above. "Ugh, my head is killing me," grunted Naruto, raising his hand to cover his face.

Grisha smiled from his chair next to the bed. They had moved him after he had been stabilized."Good evening. Tell me, how do you feel?" He had patched and bandaged the wound some time ago.

Naruto sat up straight and tilted his head to look around. " Where am I, Mister?" he asked. "I don't remember anything." His headache began to dull a little but was still very present.

"You're in my family's home. My name is Grisha Yeager. This is my wife, Carla."

Grisha pointed toward the woman seated next to him. She smiled kindly to the blond. "You gave us quite the scare," she said as she wiped her face with a wet towel. "We thought you wouldn't wake up."

Naruto frowned. "I can't remember anything," he muttered, roaming the room with his eyes. "I don't know what happened."

Carla looked concerned. "You don't remember a man helping you or anything before you blacked out?" She was starting to fear the boy had no family at all.

Naruto shook his head, looking down at his hands. They seemed far and faded as his vision blurred. Suddenly, he saw corpses. Thousands of bodies lying around him. "No!" he screamed. He clenched his skull and began shaking himself uncontrollably. "Make it stop!"

The scout must have heard the shouts because he suddenly entered the bedroom and approached the blond. The little heads of Mikasa and Eren peeked around the door to see what all the commotion had been about that afternoon. "What do you see?" asked the scout. Grisha and Carla stared in wonder and terror at the boy. The scout grabbed the child's shoulder. He had seen similar cases with his own comrades in the Survey Corps.

Naruto's body shuddered with silent sobs. "Bodies. I see so many bodies. As far as I can see. Blood stained walls. They're all dead!" His eyes opened and darted fervently around the room.

"Calm down, boy," demanded the ranger. "You're safe here. There's no bodies here." He paused to wait until the boy relaxed enough to continue. "Now, what's your name, son?"

The visions had stopped, and the boy was thankful. "Naruto," he muttered.

The ranger smiled softly. "Naruto, huh?" It was an odd name. Maybe it was Asian. "What's your last name? Do you have any family?"

"Uzumaki." He seemed to be struggling with just remembering that. "But I can't think of anything else." He looked at the ranger with remorse. "I'm sorry."

Carla stepped forward to bed and hugged the child. "Shhh, it's alright, dear. Everything's just fine now. You survived and that's all that matters." The boy sobbed into his shoulder.

The scout turned to the doctor. "I'll leave him with your family. I'm going to go check the missing people reports for his name. Maybe I can find a lead to his family or something."

"And what if you don't?" asked Grisha. "If that's the case, I don't see a problem with making him a part of my family," he said with a smile. "Naruto Yeager has a nice year to it, you know."

( end chapter au note )

thanks to my beta reader this was possably we hope you enjoy this. Thanks cschman20 your the best man!"