A/N: Greetings and hello, one and all! And here we are, another story for request week! Today's request? Rongladiator's, Star Wars and Naruto! So, I'm sure you're all wondering about the maddening slew of updates and new stuff as of late. Well, its quite simple. Many of them have been requests. Requests that I liked, and really got me going! Don't believe me? Pain17ification asked for my help and WHAM! He got a brand spanking new story right then and there.

Which brings me to the next part of this missive.

Got an idea that you're having trouble writing? Need help with it-or just not confident enough to publish it on your own? Just give me a shout and I'll be happy to help! You'll find I'm quite familiar with just about everything out there and even if I'm not, I learn rather fast. Give it some thought, will you? My job affords me plenty of free time these days, and I'm always happy to lend a hand if it is needed. Now...

...off we go! With Trooper of Konoha! Apologies if this particular chapter is short, I promise the others will be much longer.

And yes, this entry here is written from a young Naruto's perspective...

Oh, and don't forget to vote on the poll in my Profile!

I may also pen a Naruto/Pokemon cross next that a certain someone has been pestering me to do, inspired by Mhyrloc's Naruto and Pokemon: Power of Partnership. Such a darn shame that the poor fic hasn't been updated in three years...

"This. Is. AWESOME!"

~Young Naruto.

Bunker

Dear Diary,

I have a secret.

Wait, did I spell that right?

Alright, alright, I'm getting ahead of myself, here. I can't just start this story with a line like that now, can I? Heh, sorry. One too many blows to the head, ya know. Anywho, its me, Naruto, dattebayo! This is my very first journal, and my very first entry. Sensei told me I needed to start keeping a journal of my day to day life-of this place-so I don't lose track. Who's my sensei, you ask? Hehehehe, that'd be telling! Sensei's the only one I trust with this secret-not even Iruka knows about this place-and I kinda wanna keep it that way. I get the feeling he'd be pretty cheesed if he found I was keeping my new hideout secret.

Because this Bunker is sooooo incredibly, everyone would just spill the beans.

Then it just wouldn't be a secret anymore.

And lets face it folks, secrets are awesome.

I mean, they're almost better than Ichiraku's ramen!

Which is also awesome, by the way.

I'm sure you're wondering, what bunker?

Y'see, it all started with a stupid dare...


(...)


"Chicken!"

"Am not!

"Are too!"

"AM NOT!"

Uzumaki Naruto slammed his forehead against that of one Inuzuka Kiba, growling with all the might a thirteen-year old boy could hope to possess. Which really wasn't all that much, when you stopped to consider it. For someone who admittedly fared very poorly in the way of ninja, the boy's only talent lay in the realm of henge and his indomitable drive. His pranks and stamina might be legendary, but with his chakra-control practically nonexistent, he found he soon became something of a walking joke when it came to graduation; twice now he'd failed, twice he'd had to watch his fellow classmates move on without him.

And he was still here.

It was galling, upsetting, maddening to say the least!

Now with graduation looming once again and no more than six months away, he was desperate to pass this year. Another failure was...worrisome to say the last. Not only would this third failure forever regulate him to the life of a civilian, but it would certainly strip him of his lifelong dream. One couldn't well become Hokage if they weren't a ninja now, could they? As such, Naruto was determined to be as loud and boisterous as he he could, if only to prove his proctors, classmates, and everyone else.

Hence the shouting match with Kiba in the schoolyard.

The younger Inuzuka had confronted him after class over some perceived slight; and they'd been at it ever since. Naruto couldn't even rightly remember the reason for their argument anymore-it had currently devolved into him inexplicably being called a chicken and Naruto Uzmaki was no damned chicken!

"You totally are!" Kiba shot back, sneering at him fiercely. "You don't have the guts to be Hokage! You can't even make a proper clone!"

"Shut up, dog-for-brains! At least I don't have fleas!"

Atop his head, Akamaru whined.

Kiba echoed it with a growl of his own.

"You take that back!"

"Make me!"

For a fleeting moment Naruto thought the Inuzuka actually would. Imagine his surprise then when the feral boy simply snapped his jaw shut. "Fine." When he spoke again, he sounded almost calm. If Naruto hadn't seen those trembling muscles in his jaw, he might've been fooled completely. As it was, he braced himself for an attack.

None came.

"Tell you what." the Inuzuka challenged, crossing both arms before his chest. "You know that old training ground Forty-Four? The one we're not supposed to go near?"

"Yeah...?" Naruto replied warily.

"You last in there for half an hour, and I'll admit I was wrong."

Pride burned in the young blond like a raging flame, hot and angry.

"You're on! You'll see, I'll last a whole day in there!"

It was just the kind of boast Kiba expected.

And he'd taken it, hook like and sinker.

"A whole day it is! See you in the morning!"

"Count on it, dattebayo!"

Neither realized the gravity of the promise they'd just made.

There wasn't any malicious intent behind Kiba's provocation; he just wanted to scare some sense into the blond. Spook him a littke, you know? Having heard all manner of ghastly beasts and other...things lurking deep within the darkness of that place from his sis, the Inuzuka was confident of his victory. It was the kind of place only the mad ventured into willingly. That, or those deliberately seeking...death. The beasts of the forests were utterly merciless. Surely Naruto would run away rather than risk becoming their lunch?

His mistake.

Because Naruto hadn't backed down.

If anything, he rose to the challenge, determined to exceed it.

He was going to become the Hokage after all, and a Kage never refused a challenge.


(Several Hours Later...)


Needless to say, mistakes were made.

Sneaking into the forest had proven almost pitifully easy; for there were no Chunin present to guard them. After all, who would ever think to watch a place called the Forest of Death? It was the kind of place one would want to escape from, not charge headlong into! Had the blond jinchuuriki been even remotely aware of the horrors that awaited him within he would've asked for a different challenge. Or at the very least, slugged Kiba in the face. He might have even taken things a step further and slapped his house with orange paint for good measure. As it was he found he couldn't do much of either of those at the moment...

Not when he was running for his life!

The Forest of Death had lived up to its name with gusto.

Within mere minutes of setting foot in the hellish landscape he found himself attacked by not one, not two but THREE tigers. The largest was even bigger than his apartment! Given that each were clearly starving, poor Naruto had little more than a second to curse Kiba's name before he turned tail and fled, the felines snapping at his heels.

It was only his superior stamina that kept him out of the reach of those jaws at all.

Ducking around a bend, he flung himself forward, seized a low hanging branch and dragged himself up.

The instinctive leap said his life.

Barreling forward and caught in the full throes of the hunt, the three cats hurtled past, blissfully unaware that they'd just past their prey by. The academy student hung there for what felt like a small eternity, listening to the giant beasts crash through the undergrowth as his chest heaved. It was only when he was absolutely certain they'd gone that he dared to lower himself to the ground. Drenched in sweat and shaking from head to toe, he promptly collapsed against the strange, spongy ground, sobbing.

He lay like that for a long moment, gasping softly.

"Ha...ha...think I got away from-

Then the ground gave way beneath his feet.

"Are you kidding meeeeeeeee~?!"

Thankfully his fall was short-lived, for he struck a declining slope almost immediately. Rather than break his neck, he simply suffered a few minor bruises as he tumbled to the bottom, for what felt like hours, but could well have been minutes, for all he knew. It was only when he crashed headlong into something hard and unyielding that he experienced anything resembling true pain.

"Owowowowow, my head...

Picking himself up, the last Uzumaki craned his neck, searching in vain to see what he'd hit.

A flicker of light answered in the dark.

He'd crashed into a strange double steel door, old and rusted. The sheer impact of his tumbling fall had placed a considerable dent in the metal, enough to knock one of the failing apparatus's near off its hinges, leaving a faint glimmer of illumination to shine through. Heaving a deep sigh Naruto straightened slowly, hissing at the pain in his legs. Ugh. That was going to bruise later.

Well, at least he'd gotten away from those terrible tigers.

Seemed the only way out was through.

Slowly, carefully, he tried to force it aside-

It all but came tumbling off the hinges with a deafening bang, causing the poor boy to start.

"Whoa!"

What lay beyond, however, caught his attention.

There was indeed light behind the door, a faint electrical device providing some source of luminence. Still more flickered on as he stepped deeper into the strange room, faintly at first, then with growing brightness, the like of which he'd never before seen in

"Welcome, soldier." a soft, feminine voice chimed. "What is your designation?"

Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin.

"What in the...?"

The voice, whatever it was, seemed to emanate from the ceiling itself. Speakers of some sort?

"What is your designation?" it repeated.

"Um...I don't have one?"

...acknowledged." came the reply. "This cache has been left idle for approximately-ERROR, date and time unknown.

It, whatever it was, was a building of some sort; a strange, underground fortress that he didn't rightly understand. No, not a fortress, he realized, grasping for the name in the back of his brain. A bunker! Right, it was a bunker! Stacks of crates and strange-looking weaponry lay out in near uniform style, neatly ordered row by row. Despite the thick coat of dust, the system was almost impeccably neat. The place's last inhabitant clearly had taken great pride in their ownership of this...establishment? Was that even the right word?

Beyond the strange armaments was a long corridor of sorts, leading up to a distant ladder, of all things. Naruto resolved to inspect that later.

In the end, curiosity got the better of him.

Approaching what looked like a large rectangular box, he warily touched a hand to its lid, wiping away the dust. Some of it got into his lungs, eliciting an angry cough-a cough that choked off into a startled gasp as the crate opened with an angry hiss of steam. He entirely missed the faint red light that went off above his head.

Naruto, half-expecting to be scalded by the blast, yelped and staggered back, shielding his face.

It was only when he saw the armor within that his fear evaporated, replaced by awe.

He was looking upon row after row of pristine, polished armor.

Far too big for him to wear of course, but still!

An odd helmet stared back at him, its dark visor

That was exceptional in-and-of itself, but what were these strange weapons? One was small enough to fight in the palm of his hand, leaving him to fumble with it in the dim light. Incidentally, his hand closed around the tiny mechanism. His finger squeezed the trigger.

And all hell broke loose.

Ping!

A bolt of blue light issued forth from the weapon, ricocheting violently across the hall. When it finally guttered out, Naruto dared to raise his head, wincing slightly. The scorch mark at the end of the room stood in stark testament to the sheer power of relatively puny device he'd been cradling in his hand. Blue eyes flicked to it, back to the scorch, down to the weapon again.

"This...is...awesome!"

"Warning," the voice issued. "Firearms should not be discharged inside the premises."

Naruto groaned.

"Now you tell me...what is this place?"

"This is Bunker 3521 commissioned by the Grand Army of the Republic." the unseen voice chirped readily. "One of many caches of supplies left in remote locations for soldiers during the war. I am MIRA, tasked with the supervision and priority maintenance of this bunker until commanded otherwise, as directed by Anakin Skywalker. Designation: General.

Naruto blinked slowly, baffled.

"Is there anything else?" she asked.

The boy frowned, and took a seat, idly fiddling with his new tool.

"Actually...

He sat that way for a very long time.

In the end, when he'd asked all he could think to ask for the day, he didn't have much choice but to investigate the corridor, prop up the heavy door as best he could and hope it led him somewhere safe. It wasn't as if he could possibly hope to lug all this gear back to his home without attracting unwanted attention. For a fleeting instant, he honestly considered telling Kiba about-then decided against it. Bastard almost got him killed, for crying out loud! This was his! What did he owe the village, anyway?! They'd just steal it. No, he decided, he'd much rather keep this secret all to himself.

For now, at least.

Perhaps, had he known about the beacon he'd just triggered, had he known what-who!-was even know coming to track it down, had he realized the adventure that was to follow he would've done more than merely lock the bunker and keep the key. But he didn't know and so, blind to all that was to come, he walked right on home. He didn't know. How could he have known? If by some fell chance someone were to tell him how it would shape him, that he would change the world, alter it forever, he might've stayed. Yes, had he known these things, well...

...he would have forgotten that damn bunker ever existed.

A/N: And there you have it. What manner of twists might this create, hmm? Know, I do not =D But chaotic it will be! I'll say it right now, the pairing is SINGLE. Two girls at the very most and that is a big damn IF! I've done too many harems of late, and while they're nice, they tend to feel stale for me as I have to focus on a LOT of characters, rather than one or two. So that it's, folks! Only one or two girls in this one! Place your bets! Take your picks!

AND VOTE TO YOUR HEARTS CONTENT!

The Poll is on my profile!

So, in the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review, Would You Kindly?

And of course, enjoy the preview!

(Preview)

"And what do we have here?"

Naruto looked up.

Up.

And up.

"Aw, crap."

R&R =D