Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other Reference character I may use in here. The plot however, I do own. I hope you do enjoy reading this. I do not have a beta reader nor is English my first language(In fact, It is my third) so I also would like your consideration and help in correcting any mistakes I make.

(Semi)IMPORTANT NOTES! This will be things you should know before reading the story. Or you can just simply not read these and figure things out yourself and let your mind fill in the blank spots which would be more fun.

*The age of the characters are 3 years higher in cannon events, as such- Kakashi became Chunnin at 9(6 in cannon) and Jounin in 14(12 in cannon). Academy starts at 7 years of age but now ends in 15(12 in cannon). This is so that we(I) don't need to imagine 12 year old prepubescent kids being romantic and all which incredibly grosses me out. 15 sounds better for me though. Still, I won't promise any smut.

*OOC (out of character) alert! This one should have been obvious.

*Other anime (manga) elements. There won't be crossovers but there will be characters from other universes(series) with similar abilities but are adjusted to fit in the Naruto verse. There will be some random OC's though they won't be having any major part on this story(vendors, guards, random ninja,etc...).

*I'm not that good with describing characteristics and it's the reason I'll be using other anime references so that I can easily describe them, I hope the readers won't mind too much.

*This is my second fanfic, my first didn't wasn't that good in my opinion since Naruto seemed to have too much at his disposal in the opening of the story. Nevertheless, I'd gladly continue it if you give me enough motivations.-

"Hey, that's mine"- speaking

'I wonder what I'll have for dinner?' - thoughts

Bold letters means tailed beast talking,jutsu or sfx

Chapter 1- A Parallel Dimension

In one universe which most of us know; Naruto Uzumaki was born during the day of the Kyuubi attack, sacrificed by his father to become a Jinchūriki and seal the Kyuubi. He was supposed to be heralded as a hero who would keep the beast at bay and at one point in time, harness its power for the good of The Village hidden in the Leaves (Konohagakure) or more commonly known as Konoha. That is however something that did not happen, for the information of him holding the beast was leaked before the Third Hokage could explain what good there is to it. As such he was instead criticized as a monster or abomination for they were mere civilians with little knowledge of how the ninja world works. He would then grow into a world of loneliness with little help and guidance, his potential hampered with only little of it realized only when he grows up.

However, the Naruto of this story didn't come from that world or universe. Where he came from, the news of him being a Jinchūriki wasn't revealed until the third Hokage was able to convince the people that he was a hero who would be their guardian. His parentage wasn't revealed to the public or to him though. That would only invite assassins who held a grudge from his father or those who fear for his potential, he is his father's son after all. He grew up loved and cherished. Thus he never lacked any attention or guidance leading to him instead, having too much of it and a bit suffocated by it. The Uchiha massacre never happened as the blame of the Kyuubi attack wasn't put to them. Neither did the Hyuga abduction take place since the Uchiha were there to catch the culprit instead of killing it. Still, he didn't have that much of connection to the two families though; he didn't want more attention than he already had.

On one of the busiest streets of Konoha during a cloudy day, a fifteen year old blonde teen with azure blue eyes can be seen walking with both his hands carrying quite a number of bags containing random fruits and vegetables. He had a sun kissed-tanned complexion with three whiskers like marks adorned on his cheeks. The sad teen was also wearing Dark green cargo pants and black Tee Shirt with an Uzumaki swirl embedded on the back of the shirt.

"Naruto-sama, would you like some apples? I have some here that arrived just now. It's imported from the Kumo so it's sure to have a great taste" A middle aged brunette store owner called out to him.

"Thanks Miss Kana, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline for now. My hands are full at the moment" Naruto replied raising the bags he is holding a bit to emphasize his point.

"Ah, Of course you do. I always wonder why you would not receive any of the villager's gifts in the market Naruto-sama; you wouldn't have to buy those if you had. After all, you are our guardian and hero; we are only showing our appreciation for what you have done" Kana answered.

Naruto was about to answer when a new voice entered the conversation.

"Declining freebies from the public eh…Naruto?" A new voice entered the conversation.

Naruto looked at the newcomer who was wearing short-sleeved grey jacket with green-edged sleeves with the Nara clan symbol on the back. He excused himself from the store owner and walked away together with his new companion for a bit then started to jump on the roofs of the houses before replying to his previous statement. There were lesser chances of being noticed above the roofs after all.

"If I keep on accepting their gifts, that would make me rely on them too much and them go bankrupt, Shikamaru. Besides, you know I don't like their attention that much, I don't deserve them" Naruto retorted.

The now named Shikamaru sighed before speaking. "Always the modest one, you do realize that's one the reason they like you too much. You're way too good of a person"

"Sasuke is almost the complete opposite of me who always broods but still gets a lot of attention; it's not about me being good. It is about them over appreciating what happened to me. It's not even my choice. Sometimes I wish I didn't get the beast sealed inside me, but I know I'm the only one capable of holding it right now. What with being the last Uzumaki on Konoha. Sometimes, I even wish they didn't know I was the Jinchūriki of this beast or better yet, the third didn't have to make me some glorified prison for the beast" Naruto ranted a bit.

"That's even more troublesome. Do you even know how the Jinchūriki of the other hidden villages are treated? You are lucky you've been spared of what they are going through. I heard they aren't even being treated as humans"

"At least they have personal space and time for themselves. Uncle Jiraiya even said some of them get to live outside their villages. And here I am trapped here in this village with these people kissing the very ground I walk through"

"You wouldn't want them to hear what you just said"

"We're too far for them to hear us Shikamaru, and I'm sure the anbu guards stationed to guard me have already known my opinion of people like those for a while now"

Just as Naruto finished speaking, they arrived on a grassy hill that was an unused training ground though there could be nobody seen anywhere in the vicinity. Shikamaru dropped on his feet and sprawled himself on the grass, laying as if without care for the world, a moment later. Naruto dropped his belongings before he copied Shikamaru's actions. They talked about a few random things before finally deciding to keep the silence and watch as the clouds move in the sky.

The two had been friends for the longest compared to their other classmates. Naruto liked Shikamaru the most. His other classmates especially the girls, were way too fond of him to his liking. One particular pair of them irritated him the most which were the civilian girl named Sakura Haruno who had the most ridiculous hair color of all things and another who wasn't acting like the clan heir she is, Ino Yamanaka. Together, they were the head of the Naruto and Sasuke Fan club. They didn't seem to mind that they had two targets of affection. The only female classmate he considered normal was Hinata Hyuga; who was reserved and calm like how a true clan heir should act.

Chouji Akimichi was another friend of him and Shikamaru. The boy ate a lot but was friendly enough to be around; just don't make the mistake of calling him fat though that would mean trouble. There was Kiba Inuzuka who kept on hitting on any of their female classmates without success then there was Shino Aburame, who Naruto couldn't describe in any way but silent and calculative. There are a lot more classmates he had but most of them didn't have clan affiliation and in turn, were to by their parents to be "friendly" to Naruto since he was the village hero. Naruto hated being the center of attention, he didn't mind kindness but there was way too much attention that it was suffocating him. Thankfully, most of the clan kids weren't that way with him. He didn't have too much interaction with ninjas outside his grandpa Hiruzen, Kakashi-Nii or Uncle Jiraiya;who was his appointed godfather. While he wasn't told of his heritage, he wasn't dumb enough not to be able to deduce things on his own, He just kept quiet for the same reasons it wasn't revealed to the public.

Time went on and the two males fell asleep on the hill while watching the clouds, they usually did this when they had nothing to do between classes or during weekends.

(A few hours later)

"Hey Shikamaru, wake up. It's already noon! We need to get you home before your mother scolds you again" Naruto nudged the boy rather forcefully only stopping until he saw a reaction.

"Yeah, Yeah, I get it. I'll walk home alone this time. My mom would put the blame on me again when she realizes we are being lazy again. Honestly, why does she blame me for you sleeping on this wonderful day? Who wouldn't want to laze around with this weather?" Shikamaru sat up and kept rubbing his eyes to clear his vision.

He looked around when he didn't get any reply. He noticed that there was only about less than two hours before the sun set and Naruto was nowhere to found.

"Guess he knew I wouldn't want him to take me home this time" he dusted himself off before leaving.

Meanwhile, Naruto arrived at his home and dropped his bags. He noticed his godfather was writing something with a lecherous glint in his eyes. 'Pervert..' He thought.

"Welcome back Naruto, had a nap with the nara kid again?" Jiraiya greeted.

"The names Shikamaru, but yes. I was taking a nap with him, same spot as always" He answered.

"You'll be starting your intermediate fuin training tomorrow. The guide books are already in the study room as well as the supplies needed. The ring's there as well, don't forget to remove the one you are wearing before using the new ring, otherwise it won't work" Jiraiya said while he closed his book and finished his work.

"If you had started me earlier, then I probably am more than on advanced already. Seriously, you do realize any Uzumaki has great potential for Fuinjutsu. Look at me, I'm not even that good yet I blitzed through the beginners level in less than three weeks which you took…..." Naruto started but was interrupted.

"Three months to learn. Blah, do not need to keep rubbing it on me you know. I'm not an Uzumaki" Jiraiya finished.

"Jiji only took two months. The Yondaime took the less than three months too"

Jiraiya felt insulted "Hey, I got farther than the third in terms of progress and the Minato's already gone." He stopped for a bit realizing where the conversation was heading to. "Ughhh….fine. I'm sorry I didn't teach you earlier. It was for your own good. We don't know what a child who is learning Fuinjutsu would do if he sees a "cool" or "amazing" example of such art in his stomach. I don't know, maybe he'd experiment on it for fun without thinking he may release the beast hell bent on destruction locked inside? He still young after all" he finished.

Naruto was silent for a moment before answering in an almost inaudible tone "I wasn't that immature"

A messenger hawk then entered through the window and delivered a scroll, Jiraiya opened it and read it immediately before going to his room and changed his clothes. On his way out he ruffled Naruto's hair before speaking.

"Keep telling that to yourself gaki. The foods ready on the kitchen, make sure you seal off some for me to keep the freshness. I'll be back in the midnight."

Jiraiya was already on his usual attire that consisted of a green short shirt kimono and matching pants, under which he wore mesh armour that is visible at his wrists and ankles. He also wore hand guards, a black belt, traditional Japanese wooden sandals, and a red haori with two yellow circles on each side. He was already on the door and was about to leave before giving Naruto a final message "Oh, and don't touch the scroll I left on my table in the study room. It's a relic from Uzushio and looks pretty advanced. So we don't know what they might be yet since I was rushed into bringing them here just a while ago and didn't have the time to fully inspect them"

"I guess the study rooms for me alone to enjoy tonight hehe" A chuckle escaped his lips.

"Might as well eat before reading"

Naruto walked through the kitchen and ate the dinner prepared by Sannin. The food was pretty simple. A few egg omelettes, vegetable soup and a pitcher of fruit juice and of course, Rice. The Sannin really did take good care of his nutritional thought about the past while eating.

Upon being heralded as the hero of the leaf during his birth. The majority of the clans in Konoha Ninja or Civilian, requested to be bestowed the right to adopt Naruto. Some due to political reasons but most of them had been genuinely thankful for his purpose. He was then adopted by Jiraiya of the Sannin with the reasoning that he was the most skilled at Fuinjutsu as well as combat and thus the best choice; they never knew he was his godfather though. Jiraiya wasn't always at home but he was there from time to time, he was a busy man after all;vwhat with being Konoha's best spy and one of the legendary Sannin. Kakashi also acted as his big brother and moved to the Sannin's mansion for a while as it had plenty of room to spare. Although he moved out when He became a Jounin instructor when Naruto had reached the age of an academy student(6) and was quite a diligent one so he trained his students meticulously.

Naruto grew up with too much affection and attention that it suffocated him. He had liked it at the start but too much of something was never good. The children had been taught by their parents to adore him thus he found it hard to find true companions that would like him for who he was not what he is. In addition to the fact that he was already popular as a hero, he was also the top ninja of the year in every year with Sasuke Uchiha coming in second. This made him even more popular and thus received even more attention that he never wanted. There were times when he deliberately tried to do several bad things but nothing too severe to see what the reaction of the public would be. Alas, unlike most kids who would be scolded. His actions were treated differently. When he tried to verbally bully somebody, that one would be hated by everyone for a while. When he fought for the wrong reason, the defendant would be considered the offender and he would be the victim. He had tried pranking only to have the people pass out his pranks that would sometimes compromise stores as childish humour, heck that was just last year and he was 14 already! He hated that he was over appreciated, he hated that nobody treated him like a normal person minus, he hated that they would suck up his ass even if he was on the wrong. It was unfair; he didn't deserve any of those. He wanted to live a normal life where he could focus on being a ninja and not a public figure. Naruto's train of thought was broken when he realized that he was getting to emotional over something he had no control of.

He finished his meal and sealed of what he divided for Jiraiya for preservation. He then walked to the sofa on the living room and relaxed for a while before getting bored so he looked at the clock which pointed out 7:40 pm and thought 'Might as well read the books in advance, this time it should be easier since I already know the basic principles of Fuinjutsu'

With that thought in mind, he left for the study room. The Sannin's residence was actually a mansion left by Naruto's parents but was hidden to the public. It was bought by the Yondaime for the purpose of providing Naruto a great environment for growing up. A beautiful garden full of herbs and Fruit trees, A balcony like most mansions had, Dining areas with tiles, A huge study room with a library; those were only a few things that could be found inside the residence which was pretty close to the Hokage tower as well as the Police station manned by the Uchiha's; thus was quite far from the civilian areas.

Naruto entered the study room. It was a a huge rectangular room. Its walls of the room were made of wood that were supposedly created by Shodai Hokage so they lasted longer with their aesthetics being preserved beautifully due to the addition of the preservation and other aesthetical improvising seals etched on the different parts of the room. The room looked so naturally that one would mistake it for a tree house or a room built inside the trunk of an enormous tree. The tables, chairs and shelves for books were even made from the same materials. The ceiling itself were made of leaves that could be easily compared to the numerous trees spread throughout Konoha, though they are only wallpapers enhanced with Fuinjutsu to look like real leaves.

The first area upon entering the room was the main study area. It had three study chair and table set separated for him, Jiraiya and Kakashi. Kakashi's area had been unused for a while now as he had already moved out of the mansion. The Sannin's area was the busiest one; scrolls, brushes, notebooks and a shelf as well as a folder cabinet on the opposite side of the shelf, Naruto knew there were no immensely confidential information there though. The Sannin was a goofy one but he wasn't dumb. Naruto's area looked like how any other study table should; lamplight, notebooks, pens and other stuffs you would expect from an academy student could be found.

He picked up the ring placed on his table and wore it but not before placing his previous on one of the drawers of the table. The ring was an entrée clearance for the library on the left side of the study room. The level of the ring decided which books you could read there. The rings would resonate to the scrolls and books and allow you to use them as the text and content would appear depending on the clearance level of the ring. The scrolls and books would be blank if you didn't have enough clearance level so it would prevent someone from learning things he wasn't supposed to know yet. Not that anyone could enter the library without permission though, anybody not wearing a ring would only see a wall there without any door and the door to the study room itself required the person to be given personal entrance rights which currently, only four people of Konoha today had been given. The third Hokage being the fourth person to have entrée rights other than Naruto, Jiraiya and Kakashi.

The library itself which was on the left side had a higher ceiling due it being a full of books as such needed a second floor for the hundreds of books and scrolls contained by the shelves and cabinets. Some of the information that could be found here cannot even be found in the Konoha-Nin Library even on the highest clearance, the Hokage's library was another topic though. The right side of the room was a relaxation area, or so as the Sannin said. That side of the room was Naruto's favourite as he had always wished to bring his Nara friend there to relax. It was Area inside the study room that was a 'portal' by itself. The Fuinjutsu work made there was sure to be very advanced. Outside the area, when one would look at it. It was just a simple space with tons of seals written on the walls that overlapped with one another with a door on the end of it. Too complex for even Jiraiya to make, it was the joint effort of the Yondaime and his wife that made it possible. Upon stepping inside the area, one would be amazed. It would take you a place that looks like one of the beautiful clearings of the Great Mount Myōboku (aka. Land of the toads). The door at the end of the room was actually a dimensional rift that would take you to the actual place and not just the illusion which the actual room actually was. Not that Naruto could use it for that purpose. To him, it was just a door whose other side was solid wall. As of right now, only Jiraiya could use that door as only he was a living person who had signed the toad contract.

There was no denying that the room gave a tranquil and natural feeling of being in a forest, Jiraiya said that the Yondaime and his wife purposely worked hard to make this study room designed this way to give them full concentration when studying. Jiraiya had introduced Naruto to this study room when he started his academy days. His first ring being an academy student clearance level ring, then Level 1 access and right now which the Level 2 access was; there were 10 levels and Naruto knew he had only seen the tip of the iceberg. The prospect of having complete access to all these books gathered by his predecessors which were the Uzumaki of the Uzushio made Naruto felt very excited. These books and scrolls were what were collected by Konoha on the fall of Uzushio. Luckily they had salvaged a little which were these books. Most had been already plundered by the joint forces that attacked the hidden village.

'Speaking of Uzushio. I wonder what that scroll Jiraiya had brought' Naruto thought as he looked at the table of his sensei where the scroll was placed.

Naruto's curiosity was even more piqued when the said scroll started to glow. He was entranced by the faint glow and started to walk close to the Sannin's table which were only a few steps away. Each step taken slowly like he was being hypnotized.

'Come closer, Kin of the Uzumaki. At least one of us must be saved'

Something whispered to his ear as he stepped closer. He was in front of the scroll as he extended his hand to touch it.

"Dont!" The door slammed open and the loud voice of Jiraiya echoed on the room "Naruto Don't!"

The voice of Jiraiya stopped Naruto on his tracks, effectively shocking him out of the hypnotic trance he was in.

"That scroll was salvaged in the ruins of Uzushio. I found it on a place that was once called 'The tower of desperation'. We don't have any idea of anything that might be contained within that thing. Don't remove your hand on the scroll left. It's still glowing, you might have activated some sort of mechanism" The Sannin's voice held both panic and concern. He schooled his expressions before walking forth towards Naruto.

Naruto's eyes grew wide as he looked at his extended hand and realized the severity of the situation. True to Jiraiya's words, the scroll was glowing and his hand was still on it.

The scroll suddenly opened and random inscriptions burst forth from the scroll floating around Naruto, encircling him. Jiraiya's study table and anything along with it were blown away.

Naruto was about to move but Jiraiya's words stopped him "Don't move Naruto, let me inspect the situation first"

'Darn, why did I have to be such a dumbass touching the stupid scroll' Naruto thought to himself. He didn't notice that his body was starting to become clearer as if vanishing. Jiraiya himself was too busy inspecting the inscriptions that he wasn't able to notice it.

"This is no simple feat of Fuinjutsu. Seals, Runes, Glyphs and many more are intertwined. What have you gotten yourself into this time Naruto…." He looked at Naruto only now noticing his vanishing body "No….No…This can't be, I can't lose you!" He dashed forth hoping to trespass whatever was encircling Naruto but was bounced back by the floating inscriptions with a rather strong force.

He could only watch as Naruto vanished along with whatever that had made him vanish. Jiraiya ran towards the scroll only to find that it was already blank. He could no longer detect any residual chakra from the spot where Naruto stood before.

He fell into his knees, his shoulders slump and eyes watery.

"why…Why…WHY!." It started of as a whisper but got louder till it became a full blown scream of anguish. He had lost Naruto, his beloved godson.

"I shouldn't have taken that scroll, I shouldn't have left, I shouldn't , I shouldn't have…." His voice trailed off. No longer was any his composure left as he cried like a child who had lost everything.

Naruto's eyes opened slowly. He stood up and looked around taking notice of what seems to be never-ending white space that extended to who knows where. His eyes stopped on a figure. It was a woman with a fair complexion. Cerulean eyes that were bluer than even Naruto's Azure ones, silver hair flowing as if the being blown by a non-existent wind and her body comparable to the most beautiful woman of the elemental nations. She was wearing a pure white gown that gave of an aura of purity.

"I see you are already awake. Naruto Uzumaki of the elemental nations" Even her voice screamed of innocence.

"Where am I?" Naruto replied.

"You are pretty calm for your situation. Any other would be panicking already. I was sure your memories weren't affected by the travel"

"It can't get worse than this wouldn't it?"

"Now that's just asking for more" She showed a deadpan face.

"I guess you're right Miss….."

"You can call me anything; I don't really have a name. Not that I'd keep whatever you would call me in memory. I've already received more names than I could count" She answered.

"Shiro, guess I'll call you Shiro then" Naruto had named the girl base on her appearance.

"White huh? Sounds good to me, Kind of boyish but it's not that I really have a gender after all"

Now that tidbit of information surprised Naruto.

"I should have expected there was more to this situation than meets the eye. If you would, please explain me the situation I am in"

The woman clapped her hands "Gladly, I was getting bored of the conversation we were having"

Naruto shook his head in mock disappointment on the person's choice of words.

"You see, we are in the boundary of two dimensions. Parallel ones at that, and I am the gatekeeper that makes sure your passage is safe and does not disturb the balance of neither the dimension you left and the place you will be going to" She started.

Naruto raised his right hand as a show of respectful interruption "Will it be possible for me to cancel 'contract' that has sent me here? And can you also please elaborate why I am being sent out of the elemental nations?"

"Contract eh? Nice choice of word. That actually sums up your situation. You are under a contract of dimensional transfer. But no, the contract does not involve any way of you cancelling it or coming back to your original dimension" The being replied to him.

"So that was what the scroll was?"

"Yep! The scroll is actually a contract of dimension transfer. But as you know, something as great as that can't be done without any sacrifice or trade. The price had already been paid long before you were born so no worries. Uzushio sacrificed the lives of twelve persons for it to work" She answered enthusiastically as if she didn't just state that his predecessors had just committed murder.

Naruto was about to open his mouth for a question, but the figure beat him to it.

"Prisoners of war. The sacrifices weren't that innocent so I wouldn't think that badly of your ancestors. And before you ask. Yes, I can read you mind so you do not actually need to speak but you can. If only, to make the information flow smoother"

A tic mark to appear at his head due to the interruption.

"As I have already said, I am a dimensional gatekeeper. There won't be a barrier language since I can read memories and integrate it into mine. I am also neither a man nor a woman; I only appear in this form as people usually show less reluctance in cooperating when in the face of an weak and innocent looking person. But don't get too big on the head though, I am even stronger than the strongest your dimension can present. I can take on almost any form too. If our kind had a name we could be called Shape shifts" The being introduced itself with an innocent smile on its beautiful face.

"This means I wasn't the only one?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, but you're the first to transfer in your target destination. Anyway back on topic. The scroll was made during the warring eras by the best seal masters of Uzushio as a last line of desperate struggle to have at least a single survivor should there be a threat that your ancestors would be wiped out. I guess it is why they put it in a tower they named "Tower of Desperation". It was never used however; the attack on Uzushio was a great surprise. Normally, each generation had at least a batch of prospective person that would take up the role of using the scroll. Unfortunately, none of them made it to the tower as such it was left. The tower was destroyed and the scroll was trapped on the rubbles of the ruined building, later on Jiraiya of the Sannin was the one to find it. Whatever happened next, you already know"

Naruto took every detail; his face held no emotion but his heart was on turmoil. He could no longer go back after all. "Can you give me an idea of where I'll be sent" Naruto asked.

"I feel sorry for you" Shiro said with a sad face but that didn't last as it was replaced by a grin before she continued "Nahhh, just kidding. you shouldn't be so sad. Your situation isn't actually that worse"

The teen perked up with Shiro's words.

"The place where you will be transported into isn't that different from your own. In fact, you could almost consider it just a different timeline. Though it isn't, it's really just a parallel dimension where one action made a huge impact on the future. If it was the same dimension I could almost say that you would just be simply sent back to your ten year old self. Things are not just that simple unfortunately" Shiro sighed.

"What do you mean?" Naruto couldn't help but ask.

"Where you'll be sent, you were never the hero of Konoha. The third Hokage wasn't able to convince the public that you are the jailor and their guardian. In turn you were hated and that led to you lacking guidance and attention. You craved what you didn't have so you turned yourself into the art of pranking to receive attention. Even if it was just annoyance"

"Basically everything I wanted before I left?" He summarized.

The girl had said that she could read his memories so Naruto expected her to already know what he was talking about.

"Not quite simple. You were treated like how the other Jinchūriki were treated"

"Hated?"

"Loathed and isolated"

"Big deal?"

"You weren't able to make friends which means you can't act like you know any of your batch mates. You never knew Kakashi; Sarutobi was the only person who cared for you except for the Ramen sellers. Jiraiya wasn't able to adopt you since the civilian council had prevented it at all cost" The girl corrected.

"So just isolated? And I pranked people but this time they hate me? Sounds like a good place to me" Naruto felt his sadness slowly fade away and be replaced with growing excitement for his new location. "I guess I'll replace whoever is my double there and take his place eh?"

"Yes you will, he is basically you but with a different childhood. He will be ours though, his consciousness that is"

"Wait what?" Naruto jolted up with that new information.

"The scroll that sent you here required twelve sacrifices; ten of those for the transportation, two for the existence replacement. You will take the other 'You's place as a replacement since only one of you can exist. Clones, elemental or not; are you but not an other 'You' so they shouldn't be counted. Any human made you, in any way or experiment will also be not another you since they will have an individual existence, like a signature soul for they will be created in that dimension and not outside of it like you are. You see, parallel dimensions usually have peoples with counterparts; dead or alive. Those with counterparts must replace their counterpart to not upset the balance. The Naruto there has the same soul existence as you so you can't exist in the same time and place. This is why we will be taking him. What we will do to him, you will have no concern as you will not be affected" Shiro explained for him.

"My head hurts a little"

"Of course it would, Haha!. Just accept the situation; we wouldn't want paradoxes to intervene with the multiversal equilibrium"

Naruto decided to rid himself of the headache and simply decided to agree.

"Fine, what else should I know? I think the times almost up so I might as well get as much info as allowed" True to his words, his hands started vanishing just like before but way slower this time.

"Don't worry, you won't be sent there unless I allow you. So there are a few restrictions you must obey lest you will be the one in the place of the other you"

Naruto gulped not even remotely wanting to know what would happen if he disobeyed what she would tell.

"First and foremost, you can't come back to where you came from. So any attempt by using any method mostly relating to Fuinjutsu will be banned. The reason you are contained here for a while instead of instantly sending you to that place is because your existence on your past world is slowly being erased till nothing will be left meaning it will be as if you never existed. The other Naruto is also being slowly prepared for replacement. Once the preparation is ready, you will be allowed to transfer" Shiro started with the first rule, letting Naruto take the information into his head before continuing.

"Second is that you are not allowed to let anyone know about your past dimension as well as the existence of this place which includes me. Other than those two. You should also know that in time, you will forget about me and this place. Even if you write it, record it or even go as far as seal your memories, it won't work. Don't ask how, this is how it should be. If you ask when it will take place, it varies per person but usually takes a five to eight years to properly implement everything to place so the ripple in that dimension due to your entrance would be calmed"

"Anything else?" Naruto asked eagerly. The prospect of a Konoha where he wasn't patronized really made him excited. A place where he wasn't monitored by the Sannin so he could try to learn anything he wanted made him even more enthusiastic. This situation was a win-win for him.

"Eager one, aren't you? There's nothing else to tell. Close your eye and don't open them until after I touch your forehead" Shiro walked closer then touched his forehead. "Farewell, Naruto Uzumaki"

When Naruto opened his eyes, he found himself on an unfamiliar place. It looked like a worn out apartment and he was on what seemed to be a second hand bed.

'I guess the other me lived in a worn out apartment since Jiraiya wasn't able to adopt me. As long as I am not the center of attention and I can do what I want without anyone looking at me, which would be fine for me' he thought to himself. In reality, he was actually displeased with his counterpart with how unorganized and dirty the apartment was. He walked to the restroom and looked at the mirror. He noticed that his hair was cut off unlike himself before who liked to grow his hair longer much like his father. True to Shiro's words, he was about nine years of age based on his appearance.

"Yosh! I'm gonna make this place clean and shining by the end of the day" Thus, He pumped up his arm and started his work.

The next day was quite tedious for the nine year old kid. He had just realized that his closet contained nothing but orange jumpsuit that made him cringe to infinity. Sure he liked the color orange and yes, it was his favourite color. But he would never think of having only those and spare white tee's and black pants. It was an eyesore. He had also realized that his fridge was also full of ramen packs and no other food other than spoiled milk. How his counterpart lived with only ramen as his diet, he could never figure out.

These realizations lead to Naruto deciding that he must buy new stuffs in order to make his daily life less horrible. A future ninja without proper equipment and nutrition is bound to be a dead ninja.

It took Naruto only three clothe shop and two restaurants to learn the reason as to why his counterpart didn't have a good sense of fashion or diet. It was because of his status in the village. He was the pariah. No wonder he couldn't get anything decent no matter what it was.

Naruto then made his choice of going to the one place he was sure to find the proper equipment and treatment he needed. The place he was thinking about gave excellent quality goods but not without a higher amount of payment that regular stores. It was the Higurashi-Ninja Store. It was a ninja store so they were bound to know the difference between kunai and a scroll.

As Naruto entered through the door, he noticed that there were almost no differences between his previous dimension's memory of this place as well as the current one. The only difference being that the place had more stocks in equipment than he usually saw, probably due to the fact that the shop had become famous when the villagers learned that the village hero was said to buy at the shop.

Naruto looked through the clothing section and noticed that the prices were an exact replica of their counterpart in his previous dimension. This brought a smile on his smile for a minute as he remembered his memories of the place. It didn't take long for the smile to be replaced by a frown as he looked to his Gama-chan wallet. Clearly, he had more than enough saved money. This proved the fact that his counterpart was either used to being frugal or was used to buying other necessities. Regardless, this time he would make sure he would receive the proper treatment his body needs.

"The price tags not to your liking, eh kid?" A man's voice called out to him.

Naruto looked to the man and noticed that it was a tall dark haired man with a scar on his rightjaw. His muscles were clearly built for strength and not speed.

'Probably due to constant lifting of these equipment's' Naruto thought to himself before answering. "Not really, I was just wondering if you would let me buy or chase me out like most of them do. I don't actually remember that I pranked this place. So….." he left the words hanging.

"You may not remember whether this shop was a victim of your pranks but I do, It was two months ago. You decided to put long lasting glue on the entrance and dyed it specifically to match the flooring so it would go unnoticed. Of course it didn't work, a simple trick like that won't work on a ninja store. I'll give you credit though. I never figured out when you put them in the first place" The man stated.

"Hehe, I thought you wouldn't remember. I guess I should show myself out then" He said as he scratched the back of his head.

Naruto started walking to the exit but a hand that was placed on right shoulder stopped him dead on his tracks.

"Nonsense, you are a customer. And just as I had said. It was a harmless prank, it never really did any damage to the shop so I do not hold any sort of grudge against you. Besides, If a simple prank like that would go unnoticed in a ninja store, then it would only spell out incompetence for the store owner"

This brought a smile to Naruto's face as he faced the tall man.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and from now on. Consider me your loyal customer, a patron you could say" Naruto extended his hand in a gesture of shaking hands as a sign of respect.

The man shook his hand and smiled brightly "Kenzou Higurashi at your service, feel free to choose anything. I'll give you a discount this time as a reward for your future patronage, better yet; I'll even throw out a storage scroll so you could carry your items easier"

Naruto thanked the man for his kindness. After the exchange, the man had left Naruto to his own devices to let him have his choices but not before reminding Naruto that he wasn't allowed yet to buy any weapon with the exception of the practice items.

He picked up a few set of pants and tee's as well as a few shorts. He didn't forget to bring specific clothes for training too; those ones had a sturdier fabric as they needed to be more flexible and long lasting. He also picked up a few practice kunai, shuriken and target practice marks. He then brought the items to the counter to pay for them. There were a lot of the items so he brought them with a cart.

"I'm guessing you are filling up your closet with a new set of clothes huh? I don't really see you with any other clothing other than that eyesore you are wearing right now. So, what brought up the change?" The man told Naruto upon arriving at the counter.

Naruto could feel something was off but he couldn't pinpoint what it was so he shrugged it off as a hunch.

"Nothing, I've always tried to buy new clothes at the civilian shops but they always send me out without even letting me pick anything so I figured to give them a taste of their own medicine, through pranking. I've never tried to buy at ninja stores so I never knew they were more accommodating"

The man laughed out loudly for a bit before speaking "Haha ha! serves them right for not knowing the difference of a kunai and a scroll"

"Kunai and a scroll?" Naruto asked, his eyebrows raised as if to emphasize his curiosity of such a comparison.

Naruto knew that the man was comparing his situation to the items mentioned. Him being the scroll that was containing the beast inside his stomach, who was the kunai. He acted oblivious despite knowing the fact in order to cement his alibi of innocence about the topic.

Unfortunately, his act wasn't able to fool the man.

"You may fool them gaki, but not me. I'm a hundred per cent sure that you know just what I mean"

"How?" Naruto was dumbfounded. He didn't remember anything that would make the man learn of his 'newfound' knowledge.

"You acted too normally" The man said cryptically with a straight face.

"Please elaborate" It was too vague and Naruto needed answers.

"These past few years up to last week that I saw you. You were too brash and boisterous. A few days later, here you are. Calm as a lake. You also lied to me about not buying on ninja stores. Where else would you get ninja supplies such as smoke bombs and ninja wires? It's just that you were fond of the attention given to you due to your pranks that you neglect buying actual necessities for your own. If there is one thing I am sure of. It is that, you just recently realized what you are. Otherwise the changes wouldn't be abrupt but rather, it would be slow paced but consistent" Kenzou elaborated.

"I guess it was a dumb move then" Naruto replied.

"I wouldn't call it dumb, more along the lines of immature. Don't worry, the civilians won't notice it and the ninja's would actually like a break from your pranks. Everybody knew you were bound to figure out something, just not this fast. I won't ask how you came to realization. With how you are being treated by the population of Konoha, it's some inevitable. You can be at ease regarding me too, I won't judge you for what you hold, nor will I tell them about what I know" The man smiled at Naruto after ending his speech.

"Aren't I too young for this kind of conversation?" Naruto asked the man.

"Are you kidding me? You are an ninja academy student, you are literally being trained to kill. Add that to the fact that you are a Jinchūriki who is isolated due to being misunderstood. Isolation brings forth maturity kiddo. There is no doubt you understood all that I've said. Besides…" Kenzou looked at Naruto in the eye before continuing "Those eyes don't belong to a nine year old kid that simply does pranking to get the tiniest piece of attention given to him. They may not seem too matured but there is no denying that those are the eyes of someone that knows what he is and what wants, eyes that already accepted himself and will stride forth towards his goals with conviction"

The conversation stopped after the man's speech and the place grew silent afterwards, Naruto didn't know what to reply. He didn't think he was that easy to read so he took a mental note of raising his skills in hiding his emotions. Then again, the man was probably an experienced Shinobi and Naruto only had 15 years of living under his belt.

Kenzou then took all the items and packed them. He sealed them on a scroll so that Naruto could carry them easier.

Naruto bid the man farewell and left for his next stop, food.

He sat on one of the chairs of the Ichiraku ramen shop and called out for his order. Luckily there were no other customers who would bother him so he ate with peace and gusto. He didn't find the place nor the conversations to the old man Teuchi and his daughter Ayame strange or awkward as he was friends on the both of them on the parallel dimension where he came from. Apparently, the color orange wasn't the only thing him and his counterpart both liked. Their favourite food had also been the same, except for the fact he wasn't as addicted to ramen as his counterpart.

It didn't take too long for him to finish eating as he didn't eat too many. The Ichiraku family found it strange that he ate too little but didn't pursue the topic nevertheless.

After eating, he went straight to his home. It was useless to go to the market as only civilians sold fruits and vegetables as well as raw meat. No ninja had spare time to do menial tasks such as growing their own food which meant that he won't be able to buy anything nutritious for a while. He decided that he would save money to buy or at least rent his own house that had a spare space to grow his own goods. His father's mansion wasn't supposed to be given to him until he reached the rank of Jounin, so that also meant that he would not have access to the study room located there for a long time.

Buying a house was quite expensive for a civilian and to some extent a ninja. However, renting was not impossible; you just have to pick the right one that wasn't too extravagant in terms of aesthetic beauty. Not that Naruto needed that. In fact, he wanted to be as inconspicuous as possible so a simple one would suffice.

His musings were stopped when he arrived at his worn down apartment. Apparently, his place was often targeted for looting and vandalism for a while now. He had noticed the faint color of paint in the outer walls of his place. They were probably remnants of the vandals that were there before. There were also missing things that should normally be expected inside his apartment which were present in the other residents but wasn't on his so they were probably stolen. It was a good thing that those attempts were stopped. The hidden anbu guards stationed around him were probably ordered to prevent further attempts to make his home a mess.

Naruto inserted the lock to his doorknob and entered his apartment. He then unsealed the contents of the scroll and put the items to where they should be. The clothes being on the cabinet and the practice equipment's on his storage room. He walked to the restroom which required him to pass to the door of the kitchen when he noticed some things on the table.

When he walked closer, he saw a note which he then read. "Figured you'd want a change of diet along with the wardrobe change- Kenzou"

His eyes widened and he opened fridge to confirm what he was thinking.

True to what he just read, His fridge was filled to the brim with different kinds of ingredients; milk, honey, vegetables, fruits, raw meat and even some neatly stacked tray of eggs.

His counterpart self would probably be emotional for this kindness shown to him, not him though as he was showered with kindness in his previous life. His respect for the man still rose up though. These foods were sure to last at least two months for sure as he could infuse the fridge with preservation seals previously taught to him by Jiraiya. Preservation seals were intermediate level but Jiraiya thought he should have learnt it earlier as it was a useful skill for a ninja.

He noticed that there was another note atop the tray of eggs and picked it up.

"You don't have to worry about repaying the products or thanking me, you deserve at least this much for holding the beast at bay and putting up with the behaviour of the populace-Kenzou" Naruto read.

Naruto looked at the window , a smile gracing his face as he watched the sun slowly set. "I'm liking this place even more and more"

(Outside the apartment a few blocks away)

Two masked figure stood and watched as Naruto look at a window, smiling.

"Taichou, are you sure it is alright to give the boy that much provision? What if he grows suspicious and ask Kenzou-san" the other masked individual inquired.

"You don't have to worry about that, I have already informed of Kenzou-san of the situation and he has stated that he will cooperate should Naruto need further assistance" the cat masked one answered.

"I see"

"He deserves much more than this ; I wish I could have helped him more"

"I know you do Taichou"

-Chapter End-

And...that sums up the first chapter. It's still the first chapter so I decided on not yet giving any action to it. Things are about to pick up in pace on the next chapter. The academy arc should last for a few chapters though so you shouldn't expect too much.

Anyway, your thoughts and opinion are to be appreciated so feel free to leave a review of what you think about this story. The second chapter should be up after a few days since I'm feeling motivated and the ideas keep popping in my head.

Peace out

-shunozuko18