A/N: Feels good to be back in the game. I was inspired to write again after reading a good story called Tis Femina by Scythe. There are also influences from the video game I'm currently playing. Guess which one. Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter One - Advent

This is Konohagakure. But not the one you might be familiar with. You are familiar with the Konoha from the other worlds. The quaint walled village, with its red painted tower, its faced mountain. This is a Konoha of steel and glass.

It was hidden, not because of a small size or a defensible location, but because of a massive genjutsu. Massive steel spines dotted around the borders of Konoha, engraved with thousands upon thousands of seal arrays. Projecting a massive genjutsu that made Konoha look like nothing more than a grove of trees in a forest.

A city of skyscrapers, warehouses, factories. The civilian population enjoyed a prosperity few other villages knew. They knew of the shadowy figures that allowed this safety, this economic domination. The Shinobi. Their faceless defenders, the shadow military that protected them from all threats with the aid of their ever present genjutsu spires.

Naruto stood atop a tall building, thirty stories by his estimate. He smiled, and pulled his hooded jacket tighter around him, the red spiral on the back standing out against the dark material. Tomorrow he graduated from the Academy, tomorrow he joined the ranks of the Shinobi. He was special though. One of ten in the whole of Konohagakure. They called him a Sousha, a Runner. He was infected at birth by a rare chakra virus, it changed his physiology, his chakra. He was powerful, incredibly so. But he lacked refinement, skill. The Sousha were feared, their power misunderstood. But Naruto was unique, even more than his fellows. The youngest of Konoha's Sousha was hated. Hated for something he could not control, more than the virus. Something he didn't understand.

He remembered many birthdays. Members of the populace, civilian and Shinobi alike had tried to kill him. But they learned first hand why the Sousha were feared. Their memories were his now. Their bodies a part of his. He smiled grimly. Konoha once had fifteen of them.

Shrugging, Naruto leaned forward, tipping himself off of the building. He laughed joyously at the cold wind whipping by his face, through his hair. The roar of the wind was soothing. He focused on the ground, his smile growing as it grew ever closer. Moments before his head smashed into the hard, unyielding ground, Naruto executed a perfect front flip, landing on one knee with a fist to balance him. The ground beneath him was cracked, but not cratered, he stopped doing that after the elderly Third Hokage had threatened to suspend his free-running privileges.

Cracking his knuckles he began to sprint down the street to meet one of his few friends. One of the oldest Sousha in Konoha, the man had fought in the First Great Shinobi World War. He looked no older than thirty. Called Hikitsuri (Twitch) by his fellows, the elderly Sousha had taken Naruto under his wing, teaching him to control his powers, the rare chakra virus that infected them both.

Hikitsuri sat on his favourite bench, watching the clouds. His foot tapping the ground endlessly, a fine dust of crushed concrete was already gathering around his feet.

"Yo." Naruto strolled up, Hikitsuri looked up at his young friend with a wide smile.

"H-h-hello Naruto-kun, how are you this f-f-f-fine day?" The elder Sousha had a bad stutter, apparently a side effect of being one for as long as he had. Naruto didn't mind, he thought it made the man somewhat endearing. "C-c-c-c-can you hear them? In your h-h-h-h-head? The v-v-v-voices?"

Sighing Naruto shook his head. "No, I haven't consumed that many. I can see them in my dreams sometimes, but they never talk when I'm awake."

"Hmmmmmmmmmmm. S-s-s-s-s-so. You graduate tomorrow?" Hikitsuri drummed his fingers on his head, a steady staccato.

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, tomorrow I officially enter into the ranks of the Kao Gundan (Faceless Legion)."

Hikitsuri frowned, his other hand taking up the staccato on his leg. "You know the h-h-h-h-higher-ups frown on that n-n-name."

Naruto shrugged. "Do you have a lesson for today Hiki?"

The older man nodded. Taking several deep breaths to contain his stutter. "Today, I'm going to teach you your very fist offensive skill. Sousha no Tsume (Runner's Claws)." Chakra spiralled around his hands and arms, Hikitsuri's white chakra crystallizing into foot long blades. Raking the tips along the ground, he demonstrated just how sharp they were. With the lightest pressure, he carved inch deep furrows into the concrete. Naruto stared with awe, up until now, he had only been able to encase his hands in crystallized chakra, increasing the force and strength of his punches.

Naruto did so now, the reddish-black chakra unique to him spiralling around his hands and arms, he focused, extended the chakra past his hands. And cursed as the chakra shot into the ground and propelled him fifty feet into the air. The chakra retracted faster than Naruto could react, slamming him into the ground with enough force to crack several of his ribs and knock the wind out of him. "Fuck, I can't."

Smiling, Hikitsuri helped the younger Sousha to his feet. "The knowledge is in you N-n-Naruto. The f-f-f-five old Sousha you consumed. S-s-s-seek out their memories, l-l-l-learn from them."

Nodding, Naruto got up, focusing his mind, and his chakra. The images flashed in his mind, frantic, disorganized. The reddish-black chakra spiralled, spiked, flowed. Letting out a primal shout, Naruto slammed his hands into the ground, sending up a large cloud of pulverised concrete dust. When he straightened out he looked at his hands, smiling as he flexed his now clawed fingers. "It feels…natural."

Hikitsuri laughed, "Because it i-i-i-i-i-is. We are all unique, b-b-b-but the S-s-s-sousha are unique in our uniquness." His face hardened, and his breathing slowed, a sure sign he was serious. "R-remember Naruto. They consider us w-weapons. More t-than other Shinobi. N-never forget that you are f-far more. We are h-human. Not m-monsters."

"I will remember. Thank you." Willing his crystallized chakra to recede, Naruto bowed to his friend. This would probably be the last lesson he received from the man. No goodbyes were said, none were needed. Hikitsuri had been Naruto's friend and mentor for nearly ten years, the bow was more than enough.

Walking away from Hikitsuri, Naruto smiled. Tomorrow was a brand new day, the start of a new era. He looked forward to it.

A/N: So, hopefully, you enjoyed it. Pleaaaase, give me reviews, I thrive on reviews. Give me thoughts, suggestions, constructive criticism, whatever pairings you would like to see, ya know, the usual. Also, who should be on Naruto's genin team? Who should the Sensei for said team be? CAST YOUR VOTES AND GIVE ME REVIEWS

-Oku ga daisuki!

-Seigyoki Maou