A gust rustled the leaves of the verdant forest as a blur of orange and yellow sped from branch to branch, disturbing the serenity of the dense green surrounding Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The cause of said blur was a five year-old child known as Uzumaki Naruto, with three bright orange-stained genin, still wet with paint, hot on his tail.
Sticking his tongue out at the approaching genin, he yelled out, "That's what you get for messing with Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage!"
Thinking back on his latest scheme, he widely grinned. It was one of his best pranks yet, and best of all, he actually had a reason to put his artist's touch on the dull ninja hair.
After being told by the stern matron of the orphanage to go leave her alone, Naruto decided to walk around the vast village, taking the time to explore every nook and cranny for possible future pranks. He spotted a few locations of interest for hiding from pursuing ninja, but he had no idea what to do for his latest mischief. However, what he did spot, was good, old Teuchi ojii-san's wonderful Ichiraku Ramen Bar. Naruto was short on ryou, but ojii-san always gave him a free bowl every day as long as he visited.
Teuchi ojii-san and Ayama nee-san always gave him special attention, even when the other villagers glared at him and immediately shied away. He never understood why they did that, but all Naruto would think was that he would prove them wrong by becoming the world's greatest ninja and Hokage. And so, he was content with what he had, being free to prank anyone he wanted and eating ramen, even though he wished he had a few friends his age, instead of people like Hokage jii-san.
With a grin on his face, he started towards the holy Ichiraku Ramen. Four people were already situated, slurping their ramen and talking animatedly, but that still left four more seats. His favorite seat was calling out to him, and the savory smell of ramen surrounded him, indulging his senses. Yet a few steps before he reached the shop, three genin rushed in with their sensei jogging behind, back from a mission, taking the remaining spots.
How dare they! These ninja blocked the path to his ramen goodness. He walked by the ramen store in despair, looking longingly at the store. Ayame, ignorant of Naruto's need, cheerfully waved hello. Naruto dully waved back, and then immediately glared at the backs of the offending genin, swearing vengeance.
Naruto silently grabbed some string and orange paint from his home and rushed back, actually happy to see the genin still eating. He was slightly disappointed that the jounin had already left to report his mission to the Hokage, but he at least wanted to get the rookie ninjas for stealing his food. Without alerting the hungry genin, he silently pulled the string across the entrance of Ichiraku's and waited on the roof with the three buckets of paint.
About fifteen minutes later, he heard yells of "Gochisou-sama deshita" and quickly set up. A moment later, Naruto heard a resounding thud and quickly poured a can of paint on each genin and ran away cackling. Seeing the blur of orange running away, the genins' eyes quickly saw red and charged after him with loud yells. To the rest of the world, they looked like orange monsters, but all the genins cared about was getting that little kid.
'I gotta remember that prank, that'll keep people from taking away my ramen,' Naruto thought as he continued to run, 'Which reminds me, I need to find something to eat for lunch.'
Completely ignoring where he was going, Naruto failed to notice the red-headed man standing lost in his thoughts.
'Bloody hell, I knew I took a wrong turn to get back. When in doubt follow the brightest star she says. I don't think that applies when you're in a completely foreign world,' the mysterious man thought with a sigh, 'These scrolls are pretty fancy though, nifty souvenirs. Good old gold, always valuable wherever you go. Now what was that incantation to teleport back to Mundus Magicus?'
He immediately pulled a small notebook and flipped a few pages.
"Aha!" he audibly yelled and began chanting the incantation.
Naruto, lost in his thoughts, looked up at this, barely noticing the man. He was a red-headed man with a laid-back look, wearing a black t-shirt and black pants along with a beige jacket. He was carrying a huge backpack and a large wooden stick in one hand, curved at the top in a spiral, and holding a small, black notebook with the other. Naruto noticed that he was speaking in some foreign language as he ran into him. The man's face became one of surprise as his lips formed a small o as light engulfed both of them and dissipated into the heavens, leaving nothing behind in the forest except for three orange, baffled genin.
Meanwhile, Sarutobi Hiruzen, third Hokage of Konoha, felt his pipe leave his mouth and clatter on the ground. His withered face displaying complete bewilderment as he saw Uzumaki Naruto, the number one prankster of Konoha , container of Kyuubi no Kitsune, his unofficial grandson, disappear in lights in his crystal ball with a completely foreign man.
Quickly he called the ANBU standing in the room.
"Go look for Uzumaki Naruto immediately!"
"What did he do now?" chuckled the ANBU in a dog-mask.
"He's disappeared! Now go find him immediately!" yelled Sarutobi.
Kakashi's eyes widened behind his mask. Quickly using Shunshin no Jutsu, he and ten other ANBU immediately ran into the forest to look for the blonde child.
However, each day, the dog-faced ninja came back to the Hokage empty handed, despite searching throughout the forest and within every nook and cranny of the village. Covering a large portion of the forest each day, it became evident that wherever Naruto was, he would not be found here. With a long sigh, Kakashi went to report to the Hokage once again.
"We've searched for days Hokage-sama, but we can't find Naruto anywhere," said Kakashi with a hint of sadness.
"Have you searched everywhere?" Sarutobi said frantically.
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
Sarutobi felt the years catch up to him as he found himself losing another loved one. While Naruto was very active, he never ceased to bring a smile to the old Hokage's face with his crazy antics. The old man knew the chances of finding Naruto would be slim to none now. Sighing, he turned towards the windows, his eyes drifting towards the rising moon.
'Naruto, wherever you are, be safe and happy. I have a feeling your adventures have only just begun.'
AN: Well the lamest, shortest prologue ever. But it seemed good to end it hear because it marks the end of the one portion and begins a new one, well that and I have to switch computers so I'll just upload what I have now. I suppose I should take a stab at the other ideas wandering my head, but I think I'll get this off and running for a bit before starting my other stories. Oh the joys of summer (well except summer homework, that's just lame).
