Author: Hey everyone! This is my first Naruto offical fanfiction! I hope you all enjoy it. I know I'm not all that smart so putting a story about ninjas together will be quite a challenge but I try. Naruto is smarter and more of a strategist then a hot head like he is in the canon, you have been warned.

Anyway this story was originally written a long time ago way back in 2009, but it got erased so I had to start over again at the beginning of 2012 and now I think it's even better than before. Some parts of the story were an inspiration from 'Dreaming of Sunshine' written by Silver Queen, now that's a really awesome Naruto story, if you like this then you'll love her's so be sure to check that out too.

Alright I"ve spoken enough, perhaps I could drag someone up here to help with the commentry in the author notes, it's quite lonely up here.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and never will, too bad, oh well.

Naruto

Beyond the Reality

Prologue: Before the Beginning…

My name is Naruto Uzumaki and this is my story. I'm sure you've heard the story before, right? Perhaps in another story, another reality, but in this story, THIS reality, things are identical but also different. Don't believe me? Well, allow me to tell you...

Ever since I could remember people in the Konoha Village (a place where I live) hated me. I don't know how or why, but they do. They always treat me like some kind of plague and their children adopted their parents' hatred towards me as well so I was all alone... what's that? You say you already knew about that? Okay, sheesh you people are such know-it-alls. I'll skip to the part that never actually happened in the other reality story you're oh so familiar with.

When I was only five years old I heard some boys laughing and kicking and a girl crying. I hurried over to the academy's empty playground... or it should've been empty, but there were three older boys there and they were picking on a girl about my age with dark purple hair and white eyes with no pupils (kinda creepy), she was crying. Those jerks have no right to bully her like that!

So I decided to step up for her out of pity. "Hey, leave her alone." I snapped.

"Oh would you look at that? It's the outcast boy protecting the Hyuuga Princess!" they laughed.

"Let's get them both!" of course back then I wasn't a ninja or a fighter, so needless to say I got beaten up to a pulp.

"H-hey... a-are you okay?" I opened my eyes when I heard a gentle voice and saw that girl looking down at me in concern.

I forced a smile... ouch, that hurt. "I'm... fine... this is... nothing."

"I-I'm s-so sorry f-for what t-they did t-to y-you, p-please forgive m-me." she apologized nonstop. I get the feeling she's a very shy person.

"Hey, don't worry about it. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and you are?" I held out my hand. I recover pretty quickly.

The girl looked at me and smiled, "M-my name is H-Hinata Hyuuga." she shook my hand.

That's when it happened for the first time... ever heard of the Dimension Scream (from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky)? Whoever or whatever I touch I see its/his/her past or future. I suddenly felt dizzy and a little nauseas but shook it off so she wouldn't be more concerned about me, but I couldn't ignore the dizzy spell for long, suddenly everything went black and flash of light suddenly passed my vision.

*Vision*

I see Hinata herself, but she's a lot taller and older and she seems to be in a large house with waxed wooden floor and she's fighting... I guess sparing with a younger girl and a man was watching them, all of them had the same pupiless white eyes.

Hinata seems to be out of breath and she was beaten by the younger girl. I feel bad for her as the man looked away in shame from her.

"I'm... sorry... I failed again... father." Hinata said weakly... that man's her FATHER? Before I could learn anymore everything turned white, flashed and black.

*End vision*

W-what was... that? Hinata looked at me curiously and worried, "Naruto... is s-something wr-wrong?"

I shook my head. "Uh... I thought I just saw an older you fighting with someone."

Hinata was surprised and said, "Is it p-possible y-you just saw the f-future?"

"The future? I doubt anyone could see the future."

"Um... I-I guess s-so... y-you must've j-just imagined it."

"Mrs. Hyuuga, we need to go and don't get too close to that demon boy." an older man, her escort I presume, suddenly took her hand and dragged her away.

"U-Uh I'll s-see you l-later Naruto!" she called and waved and I smiled and waved back... I finally met someone who doesn't hate me.

That vision... was it really the future? Nah, it couldn't be. I stopped at a tree that had something that looked like claw marks... what could've made this? I touched it out of curiosity... and suddenly, that same dizziness hit me again. The white flash blinded me.

*Vision*

Hey... who's that boy? He looks about the same age as me. This boy has spiky brown hair, two red markings under his eyes and his teeth were sharper than an ordinary human and the pupil on his eyes were stilt instead of round. The boy ran with a small white puppy beside him, so small that I almost mistook it for a white rat.

"Hurry Akamaru! I don't want to lose!" the boy laughed to his puppy, I assume its name is 'Akamaru'.

Akamaru barked and the two reached the same tree I just touched. With a smirk, the boy's nails were as sharp as an animal's claws, he scratched the bark, so that's how the claw marks got there. "That's a new record Akamaru!"

Akamaru yipped and its tail wagged... I'm jealous, I wish I lived in the Inuzuka Clan because at least then I could have a dog of my own. Suddenly the white flash blinded me again.

*End vision*

I shook my head... I must be losing my mind! Maybe I should go see Old Man Hokage...

After all these years of loneliness my mind finally cracked. I sure hope Old Man knows how to fix this or I'll be a crazy person!

When I told Old Man Hokage... well his name is Hiruzen Sarutobi actually, but I prefer 'Old Man' or the occasional 'Grandpa', he was in deep in thought about this.

"Hmm... Naruto, you've told me when you shook hands with the girl you saw her future, yet when you touched the tree you saw its past. I believe I may have heard of such ability before, but never thought it was real." he said smoking that pipe... I could just choke.

"Really? What's it called?" I asked like the curious five-year old I was.

Old Man smiled warmly and said, "The Dimension Scream. A very rare ability; whatever you touch, be it a person, animal or even an object, there may be times you will see the past or future of it, him or her."

From my understanding it happens by random and not very often. I don't know if it's a bloodline thing or what, but it could be very useful I'm sure...

About two years later, since the run in with Hinata and my discovery of the Dimension Scream, I've learned many things about this village and their people like who they loved, hated, where they went for jobs or what they like to eat, what they lost or gained and what they do in their spare time, but never did I have a vision of why they hated me so much, it's frustrating really. I can't control what visions I get, so I still have no idea why I'm loathed so much here when I've done nothing wrong... except pull a few pranks maybe, but they hated me before that anyway.

I'm seven years old now and can enter the Ninja Academy… why? Because I want to become a great shinobi people will respect… maybe even become the Hokage! The only problem is that since I'm so loathed none of the teachers were willing to work with me. All the kids mocked or teased me, so basically I'm the invisible idiot to them.

Luckily for me Hinata was in the same class I was in and she remembered me from helping her that day. Hinata was the only one who would talk to me so she helped me with the studies, she's pretty good I gotta say and it's thanks to her I managed to get decent scores, while I'm not the Rookie of the Year or anything, I'm in no danger of being dead last either.

Hinata and I have been only in the academy for two months when a new student came to our class; a young boy with raven black hair that looked pretty snobbish came into the classroom. The sensei introduced him as Sasuke Uchiha.

At first I didn't really care about the new classmate, but soon he became the center of attention to everyone, especially the girls, except for Hinata thank goodness for that. Sasuke was the 'genius' in the class as he scored perfect grades and got everything right on the first try; like the Transform or Clone Jutsu.

Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru were sitting next to me on the right, Hinata on the left… oh yeah, Kiba was that boy from my vision two years ago, the one who made the claw marks on the tree and I noticed how much alike we both are: impatient, loud, rude, obnoxious, loyal and wanting to prove we're the best. Of course since I started hanging with Hinata I've began to calm down a bit, I'm not as impatient or rude as I use to be.

Iruka-sensei… he's the new homeroom sensei and like all others he didn't seem to care much about me, that's okay I have Hinata and Kiba's been talking to me lately, elbowing me whenever he wanted to say something funny (mostly about the teachers or other students), I think it's because he lacked the ability to tell someone further away without getting in trouble.

"Okay class, today we'll be taking a test on the village's famous Kekkei Genkai Clans." Iruka-sensei announced and there were a lot of groans, especially from Dog Boy Kiba beside me, but I was ready, Hinata had taught me a lot about her clan the Hyuuga and other clans like the Uchiha… like that Sasuke.

"Okay, begin!"

I was pretty confident of passing this one. I was on the third question that asked what were the three most powerful and rare eye doujutus? That's easy! The first is Byakugan (Hinata of course), second is the Sharingan (… Sasuke… that jerk) and-

"Oh Sasuke you're finished already? The test only began five minutes ago." I heard Iruka-sensei said surprised. Looking up from my paper I did indeed see the 'genius' already up and handing his paper to the teacher.

"The test is far too easy for me that was a joke." Sasuke muttered before going back to his seat… that guy annoys me.

The girls (except Hinata) all squealed in delight as 'the most handsome and smartest kid in school' sat down.

"Sasuke is so cool!"

"Sasuke is so smart!"

"Sasuke is the best of EVERYTHING!"

*SNAP!*

"Uh… N-Naruto a-are you o-okay?" I heard Hinata's voice over all those girls beside me. I blinked and looked at her.

"Of course I am why wouldn't I be?"

"Y-your pencil…" she pointed at my hand. I looked down at my right hand and… oh... my pencil's been broken in half in my hand that's now a tight fist, I must've been so annoyed and angry at all the comments those other girls were making about Sasuke that I snapped my poor pencil in half without realizing it.

"Wow geez man and I thought I had anger issues. If you didn't know the answer to the question of the test you didn't have to take it out on the poor pencil." Kiba chuckled and the little puppy barked… in agreement I think.

I sighed and said, "Sorry, I'm just… really annoyed at Sasuke."

"Ha! Annoyed? You look more like downright irked like Mom on one of her bad days." Kiba snickered at me.

"Shut up Dog Boy! Focus on the test." I snapped at him before going back to answer the last of the eye doujutsu… that is until I realized I had broke my one and only writing utensil… stupidity at it's finest.

*THUMP!* Ow… I bang my head on the table in frustration.

"Naruto." I lifted my head when I heard Iruka-sensei call my name… am I in trouble? Usually the teachers would just ignore me.

"Yes Iruka-sensei?"

Then he stopped, gave me that same cold look before turning away, "Nothing, never mind."

"NEVER MIND MY FOOT! You called me so what did you want?" I snapped at him. No way, he called me for something and now he just decided to change his mind the second he saw me? I don't think so!

"Just sit down and finish the test." he said before turning away from me.

Just what is this guy and everybody else's problem with me? I sat back down but glared at both Iruka-sensei and Sasuke, both of them are going to cause me a lot of grief.

"N-Naruto… i-if you don't h-have an e-extra pencil… y-you could b-barrow o-one of mine." Hinata suggested to me in that quiet voice… ah sweet, kind generous Hinata.

I smiled at her and she… blushed, yeah she blushes a lot, especially when I smile at her for some reason. "Thanks Hinata, I knew I could always count on you."

I was glad Hinata always came prepared, she has a lot of extra writing utensils and I don't mean just pencils either. Thanks to her I was able to finish and pass the test.

"Yo Naruto, I think somebody likes ya." Kiba snickered at me as he elbowed me in the waist again. The Dog Boy was always like that; teasing that Hinata has a crush on me, why would the heir of the Hyuuga Clan like me that way? As a friend that's a miracle itself, but a crush? That's just overboard.

However, before I could retaliate like I always do, the familiar dizziness of the Dimension Scream flashed my vision.

*Vision*

I see Kiba and Akamaru playing with each other in the woods, though I can't tell if this is the future or the past since they always play there together.

Suddenly Akamaru fell in the river, being carried away by the rapids.

"AKAMARU! Hang on, I'm coming boy!" Kiba jumped right into the river rapids to get him… not a smart move Dog Boy.

"It's alright, I gotcha." he said, but who's going to same HIM?

Oh-no… Kiba and Akamaru are heading straight for a huge waterfall! White flash stopped me from seeing what happened next.

*End vision*

That… was obviously the future and Kiba and Akamaru are… I can't let that happen! But when does it happen?

"Psst, Hinata, I just had a future vision and Kiba and Akamaru are going to be in danger." I whispered to her. Hinata was the only one other than Old Man Hokage who knew of my Dimension Scream since I explained it to her after I found out what it was.

"Oh that's b-bad… what sh-should we d-do?"

"The best thing is to keep an eye on them and make sure they don't fall to their watery deaths." I whispered back.

Later that day, it was time for sparring. I was getting sick of Sasuke and his attitude thinking he's 'too good for anyone', but even I knew my own limits and was no match for someone like him at my level right now, Hinata taught me that and I taught her better self confidence in return. It's like the two of us are giving to each other what we needed most.

"Alright, next match will be Shikamaru Nara against Chouji Akimichi."

"Wait a minute sensei! I don't want to fight my best friend." the fat boy (don't ever call him that out loud or you'll regret it) whined. Most people say he's far too much of a wimp to be a shinobi and often made fun of him. Shikamaru, from what I've heard, is a very lazy kid, but he's the only one who never made fun of Chouji and the two became best of friends… why couldn't he become MY friend too? Must be the picky type.

"Chouji, if you don't spar it wouldn't be fair." Iruka-sensei explained.

Shikamaru just let out a yawn and said, "Its fine sensei, I can live with wining by ring out. It would have been too much of a drag to fight anyway."

That Shikamaru is as lazy as ever!

"Fine, you two make 'harmony' then." Iruka-sensei sighed as Shikamaru and Chouji hooked to fingers with each other. That's shinobi's way of saying 'harmony' or 'peace' or 'that was a great fight and let's be friends'.

"Next will be Naruto Uzumaki," I was all ears eager to hear who my next opponent will be, "against Sasuke Uchiha." WHAT? I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT THAT GUY OF ALL PEOPLE! I get it… Iruka-sensei did this on purpose to humiliate me.

"Y-you'll do f-fine Naruto… j-just g-give it your all l-like y-you always d-do." Hinata tried to give me self-confidence… heh, how ironic.

"Yeah! Just wipe the floor with him!" Dog Boy smacked me on the back so hard that I stumbled onto the battlefield… and landed flat on my face… I haven't even started the spar yet and already I've been humiliated thanks to Dog Boy… I'll need to get him back for this. I could already hear the girls giggling and calling me things like 'what a loser' 'he's such a klutz' 'I hope he won't become a bad influence to my precious Sasuke' even the guys were snickering at how 'clumsy' I apparently was.

"Naruto, get up." Iruka-sensei said in neutral that gave me the feeling he couldn't care less.

Face red hot from embarrassment and humiliation, I stood up on my feet and faced the 'popular genius'. Like Iruka-sensei, Mr. Attitude remained neutral despite my embarrassing 'entrance' into the battlefield.

Both of us made the 'challenge' sign by putting two fingers together and put them up to our face as if we were about to perform a Jutsu. I had to becareful and not get careless because I knew someone at his level could easily wipe me out, this is a situation for strategy, not brute force.

Sasuke ran at me and I quickly jumped over him and was about to give him a good kick in the head when I noticed he did a hand sign, but I didn't quite catch what it was. When my foot reached him I was shocked when I went right through him and hit the ground instead! That was… a clone!

"You're pathetic, can't even see through a simple clone." Sasuke said snobbishly… ugh, I can't STAND that guy!

"Come on Sasuke!" "Beat that loser to the ground!" "He doesn't even deserve to be in the same air with you let alone the same area!"

I tried to ignore them, but their comments hurt and are discouraging. Hinata is probably silently cheering for me, but she's far too shy to actually shout her cheers out loud, but I did hear one person cheering for me.

"Kick his butt Naruto! Show that arrogant jerk who's boss!" I was surprised to hear Kiba cheering for me and his puppy Akamaru barked with him.

I'd rather not go into details of the fight since I was rather an amateur and just started learning Taijutsu and trust me… it's really embarrassing… let's just say after about ten maybe even less seconds into the fight and I was hung on the tree trapped by five shurikens on my clothes.

"Sasuke Uchiha, as expected, wins." Iruka-sensei announced and everyone (except Hinata as always and maybe even Kiba) gave loud cheers, especially the girls… I'm surprised my ears didn't bleed.

Hinata and even Dog Boy were the only ones who came over and freed me from the shurikens. "Are y-you okay N-Naruto?" Hinata asked me in concern.

"That was just lame, I can't believe you got your butt handed to you like that." Kiba sighed.

"YOU try taking on the 'genius' and tell ME how to deal with him!" I snapped at Dog Boy… yeah, I was clearly irritated by that humiliating defeat, I didn't just lose, I lost badly.

"N-Naruto… m-maybe you should t-try using y-your… special a-ability on I-Iruka-sensei." Hinata suggested to me suddenly.

"Eh? What special ability?" Kiba asked curiously.

Ignoring Dog Boy, I asked, "Why?"

"M-maybe you c-could f-find out w-why h-he's so cold to y-you."

I get it… she wants me to improve my relationship with at least one teacher and since Iruka-sensei is new maybe it's not too late to get him to change his mind about me and actually TEACH me something.

"But you know it's random and there's no guarantee that I'll even see anything after I touch him." I said to her.

"You two just love to keep me in the dark." Kiba barked and so did Akamaru.

Both of us turned to them and I said, "This is not something we talk about lightly, Dog Boy."

"Whatever, you two were always weird." Kiba snickered.

While Iruka-sensei was busy watching the next spar, I quickly sneak over to him… since he's a Chuunin shinobi I better be careful and watch my step, just glad he's not a Jounin or this would be impossible. All I had to do was get a single touch on him and hope I get the vision I'm looking for about him to answer my million ryou's question: why does everybody hate me?

I reached out my hand slowly, I felt sweat pouring down my face… if he catches me I'll be put in a very awkward situation. I could hear my own heart beating in my chest and hope Iruka-sensei didn't hear it too or I'm screwed.

Just a little further and… ugh! That stupid Sasuke! What BAD TIMING! He just HAD to stand up right at my hand just before I could touch Iruka-sensei and I ended up having my hand on his hair!

"What are you doing you idiot?" Sasuke glared at me.

I quickly took my hand away and shouted, "Why did you have to STAND UP!?"

"There's no law that says I can't stand up you dope."

To be honest I was too shocked and worried that my cover was blown when Sasuke just suddenly stood up like that that my answers were none too smart right now.

I was about to retort when suddenly I felt dizzy again… oh no… I don't want it to happen right now in front of someone else! Just standing there looking like a zombie will just land me in a psychologist or something! I had to think fast.

"Whatever you jerk, I'm not going to waste my time on you." I quickly said as calmly as I could before turning around and hurried away without seeming like I was trying to run away. I successfully got decently away, but I did sway a few times due to the dizziness, just before the white flash obscure my vision again.

*Vision*

I see Sasuke running in the dark… why is he out so late?

"Oh man, I knew I shouldn't have stayed at the academy practicing my shuriken, now father's going to be mad!"

Is this his home? But everything was so… quiet and empty… it's creepy. I guess even the genius picked that up too because he began to get suspicious.

"That's odd… even at this time there should be someone out and about, there aren't even lights in the houses… something's not right here."

Sasuke eventually went into a house, which I guess is his own house, but to both of our horrors we saw… blood, lots of it, everywhere. I would puke if I could right now.

I was horrified, but Sasuke must have it worse. "MOTHER! FATHER! ITACHI!" Sasuke yelled in worry, I don't blame him, this place looked like something out of a horror movie.

Sasuke opened the door and there… was a woman and man falling to the floor… dead. I felt a shiver down my spine… this is just like a horror movie… end this vision now please!

I have no such luck and the vision continued. There was a young man looking down at them with those creepy red eyes… they look like the Sharingan in the books.

"I-Itachi? What happened here? Mom and Dad are dead!" Sasuke cried to the man named 'Itachi'… is he his older brother?

Suddenly Itachi threw a kunai knife just behind Sasuke's head. "I've killed them, little naïve brother. I've killed them and the entire Uchiha Clan." Itachi said in that cold emotionless voice.

"What? But why Itachi? They were our parents!" Sasuke cried… now I'm feeling sorry for him.

"… To test the limits of my power."

Suddenly the scene changed… it's weird, because I see them on the roof now instead of in the bloody room.

Itachi's Sharingan eyes suddenly looked different like the three prongs united and became a three shuriken or something.

"Mangekyo Sharingan… when you get these eyes, Sasuke, then you will hunt me down and kill me, but until then, you're not worth killing. Build your strength and hatred until you get these eyes." Itachi said coldly to Sasuke.

Sasuke fainted in pain and trauma I'm sure… I couldn't believe that his own brother would wipe out the entire clan and hurt his flesh and blood like that! He's twisted!

Wait… Itachi's face… I see tears running down his cheek… but why? Wait… he's saying something…

"I'm sorry, little brother, but this had to be done… for the sake of the village." Itachi whispered before disappearing and the white flash blinded me from the rest of the vision.

*End vision*

That's one of my longer visions and this one… I don't know if it's the future or if it had already happened, but that was… bloody, traumatizing and confusing. Itachi… he told Sasuke he killed everyone including their parents, but not because of strength… but because for the sake of the village… but why? Ugh… this Dimension Scream just added more head aching questions for me.

By the look on Sasuke's face though… his eyes held the same cold, ruthless and hatred that everyone always gave me, but his is not directed to me… I have to say that vision I had of the Uchiha Clan's massacre already happened… poor Sasuke… but maybe he needs a rival, someone to push him to do his best, but also a friend to get him through the tough times and I don't mean a fan girl who would rather ogle at Sasuke than actually help him.

Later that day, the academy classes were over for the day and everyone was leaving. Hinata had to go home early due to a Hyuuga meeting so we couldn't really hang out with each other today, Kiba and Akamaru went somewhere in the woods.

I saw Sasuke walking slowly… I guess it's because he no longer has a home to go to like me now. I decided to at least try talking to him.

"Hey… Sasuke." I started out not really sure what to say.

Sasuke stopped and looked at me with an annoyed expression, "What do you want loser?"

This guy is really testing my patience, but I have to calm down, he needs a real friend and maybe I could be that friend. "Nothing much, just wondering if…"

"If what?" he demanded impatiently, sheesh he's worse than Kiba.

"Well… would you like to spar and train with me for a bit?" I suggested, thinking since he wants to get stronger he may be interested in training with me.

Unfortunately the snobbish 'genius' just turned his back to me and said, "Why would I want to waste my time training with a loser like you? I'd be better off training by myself."

I had to bite back a nasty remark and swallow my anger and pride, let me just try one more thing, "Well if you ever change your mind and need someone to practice with, I'll be waiting."

"Whatever." he answered blandly before leaving the academy grounds.

I sighed as I walked towards the woods, don't really know why I went there, just had this nagging feeling that something's about to happen. And it's a good thing I did too because I saw Kiba running down the river passing me and was rather frantic.

"AKAMARU! Hang on, I'm coming boy!" he shouted and I saw a little white puppy being carried by the rapids.

I blinked… this was just like in my vision earlier! I've got to save them! But how? Think… think… I remember hearing that shinobi always calm down and take a look at their surroundings when in the face of danger or foreign places.

I looked around my surroundings and noticed a vine not too far from the waterfall… an idea formed in my head, but will it be strong enough?

I heard a splash and saw Kiba had already jumped in and grabbed Akamaru. "It's okay, I gotcha."

Oh man, I don't have time to worry about the vine's durability right now, I just have to hope that it will not snap. So I quickly ran and grabbed it and swung has fast and hard as I could over to Dog Boy.

"KIBA! GRAB MY HAND HURRY!" I shouted on top of my lungs hoping he would hear me over the roar of the waterfall they were heading to.

To my relief Dog Boy did hear me and looked up, surprised to see me, "Naruto?"

Kiba reached out with one hand while holding Akamaru with the other. I managed to swing far enough to grab Kiba's free hand and managed to stop him from flowing down the rapids to the waterfall, but now we have a new problem; how do we get back on land? I doubt the vine will be able to hold us forever, so we have to get back soon or… it'll be a very wet death for all three of us (Akamaru included).

"Kiba! Start climbing up my body and the vine, it should be strong enough to hold you and Akamaru until you get to land." I shouted over to him.

"We'll try!" Kiba's nails/claws are REALLY sharp! They pierced my flesh as he tried to pull himself over me and his feet… OW! THAT WAS MY FACE YOU STEPPED ON!

"Sorry about that!" he apologized before the vine, no longer having the weight on the water rapids, swung us back over to land, but it was slippery and I ended up… letting go just before it went to land and fell into the water rapids myself!

*GLURP! COUGH! HACK! GLURP! SPLASH!* I can't… keep my… face out… of the water!

"NARUTO!" I heard Kiba's voice, but I was nearing the waterfall of death. Oh man… what a way to go… I didn't think it would all end like this… I haven't even become a shinobi yet!

Ugh… there's no way… I'm gonna die… I felt myself falling from the immense water forcing me down… this is really it.

"NARUTO!" suddenly something grabbed hand and hung me there on right in the middle of the fall! What's going on? I looked up and saw another vine wrapped around my wrist and it was the only thing holding me up from the watery grave down below, but who could've saved me?

"HEY! DON'T YOU DIE ON ME! I STILL NEED YOU FOR MY JOKES WITHOUT GETTING IN TROUBLE!" I heard a familiar voice followed by what sounded like a small dog's barks. I… was barely conscious… my body is growing numb… I think almost falling down the immense deluge had traumatized my small body so much that it's shutting down.

My sight was getting blurry, but I did manage to make out something pulling me up the deluge and soon I felt something solid under me. By now I was too disorientated to realize what was going on around me anymore. I think I saw a silhouette of someone and a little creature beside them and they were looking at me for some reason.

"Are you okay, Naruto? Can you hear me? Don't die on me man!" I heard the silhouette, which I think is male, said to me in what sounded like panic.

I heard barking… that sounded cute… I wonder if there's a small dog or a puppy nearby?

My eyes were closing… I can't keep them open. I can hardly make out what that person was saying anymore. "…ruto! Answer… don't… on me…!" then everything went black…

*Time skip*

… … …

My head hurts… ugh, why do I feel so sore? Did the villagers tried to kill me again after another prank or something? I can't seem to remember anything…

What's that smell? Yes, my sense of smell is the first to come back to me at least and something smells like… dogs? Where am I? Was I dumped into a dog kennel for the canines to feed off me?

Hmm… now I'm curious. I tried to open my eyes, but I still couldn't move very much yet. I ended up letting out a soft moan and that's when I heard someone.

"Hey! I think he's waking up finally!"

That voice sounded female and unfamiliar… did somebody kidnap me? I hear footsteps running closer to me.

"Is he really coming to Hana?" hey… I think that was Kiba's voice, but what he's doing here? Wait… I remember he dived in the water to save a dog… the dog's name was Akamaru I believe and they almost fell down a waterfall and I think I saved them… but somehow I ended up falling down the fall instead.

Well I finally managed to open my eyes, but the room was so bright I had to shut them again until they adjusted to the light. I see a young girl probably in her late teens and Kiba beside her looking at me in concern and relief… which is something I rarely ever get.

"Hey Naruto, welcome back to the land of living." Kiba announced when he saw my eyes opened and Akamaru, in his shirt chest, barked in agreement… at least I assumed it was an agreement.

Oh man… I still feel a little dizzy and sore. "What… happened? I thought… I fell… down the waterfall." I asked and was surprised at how weak my voice sounded right now.

"Try not to talk or move too much. Kiba explained the situation to me; you saved him and Akamaru from falling down that waterfall, but you got caught in it. My little brother managed to save you but you passed out all of a sudden." the girl, I think Kiba called her 'Hana' said gently to me almost like Hinata but without the stuttering.

"You gave me and Akamaru quite a scare there when you suddenly passed out, I thought you were dead. I had to carry you back home because I was panicking." Kiba admitted as he scratched his cheek.

I sat up and realized I've been on an actual soft bed and not some hard futon some cold hearted doctor forced me to lay on. Why are they being so nice to me?

Suddenly a harsh female voice coming from another room started storming this way and I was getting a little scared, "Alright move it mutts! I want to see if he's really awake yet!"

"Uh-oh, here comes the scariest woman in the village; my mom." Kiba cringed and I gulped… she sounds scary alright.

A woman with spiky and wild brown hair as well as a ferocious and wild look in her eyes suddenly barged in the door. "Alright you mutts! Where is this boy you brought in?"

Now I wish I could turn invisible… she scares me already. The lady took one look at me and was immediately right in front of me before I could even blink… she's fast and scary.

The lady smirked like a predator finally catching its prey… am I going to die? Great, Kiba just saved me from a watery death only to die at the claws of his own mother. A big dark dog was beside her and much more intimidating than the small white dog Akamaru.

"So you're that boy who saved my son's hide from a watery grave. I must say I'm impressed that you would risk your life like that." she said and I didn't say anything, afraid that my voice would trigger this she-beast to claw my eyes out.

"You've got guts kid and I like that about you. The name's Tsume Inuzuka, the lead pack mother of these two pups." she gestured to Kiba and Hana… guess they're siblings. I just noticed Hana had three dogs with her.

"But there's something I don't understand. Kiba why did you bring Naruto here instead of the hospital after he fainted?" Hana asked Dog Boy.

Tsume answered instead of Kiba, "That wouldn't do any good. Haven't you two noticed? The people of Konoha Village all resent and hate Naruto, I doubt the doctors would lift a finger to help him unless the Hokage forced them too and even then they wouldn't give him the full treatment. It's a miracle you've survived this long kid and I respect that."

"Wow, you're lucky Naruto. Mother is very hard to impress, so earning her respect is a rare honor, especially since you two haven't even met before." Kiba said with a hint of jealousy. I don't know if I should be relieved or worried, because this woman Tsume still scares me, but at least she doesn't hate me like everyone else does for reasons unknown… maybe I just have really bad charisma or something.

"But why do they hate him?" Hana asked and I was all ears; maybe Tsume could answer the mystery I've been trying to crack for so long.

But Tsume just shook her head and said, "That's… something I can't tell you, I must apologize, but perhaps one day, Naruto, you'll find out."

I sighed but didn't push my luck, finally gaining enough courage to speak to the animal like woman, I said, "I should… go home now… it's late and I've intruded long enough." the last time I accidently slept in somebody else's house I almost died.

"Oh no you don't young man! You'll stay here tonight until you've recovered and that's that!" Hana suddenly said strictly when I was about to stand up.

I blinked at her, "But I heal fast and I really should get going."

"Naruto… you've saved Akamaru and my life, the least we could do is let you sleep here for one lousy night." Kiba said to me.

"It's no trouble at all little boy, just make yourself comfortable." Tsume said with that vicious smile before walking out of the room, with her gone I felt more comfortable.

"Are you sure it's okay?" I asked wearily as I didn't want to wake up with my own blood all over me.

"It's fine Naruto, I know it's hard to accept this invitation since the village hate you for some reason, but we promise you're welcome here." Hana assured me with a kind smile… yeah, even though I'm not use to it, I did feel safe here.

"But man, how lucky was it you happen to be there right when Akamaru and me fell into that river?" Kiba chuckled.

Hmm… should I tell him about my Dimension Scream ability? It could make things easier and I have somebody else I could talk to whenever Hinata is not available, which is most of the time outside of the academy because of her Hyuuga duties and lessons. At least here the Inuzuka seem to welcome me for saving Kiba and Akamaru, and I just realized… I found people that accepted me and I was… happy, yes, it's a great feeling indeed.

"Kiba… I have this unique ability. Whoever or whatever I touch I get a slight chance of seeing its past or future."

"What? That's impossible, nobody can see that." Kiba snickered.

"No, it's true. That's how I came to know you and Akamaru were in danger of drowning."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, but it's really random and the chances of getting a vision is really low."

"But if what you say it's true, that ability could really come in handy, Naruto. After all, it did help you save my baby brother." Hana smiled as Kiba complained about being called 'baby'.

I smiled as they promised not to tell anyone else about my Dimension Scream.

*A month later…*

Over the past month I've been a lot happier now than I have been my whole life… why? Because I have more people who cares about me now: Old Man Hokage, Hinata, Kiba (and Akamaru) and his family, they allow me to stay and even eat with them, they have good taste in meat but I prefer ramen myself. Ichiraku's serve the best ramen and the old man and his younger daughter seem to like me too since I've become their most valuable customer.

Of course the academy was still difficult for me because Iruka-sensei was still ignoring me, Sasuke kept showing off and all the girls kept falling for him (except Hinata, she has no interest in him which I am thankful for) and the other kids still tease me, but at least I have good friends by my side: Hinata and Kiba (and Akamaru let's not forget about him) are always helping me with my studies and teaching me some of the more basic Jutsus that I have a hard time with, I've gotten just about everything down except for one Jutsu…

"Clone Jutsu!" a puff of smoke and only one measly clone appeared and it was half dead.

"UGH! Why can't I ever make a decent clone? They should NOT be this hard!" I shouted in frustration while training by myself one day. Hinata was sparring with her little sister and Kiba's mom Tsume forced him and Akamaru to stay in and train so I was alone today.

I've been practicing for the final exam… I mean sure it's not going to be another five years before I can take it, but still I want to be ready when the time comes and I still can't get that bloody Clone Jutsu right for some reason! Am I using too much chakra? Not enough chakra? Ugh… Hinata was right… she used her Byakugan on me when I tried this once and she told me I lacked chakra control and that's why I keep messing up.

But how do I learn chakra control? The sensei won't teach me because every time I ask he just gives me that cold stare everyone always gives me. Hinata and Kiba can't help me because they told me it's too advanced for them to really explain it, so I'm basically stuck with a guessing game here.

I lied down on the grass looking at the sky… I remember hearing Shikamaru saying to Chouji that he enjoys watching the clouds because it's relaxing and he was right… but also boring, still I was too tired after practicing all day but no results.

I sighed as I sat up and saw… Iruka-sensei, he was passing by… and we're alone out here… perhaps this is my chance to get to know him.

"Hey Iruka-sensei!" I shouted and ran over to him.

Iruka-sensei turned to me but wore that same cold expression. "What do you want?"

"Hey uh… I've been trying to learn the Clone Jutsu but I can't seem to get it right, maybe you could give me some advice?" I asked hoping he'd at least answer me.

Iruka-sensei turned away, "You either can or can't do it."

Okay, I've had it with this guy! "WHAT KIND OF SENSEI ARE YOU?"

My abrupt outburst certainly caught his attention as he quickly spun around back at me. I decided to take my chance and continue my tirade.

"You… you've become an academy teacher yet you refuse to help your student just because you have something against them for no apparent reason? You have no right to call yourself a sensei!" I growled lowly, making sure to get my point across, this is the first time I've been open to a sensei with what I've been thinking of them and for some reason I couldn't stop even when I wanted to. Iruka-sensei was giving me a shocked and perplexing look, but I kept going.

"I know you all hate me, but what I don't know is the all important reason for that hatred. Even so, you still shouldn't judge your student and completely ignore them like they have no right to exist!" by this time I felt something warm and wet coming out of my eyes… dang it! I promised myself I wouldn't cry anymore and yet… the more I ranted on the more of my buried emotions showed and in front of the sensei no less! Still I couldn't stop.

"All my life I've been asking myself: 'why me?' of all people and other orphans why am I the only one who's been so loathed that people look at me like I'm some kind of monster? I haven't done anything wrong! Yet you all hated me for just being here… why? What have I done to you all that made you loath me to the point you get cold and violent?" I can feel my voice rising and tears were now streaming down my cheek. Because of the tears blurring up my sight I couldn't really see Iruka-sensei's expression, but I think he's starting to look… sad and guilty? It's probably my imagination.

Still I could not hold myself back any longer and my mouth would not stop spilling all the buried pain I've had to endure for the past seven years of my life.

"Every day I walk into the streets I see kids my age playing happily, the adults never seemed neither angry nor hateful with them and their parents always take care of them. Whenever I watch this I feel like an intruder or an outsider who can never fit in or belong anywhere. When I try to play with the other kids their parents pull them aside and scolded them for just interacting with me, saying 'that boy is nothing but trouble, don't ever hang out with him again.' just hearing those words felt like kunais stabbing me over and over again."

I felt weak all of a sudden and fell to my hands and knees, tears falling to the ground and I was actually surprised Iruka-sensei was still here, so I continued.

"I just wanted… a family, someone who cares for me, someone who will wait for me to come home and listen to my story of how my day went, someone who is always happy to see me and someone who's always there for me… I know I sound selfish but… if you've been in my shoes you'd probably be too. And yet… everywhere I go I get chased off or beaten to a bloody pulp and left there on the streets to be forgotten. The loneliness and the hate… it's all too much… I'm surprised I haven't gone insane yet if I hadn't already."

After all that ranting I've started to calm down, at least my tears finally stopped and I stood back up again, feeling embarrassed that I just broke down like that, especially in front of the academy teacher. I sniffled and wiped away the tears with my arm before saying, "I apologize for that embarrassing tirade. I must go now." and was about to walk away when…

"Naruto… wait." I stopped when I heard Iruka-sensei's voice. I turned, wondering what he wanted, maybe just to beat me up for breaking down like that.

Huh? Iruka-sensei's expression is not one I was expecting. I'd figured he'd be mad or cold like he'd always been whenever I talk to him, but instead he's… crying? Yeah, he had tears falling down his cheeks like mine were just seconds ago, but why?

"I-Iruka…sensei?" I questioned, my eyes felt wide as I stared at the crying Chuunin teacher, I've never seen a teacher cry before.

"Naruto… you've been through a lot… haven't you? You've been… making progress… on your test scores… but it hasn't been easy… and I've… only been making it worse. I made you feel bad… just like everyone else… when I of all people… should know what it feels… to be orphaned. You play pranks on people because you… want attention… I use to… do that too… and yet I… completely ignored you for… something that's not in your control."

Okay, now this is freaking me out; Iruka-sensei is crying and blubbering… does he really feel sorry for me? I do see a lot of guilt on his face but… what did he mean 'something that's not in my control'?

Iruka-sensei suddenly picked up my hand and said, "Naruto… I should've known better. The Third Hokage made me your sensei for a reason and… I let both of you down because of my selfish blindness. Naruto, I ask of you… will you forgive me? You have every right to hate and despise me after what I've done."

I blinked… is Iruka-sensei actually begging for my forgiveness? Am I dreaming or trapped in some sick twisted Genjutsu?

It might be a Genjutsu… how do I release it? I think I need chakra control for that one… but I don't think it's a Genjutsu or a dream. Iruka-sensei is really crying and feeling guilty for the way he treated me after I told him how I feel.

"Hey… Iruka-sensei, please don't cry, especially for me, it makes me feel bad seeing you like this regardless of how you treated me. Look if you're really sorry just treat me as an actual student instead of some kind of plague, okay?" I said with a smile hoping he would calm down.

Iruka-sensei, for the longest time, was silent as he looked at me as if not sure what to say. I waited patiently because I wanted to know what he was going to do, finally he dried his tears and gave a small smile back, "Well, you're a stubborn one aren't you? Alright, it's a deal… Naruto. From now on I'll be much stricter to you in order to help you become a better ninja when the time comes, deal?"

"Deal!" I smiled brightly as I shook his hand. For the first time ever a sensei finally understands and wants to help me. Now I finally have someone else helping and looking out for me.

Iruka-sensei wasn't kidding when he said he was going to be strict now. He shouted at me if I talked too loud in class! Getting him back I actually glued him to his chair; a classic that never gets old. But still… at least now I have a sensei that actually cares, it may not be the best, but hey, I'm not complaining, at least it's a start.

Author: This is only the prologue so the next one will be the first chapter and that's when the story can really begin. Now keep in mind this is an alternate reality of the canon but most of it will be similar to it. Anyway Silver Queen's story is much better so I'm sure you'll enjoy her's too. I'm not as descriptive as her but I try to keep it simple. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story and be sure to leave a review on it, see ya later! *poofs out of existance*