Youko Kurama crouched low, his five tails arched just above the rough soil of the mountain he was perched on. Energy swirled through the air in a vicious torrent. It was hard to keep his footing, even with his weight centered so low. Eventually the turbulent force ceased as the portal to the Makai closed further down the mountain. The tall figure rose up, still intent on remaining as stealthy as he could. If his calculations were correct, Kyuubi had passed into this realm only days before, and Kurama had luckily caught the portal before it closed completely. Where some of the more potent strains of energy had lashed him during transport there were now welts warping his usually pristine skin.
The kitsune was not sure about the inhabitants of this world. He knew he was in Ningenkai, but was not sure how fluent the locals were about sensing creatures such as himself, and if the great Kyuubi had came through all fire and brimstone like he had Youko doubted it was the safest place to be. As such, Kurama concentrated for a moment and lowered his own power levels to a minuscule portion. The land around him looked scarred, but nearly overgrown with vegetation. 'Is this all Kyuubi-sama's doing?' With his white ears perked and all his senses searching, Kurama still couldn't sense the elder demon anywhere. 'I smell mortals near-by... Where could he be? I should be able to sense him. Even dormant Kyuubi-sama emits such great power...'
A sudden, overwhelming feeling of dread and exhaustion hit him just as the sound of voices came from a nearby path that lead down into the ruined forests below. Kurama dropped to a knee and watched as sweat poured off his face and dropped onto the dirt below. The journey through space and time had drained him immeasurably. The voices were getting closer, and the smell struck him with surprise. "There are still humans alive?" he asked himself in shock. Something was not right here. Kurama struggled to stand and ran into a nearby recess in the rock face behind him. He squeezed into a crevice and found himself in an immense, darkened chamber. Dropping onto his bottom with his back pressed against the wall Kurama took a deep breath and dropped into unconsciousness.
Naruto's mattress squeaked loudly as he rolled onto his side. It had been a good night's sleep and the well rested soon-to-be genin grinned mightily in bliss as he stretched. The blond shinobi in training leapt off his bed and went about his treacherous journey to the bathroom. It wasn't often his apartment was clean, despite his spartan arrangements. He just didn't have the time to clean up all the styrofoam ramen bowls. Nobody had that kind of time on their hands. Not when you had so much more ramen to eat.
It wasn't every day he woke up feeling so revitalized. Normally his dreams haunted him a few minutes after waking and his limbs ached from the shaking his body broke into throughout the night. He never truly understood why he slept so roughly every night, and at times dreaded falling asleep, but in the end he always succumbed to rest marginally early. He showered quickly, as always. Naruto didn't have hot water. His rundown apartment was always having utility trouble and the maintenance men assigned to his floor never seemed to respond to his troubles. It was something he had gotten used to over the past few years. The stocky blond toweled himself off and set about brushing his teeth, mind empty of thoughts other than what flavor of ramen he should get for lunch today. Then he saw his alarm clock's cord lying on the floor next to the outlet. A quick glance to his window confirmed it He was running late on the most important day of his entire life.
Naruto sprinted through his room into the kitchen and opened his door, stepping out hurriedly and turning behind him to shut and lock it. He paused with the door cracked slightly. Something was off... what was he forgetting? "Oh, fuck, I'm naked!" Hoping nobody outside his apartment complex had seen him in all his glory he sheepishly dressed as quickly as he could in the carefully laid out orange suit. If he had a better grasp of the concept of irony he could have appreciated the situation more. After all the preparation the night before the rush he put himself in had made him completely forget setting the gaudy orange suit out. "Not the time to rock the birthday suit! Let's go!"
Naruto took off, slamming his door shut and leaping off the stairs. The twenty minute walk was completed in less than four minutes, and he was panting as he burst into the classroom, "Iruka-sensei! Sorry I'm la-" he broke off upon seeing his classroom was empty. The large clock mounted above the blackboard read 6:47. In his haste he hadn't realized they were no longer in daylight savings time and it had been this bright this early for weeks. "Well fucking fuck." He dropped into Iruka's chair and leaned back with his feet on the desk, "Well what am I gonna do for the next half hour?"
Naruto's stomach grumbled in complaint, and a split second later his face was covered in an impish grin befitting the nefarious character secretly stored within him. Unlike in conventional civilian schools, the Ninja Academy had a 24 hour maintenance unit that kept all the rooms unlocked at all times, the reason being young ninja tended to cause a lot more damage and mess than their civilian counterparts and all the janitors and repairmen stayed on call during the week... which was perfect for anyone intent on robbing the teacher's lounge of all their ice cold beverages and snacks.
Amber hued orbs opened alongside a brilliant yawn. Blinking rapidly Youko Kurama's demonic eyes adjusted immediately to the pitch black cavern he was laid out in. It was very cold deep in the moist recesses of this mountain. Though he didn't know it, he was deep inside the Hokage Memorial Monument within a long hidden cave secreted into the rocky side for times of siege. Konohagakure was full of such secret hideouts, many rendered inaccessible for centuries.
Much of Kurama's energy had returned to him in his slumber, but he still felt an oppressive weariness. He really needed to get out of this dark and into the sun. Seated with his legs crossed and his five bushy tails wrapped around his torso in an attempt to keep warm in this humid yet chilly area he channeled a little spirit energy into his palm to light up his surroundings. The rock had been chiseled carefully into a very ornate wall of various abstract patterns and many named had been scrawled as well, though the untold years of slow water trickling through the porous rock had eroded much of the elegant mural. With one hand occupied by the bright blue orb his other slowly caressed his delicate sculpted chin and silken skin as he attempted to think about the events of the past few hours. Kyuubi must have either used this world to lose his pursuers or... maybe destroyed by something incredibly potent.
Kurama's face scrunched up like he smelt something putrid as another thought entered his mind, 'Maybe these humans found a way to seal him?' Disgust marred his normally apathetic visage as he stood, 'Just what am I supposed to do if they in fact had destroyed or sealed him away? I don't have the means to travel back at will into the underworld as Kyuubi-sama does. I will have to find him, or find a way back myself... and I can't do that looking like this. Hesitation only prolongs my stasis here, it's time to get to work.' The realization of being stuck here weighed heavily on him. He didn't like not being in control of the situation like this, and especially didn't like not knowing virtually anything about where he was or who he was stuck here with.
Naruto sat in the teacher's lounge slurping down noodles. He'd spent the last twenty or so minutes laying waste to the little break room. He had drank all the sodas, ate somebody's lunch, and was now putting down his third bowl of ramen. Though Naruto definitely wasn't the most skilled guy around the boy could damn sure eat. He glanced at the clock on the wall next to the fridge and decided he better evacuate soon or be caught amidst the ruined room. He left all the trash scattered on the table and on the floor. The only teacher he liked was Iruka, and he hadn't touched anything with his sensei's name on it and as such doubted he would have to pick anything up. As it was, fuck everybody else. He snuck out of the room after quietly opening the door and scanning the empty hall. Turning around to shut the door quietly he winced as it seemed to snatch out of his hands and slam shut loudly, sending an echo throughout the hall. He mumbled to himself, "Fucking door."
He took a left at the next intersecting hallway to get back to the classroom. He made it to the door where he placed his hand on the handle and paused short of opening it. Why waste the time? All they would be doing today is reviewing for the exam they would all be taking the next day. He knew what was going to happen, it happened every year. Deep in the back of his mind he knew he was going to fail. It would be the same thing, henge no jutsu, and there was just no way he was going to be able to do it. Iruka had tried to explain the technique to him countless times but had grown to figure Naruto either for an innate failure or simply not cut out for his chosen profession and the times he had tried to tutor the young boy had ceased the past year. If Naruto asked he would go through the motions with him, but it never did any good. He snorted and removed his hand, "Fuck this shit." The boy dubbed Uzumaki turned to leave, unaware that from the far end of the hall pitying brown eyes of Umino Iruka watched him and his internal battle.
Naruto made a beeline towards the giant Hokage Monument, and as he got there he began scaling the side with practiced ease. He flew up the mountain side quickly. Upon reaching the desired height he removed a strand of rope with an impeccably sharp claw at the end and used it to help anchor himself onto the rock wall. Tying himself onto the makeshift life line, he smiled devilishly as he then removed a can of paint. Perform the simplest of jutsu was out of his reach, but stealthily scaling a mountain by hand spoke volumes for his physical conditioning and agility. He was able to continue for a while without any notice, marking at will the statues as his signature nasally laugh spilled forth every few moments.
Kurama sat inside his hide out brainstorming when he heard the unmistakable sound of the most annoying laugh he had ever heard. He narrowed his eyes and cautiously approached the crack in the wall. From this vantage point he watched as a human boy sat precariously on a very unstable looking rope and sprayed some sort of black aerosol based paint onto the giant faces carved into the rock. "What the hell is that child wearing?" he muttered in horror. Bright blond hair coupled with the gaudiest orange jump suit he had ever seen was almost too much for Kurama and his image conscious self. Then, he saw something that set his mind whirling rapidly. Blood red trickles of power, incredibly minuscule and to most unnoticeable seemed to come out of the boy's abdomen and stain the air around him. He doubted the majority of humans could sense much less see youki and emitted in such small levels he was highly sure none could tell what it was, but Kurama knew instantly what had happened to his idol. "Those filthy humans! They did seal him! ...and into the most terribly dressed human they could find apparently..."
"This settles it," he continued to himself, "I've got to stay and see to it Kyuubi is returned to our world. Or at least gives me his power. I'm his heir, that power belongs to me... I can't eat him, or Kyuubi will be lost forever." Losing control out of frustration, Kurama smashed the wall with his fist, sending cracks spiraling across the cavern wall and into the ceiling. "Kuronue was right. Can't plan for everything..."
A/N - So there is the rewritten introduction to what was formerly Harmony & Chaos. I realize the audience has significantly diminished since 2007, but hopefully a few people out there can still get some enjoyment out of the story.
I read back through the old story and was just incredibly blown away by just how little sense the basis made and how abstract the idea was. This is not an edit, this is a complete rewrite and when I catch back up I'll be adding new chapters, etc. Hope if anybody bothers to read this they like it. Thanks! Review if you have the time :)