I wanna thank all a you guys who read my chapter and reviewed it, its not my first time writing stories, I write in books at home, but it's the first time I've posted a naruto fan fic on the site. I hope I can keep your interests as the chapters unfold, I believe me, there are a lot more to be read, so stay tuned for chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own naruto, only my oc's

Chapter 2 : Sense of belonging

His panting breath resembled that of a dog's, he staggered over roots and scratched his face in the process of escaping the chakra signatures that seemed to gain on him every minute that passed. How the hell had they catch up with him so fast, he had left the village without anyone sensing him, even the detection jutsu had not picked him up for as a prankster he had learned how to get around it. His chakra supply was running low; not his own but the small amount that at the fox had given to him, his was out completely and he could now feel the strain on his body as with every step he took, his legs were now moving much slower as he moved on. It seemed as if the clone he placed in his stead had been destroyed and his absence reported to the hokage, anyhow they took it, he wasn't ready to return to that hell hole of a village: pushed on wearily. His orange suit was ruined with stains and bleached by the brazen sun, for his journey for three days had not given him time to stop and rest; ignoring the lust for the ramen he had packed in his backpack, he pressed on.

He took to the trees with a single powerful leap, wind licking at his spiked hair as he pounced to another limb.

Naruto flinched, his peaked ninja sense tingled as he barely was able to dodge the shuriken that clipped a few strawns of hair and slashed his earlobe before lodging into the tree in front of him. The blond grabbed his ear in pain and temporarily lost his balance but regained it soon after doing a series of flips to avoid the limb that came at him head on. He glanced behind him and saw them, famous elite jonins, identity hidden under masks designed with animal faces. The uniforms looked deathly grey as they advanced slowly.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" one yelled, "stop where you are!"

"like hell I am!" the blond hissed to himself sarcastically, turning in time to avoid another close call.

"Naruto, come back to the village.. your home!" One female said to him using her femininity to sway his mind, but if she knew the real reason he left she would have never had said those words to begin with, this only encouraged him to defect the village even more.

"home" the word seemed to distant and unrealistic to be true, he clenched his fists angrily, red chakra wrapped around his body, "what home!"

The ANBU sped up, drawing their katanas swiftly,

"kill him" the lead elite ordered pumping chakra into his feet and lounging forward at an amazing speed. He launched himself into the air, did a half twist, reached into his shuriken pouch and drew out two deadly looking custom made shuriken came up between his index, middle and ring finger. He catapulted his hand around from his back and released the weapons with amazing speed and precision sending them ripping through the air. Naruto had no time to react swiftly and the two blades ripped into his back, tearing his jacket and piercing his skin.

"argh!" the cry was eminent as pain surged through his body, the next limb that sped to meet him was overstepped by a few inches sending the blond sprawling down towards the ground. He tried to grab at limbs and branches but the speed at which he descended only caused them to crack under his weight. One branch smacked him straight in the face, sending him into a frenzy of swirls before he came to a halt on the ground with a sickening crash. The ANBU gracefully landed around him, slowly advancing on the youth who had begun to clutch at the grass around him, sinking his fingers into the ground in a desperate effort to escape.

"this is where it ends brat!' one said disgustedly, stomping into the crawling boy's back to stop his fruitless efforts; Naruto yelled in pain. Naruto passed out at this point, he sunk into his sub consciousness slowly, like floating down through a dark abyss, all senses depleted of their use.

"is this the end?" he asked himself in a tone which held a sense of contentment,

"stupid brat, like I'd let you die, I'm not ready to leave this world as yet!" A sickening growl echoed through his mind, above him, red eyes glared down at him menacingly, red chakra rushed down towards him, Naruto sighed, the fox would not allow him to die so easily. But… below him, a bright light shone like a million suns, the blond tried to shade his eyes from the glare but to no avail. This light also began to move up him, warmth spread the cold abyss, a contentment that surpassed death came to his rescue. The red chakra above him was slowly being pushed back by that bright light, depleting the area of the fearful feeling.

"what is this!" he growled angrily, "I thought I suppressed this troublesome chakra years ago"

Naruto's eyes shot open, a new energy was spouting out inside of him, his pains began to fade, bruises on his skin healed and his skin glowed lightly. Energy began to lick his insides, like an impatient wild beast on the verge of breaking free of his encasement. A rush of gold escaped his tenketsu points like a pulse, the small energy produced caused an uproar of wind around him. The ANBU on top of him was pushed back slightly by the sudden rush.

"what's this!" the ANBU captain exclaimed in surprise, another who was perched on a limb hissed angrily, he pounced from the limb downwards, fingers raised under his chin,

"wind style: wind blade", he brought his hand around behind him as he descended and a swirl of wind washed around his fingers violently. He descended swiftly on the boy who still laid face down unmoving. He brought back his hand level with his head, fingers extended , palm down. He was about a meter form the boy when he launched out his hand at his back…..Naruto twitched, then in a flash of gold chakra, he was above the ANBU, powering a fist into his back. The ANBU hit the ground with a sickening crack, sending clumps of earth flying and raising a cloud of dust around he and the blond youth. His senses were now a thousand times amplified, his eyes moved around in his head like ping pong balls, his ears twitched randomly at the slightest sound. His eyes shot to one side, picking up the presence of the other ANBU coming at him with a powerful fist, the blond boy twirled suddenly, fist clenched tightly to meet the ANBU's. Clearly outmatched in power, the ANBU was flung back into the trees; a trail of dust and fallen trees in his wake. Naruto turned around, crouched so low that his hands touched the ground, then he pushed off. Everything was a blur of green…then black.

The sun began to sink behind the hills, ridding the country side of its golden rays, but the cool wind which came in its aftermath was welcoming to the night creatures who came out to put on a glorious display of lights and music (so to speak). Dead leaved fell from the trees, shaken by the wind, floating down until they joined the heavy blanket which coated the forest floor. One blew a little way off from the tree, and came to rest on the forehead of an unconscious boy. Yellow suite tattered and worn, but his skin was clean as a baby's. One wouldn't recognize it was naruto due to the loss of his whisker marks during the awakening of his latent chakra. There was a slight rustle in the tree above, a normal ninja would not have been able to discern the sound different from the wind among the leaves, if it weren't for the slightly illuminated eyes not even a jonin could have recognized the presence of another person. The figure slowly came out into the soft gleam of the moonlight, suspended on the limb of a tree…upside down with his arms folded pompously. Black raven colored hair blowing in the soft wind, he grunted

"another stray"

There was a flash of black against the moonlight and the Naruto's body was gone leaving

a swirl of leaves.

Naruto's eyes shot open in a flash, everything was a haze as if his eyes were filed with tears, blood began to flow readily to his head and his vision cleared slowly. He was staring up at an exquisite wooden ceiling with a fan spinning slowly above him. Hi tried to ease the ache in his head by sitting up it only worsened. He felt the surface beneath him, it was soft on felt like cotton…was he dead?

"ahh, I see your awake young one"

The sudden voice sent him diving from the bed in a nose dive, he rolled a few times before coming to a stop rubbing his head, he jumped up from the floor jabbing a finger at the wide eyed old man with a comical angry face,

"hey, you scared the heck out o' me!" he yelled, he jumped around on the spot, looking around him, "where am I!"

" you're in the whirlpool country" the man replied. Naruto stopped, his eyes squinted and his lips pouted, the blond slowly turned to stare at the old man intently for a minute, thin moustache stopped at his chin, and his beard was short and spiky, wrinkled skin seemed stuck to his skull with little flesh between them, his hair was white with age but combed back slickly. He was dressed in a black kimono with his legs folded underneath him neatly and a smile which seemed permanent on his face.

" And who the hell are you!" Naruto yelled jumping so close to the man so much so that his jabbing finger was right in front of his eye " and why did you kidnap me!'

"kidnap you?" Another voice said from behind the boy, this time a more softer one, Naruto turned to see a spiky haired brunette standing at the door, his pale eyes stared at Naruto intently as if offended.

" who are you?" Naruto asked in a defensive tone, The youth stepped into the room walking slowly,

" I'm the one that found you in the forest next to here" The boy said, his voice was low and soft.

" in the for- " Naruto stopped short in his sentence as his memory began to come back, being chased, and that feeling, the warm feeling that came over him. Naruto flexed his hand before his face, staring at them like there were odd.

"My name is Kenshin, and that is my grandson, Shintetsu" The old man introduced them. Naruto looked at the two,

"Grandpa, the people are growing wary again, they say that the water supply is running out" The youth named Shintetsu explained with a worried face, " Its time to perform the jutsu again" , The old man sighed,

"are you fully rested?" he asked worriedly,

"yes I am" shintetsu answered,

"then go right ahead, and remember don't over exert yourself" the old man said. The boy nodded then turned to exit the room. Naruto's eyes followed the youth until he was out of the room,

" And what is your name young one?" Kenshin asked.

"my name is Uzumaki Naruto" Naruto said. A frightened look washed over the old man's face ,

" U-Uzumaki!" the old man said stuttering, Naruto looked at the man oddly,

"yea, Uzumaki" Naruto repeated slowly wondering what the fuss was about. The old man suddenly fell face down to the ground, causing the blond to jump back in fright,

"old man what are you doing?" Naruto exclaimed in fright.

"excuse my manners Uzumaki-sama" Kenshin said without rising his head.

"come on now" Naruto said sweating, " you must be mistaken"

" I surely am not" Kenshin said rising form his bowing position, "so long have we awaited the return of the royal family to lead us and after many years, one , Uzumaki naruto has come"

"hey old man stop messing with me!" Naruto yelled in confusion, " what is this nonsense, I'm no royalty!" Kenshin rose from the ground and Naruto stepped back,

"please, come with me" Kenshin said as he made his way through the same door that his grandson went through but turned in the opposite direction, Naruto hesitated, his head was spinning and now the old man was blabbering about him being royalty, how much worse could it get for him. He slowly made his way after the man until they ended up in front of a large door. Kenshin yanked it open and with a creaking sound the doors swung to the sides.

"wow" Naruto exclaimed as he saw the room filled with scrolls on shelves, all the way up to the ceiling. Back in konoha he wasn't even allowed near the library yet inside one, but look where he was now. Kenshin strolled around a corner and after about a minute he appeared with a scroll in hand, yellow with age. Kenshin stepped over to him, and began to unroll the scroll,

"what's that?" Naruto asked curiously,

" this scroll holds the history of our once prosperous village" Kenshin said, he held the scroll towards naruto, "here take a look"

Naruto hesitantly took the scroll and turned it around to him.

"when your finished you'll understand" with that the elder exited to room leaving naruto, who slowly slid to the floor, head deep in such enlightening information.

After two hours of reading, Naruto exited the room, his mind was spinning from the information he had just discovered, but somehow he there was a feeling of pride in his heart. He would have never guessed that he was from a line of prestigious warriors or that his father was a Namikaze or even the fourth hokage of the village, this was surly amazing, he never felt more elated, yet anger whipped his insides at the thoughts of the elders keeping this information from him. He stepped out into the large room where he had awaken, to see the old man still in his meditative position.

"now you see, Uzumaki-sama," was all he said without even opening his eyes, " you were destined to come here" , Naruto was fazed for a while, all this was a bit too sudden for him to take in all at once, and it all seemed a fairy tale, but even if the feeling was only for a while he wanted to feel this sense of belonging.

"I'm tired old man, I just wanna' rest" Naruto said groggily.

The next Morning he awoke late, the sun had already risen and the birds, were singing lustily. The whirlpool country was a beautiful country side, with lush vegetation flooding the hillsides. Naruto's eyes slowly opened as the sun shone through the slide door of his room, he yawned heavily then scratched his head, rustling his blond spikes. He rose and slid the door open to welcome the bright sunlight Stepping onto the corridor, the cool breeze welcomed him. He then started down the corridor, until he reached a large door, presumably to the main room. He pulled the door back, only to be slammed in the chest, throwing him back into the railing. When the rush of the moment died down, Naruto could make out the old man's grandson standing at the door with his right foot extended , he slowly brought it down and looked at Naruto uninterestedly,

"oh its you" he said turning around. Naruto grimaced,

"oh its me?' naruto repeated in a tone of disbelief, he sprang from the ground with an amazing agility and yanked the brunette around by the collar,

"what was that all about!" naruto yelled angrily, the youth just stared at the youth uninterestedly,

"oh, just simple reflexes" shintetsu replied with a mischievous grin

"Good morning Naruto" Kenshin said in a calm tone, Naruto peered aroundthe burnette, to see the old man clad in a black kimono with a small yellow swirl on his chest. Before him were three cups with steaming hot tea in each.

"come, sit and drink" He said spreading his hand over the mat before him. Naruto shot a glare at shintetsu the released his collar before proceeding to sit. The morning proceeded quietly as the three males sat and sipped at the tea. After about 5 minutes of silence, kenshin broke the deadlock,

" I must ask, Naruto-kun…" He began after swallowing his mouthful of tea, Naruto lifted his head, failing to bring the tea-cup to his lips, "please tell us, since we already know from the scroll that you hail from the major village of Konohagakure, why are you such a long way from home?"

Naruto's head slowly drooped to stare at the tea, which looked so still in the cup, it was too calm, it shouldn't feel so calm, at least be shaky as he was…he swirled the cup to disrupt the tea's stillness; finally deciding to speak.

" They tried to kill me" Naruto spat out sharply and abruptly. Shintetsu cocked his head to look at the boy while kenshin wore a shocked expression,

" As in they, you mean…" Kenshin said, awaiting the boy to complete his line of thought…

"The whole village, they hate me and treat me as an outcast" Naruto was enraged, he slammed the cup on the wooden floor causing some of the tea to spill on the mat. " I was tricked by some chuunin, into stealing the forbidden scroll, saying that if I did it then I would pass my genin exams, and this gave the damn geezers an excuse to sentence me to death!"

"but seeing that you're here…what happened" Shintetsu asked,

" The hokage, my guardian, denied their request and stripped me of my ninja status, taking away from me my reason for living!"

"baka!"

The room was silent, Naruto flinched, his eye brows knitted and his lips tightened, his head slowly turned to the source of his rage, Shintetsu. The spiky haired boy stared at naruto like he had just said something outrageous,

" what did you just say?" Naruto asked threateningly, shintetsu sighed and shook his head,

'I said you're a baka" he repeated. Naruto lounged at him and the two struggled on the ground, until naruto jumped up and yanked the boy to his feet by his collar,

"what do you know!" Naruto asked rhetorically, "do you know what it feels like to have had nothing whatsoever?"

" But you don't know what it feels like to have had something and it taken away from you!' Shintetsu blared angrily, Naruto paused, "you are so simple minded, your reason for living should be more than the mere title of ninja"

"stop this at once" kenshin ordered. Naruto released the boy and slumped back to his seat, while the youth stormed out of the room.

" Shintetsu's mother was killed in an assault a couple years back by a mercenary group of rouge ninjas, and so was yours" Kenshin said slowly, Naruto was shocked

"my-my mother was killed…" he repeated in shock, "but the scroll said.."

"the scroll does not record it all, but that is what happened" Kenshin said regretfully. At that point Shintetsu stepped inside the room and took back his seat beside his guardian.

"there is one thing that is bothering me though, why do the villagers hate you as you claim?" Kenshin asked.

Naruto clutched his stomach,

"its because I'm the container of a demon" He explained. Kenshin eyes shot open, this blond was full of surprises, Shintetsu couldn't help but gag on the tea he sipped.

" A demon…..but how?" Kenshin asked. Naruto shrugged with a confused face,
" but I know this much, it's the nine-tailed demon fox" . That was it for their composure which seemed to be slowly dissipated as the blond went on, Kenshin actually tipped over comically, while Shintetsu accidentally swallowed a mouthful of hot tea which burnt his tongue and mouth. Naruto looked around and sweat dropped.

"t-t-the Kyuubi?" Shintetsu gasped for air,

"yea I think that's its name" Naruto said rubbing his head dumbly.

"the legendary demon fox, strongest of them all" Kenshin mused, speaking in a hushed tone as he eyed the boy. Naruto grimaced,

"I think he's nothing more than a troublesome pup" he said bravely.

"say that again and I'll surely kill you when I get out…..but this chakra…" A growl echoed through his subconscious,

"when?" Naruto replied in his sub-conscious, "more like if"

Kenshin regained his composure after a while and so did Shintetsu after he drank a cup of water to cool his mouth. Kenshin picked up the cups and exited the room,

"you must think you're pretty strong with that don't you" shintetsu said in a grudgful tone, Naruto just ignored the remark until Kenshin returned.

"so…what are your plans" Kenshin asked the blond,

"well, I can't go back to the village for now I am a missing nin, I just need to lay low" Naruto said.

"well…you are more than welcomed to stay here with us" Kenshin said with a smile.

"really!"

"what!"

The two boys shouted alarmingly.

"ssssshhhhh" Kenshin hushed them.

"what?" naruto asked in a hushed tone, looking around the room wide eyed, "my daughter is asleep"

As he said this the door to the large room was drawn back with immense force, and standing at the door was slim girl, dressed in a night gown with billowed comically in the 'wind', evilly. Her face would have been described as pretty if it wasn't lined with pillow marks and her brows knitted tightly. Her hair was out at the sides looking ferociously wicked.

"who was that!' she shouted screamingly, Naruto turned to see shintetsu slipping out of the door and Kenshin dodging in the kitchen, then slowly turned to look back at the girl, the blond wore a nervous expression,

"well she can't be that bad" naruto said to himself, forcing a smile. The girl stormed over to him and stared down at him like an odd piece of furniture,

"who are you?"

"my name-"

"I don't care!" she yelled, "you woke me up you dumb blond!'. Naruto grimaced in the shade of his eyes,
"who is this girl" he said twitching angrily, he jumped u from his position glaring at the girl. She reached out and grabbed his collar. Naruto, unthinkingly, copied the act only to pause with an embarrassed look on his face, the female was left wearing nothing but he underwear as the night gown slipped off in his hand, apparently not tied tightly enough at the back.

"i-i-I'm so sorry " Naruto said backing away, obviously red at the event, the girl stood there shocked,

"why you little…" she began but that was the only words of the sentence that naruto heard before blocking out from a single punch.

Naruto fazed, his head hurt like hell, he vision was blurred real bad but was slowly coming around. He was staring up at the ceiling, before a face came into his vision,

"Kenshin" he said weakly. The old man smiled warmly,

"I was afraid that you wouldn't be able to wake up for a while" he joked. Naruto smiled weakly,

"nope, I've been through worst" he replied.

"but you'll be bed ridden for a few days I guess, you really took a powerful hit to the head…she's a taijutsu specialist you know"

"hn, thought so" Naruto replied dumbly, "but not to worry". The blond slowly rose his fingers to his chin and began to pump chakra around his body, if what happened two days before with his confrontation with the ANBU was not a dream, he would be seeing some remarkable results in about…..now. His wounds slowly began to heal, the wide gash above his left eye slowly closed. The redness faded gradually, until he was as good as new.

"the power of the golden chakra I presume, I've read about it but this is the first time I've witnessed it in person…it's amazing" Kenshin said rhetorically.

"he he" Naruto grinned. Kenshin slowly rose from he stooping positon, and looked around the room,

"'well you were out for a while and darkness has fallen, you should get some sleep" Kenshin said warmly. Naruto smiled to himself as he watched the retreating figure of the old man. When the door closed, the boy closed his eyes, his father, the fourth hokage, rumoured as the strongest ninja in his time, his mother, a ninja of the whirlpool country killed by akatsuki, there was so much history in this place and he was glad that he ws now a part of it, he longed for this feeling, the sense of belonging.