Chapter 2

Naruto's Rebirth

It had been several weeks since Naruto left the leaf village with Alex and hasn't regretted it since. Naruto and Alex were talking as they walked down the road to water country, Naruto had already started to see him as a older brother figure. He had already done more for him then his former family had ever done for him in his life. When Alex told him that he was impressed with him being able to do tree walking he felt happy for gaining acknowledgment of that he had even shown him a fire and earth jutsu that would be useful after he showed him how to tap into the different kinds of chakra for the jutsu required and hand signs needed.

Alex liked having Naruto around he was very smart for his age like he was and very wild, ever since Dana went into the coma a while back he hasn't been feeling like him old self but since when was he his old self the original Alex Mercer was long gone but he wouldn't let that stop him. Naruto was special there was no doubt about that, the more he saw him the happier he felt, it was like the missing part of family member was just found and discovered.

Right now the two had a brother relationship while Naruto was thinking he had something else on his mind concerning the blonde that would ultimately affect him in every way possible from his past life to the life he currently leads right now with him.

Naruto and Alex were setting up camp for the night, Alex might not have admitted it that he didn't need it because of his …condition, but Naruto did he was kinda grateful actually that the kid was going to bed it would give him time to think about what was on his mind.

As Naruto layed down on the ground looking up at the stars his mind wandered to the few that did matter to him back in Konoha that village could burn in hell or all he cared but not those people that cared for him. He did manage to find some people that cared for him mainly from the Uchiha clan and also two owners of a Ramen stand, and a little girl. The little girl's name was Satsuki Uchiha and quickly became the most important person in his life, her mother accepted him with open arms and treated him as her own, her brother who was one opened minded of him and taught him the basics of sealing. Though two members of that family didn't treat him right at all and didn't seem to like him at all they were her father and her brother who treated him with scorn and hatred, but he didn't care.

Satsuki was the complete opposite of her brother who Naruto thought was stuck up and arrogant, Satsuki was kind, gentle, loving and thoughtful to everyone. After that crash they just talked and talked until they were at Satsuki's house.

However for the few that showed him acceptance he still felt hollow it wasn't enough for him, he didn't belong here he thought time and time again.

Right now he was dreaming about his friend Satsuki and how the two first met

Dream

Naruto was currently trying to find a shelter, normally Naruto wouldn't have to find a place to sleep in but his parents had locked him out of the house.

He hated them with a passion but he could do nothing to them. The most he could hope for was that he would one day soon reach Chunin rank and leave the damned house. He hated that he had to live on the street during these days where they go off and party completely forgetting about him. He would sometimes go to a hotel but they would usually kick him out without his father or mother with him and they would just laugh straight in his face if he told them he was the son of the Yondaime. Although he would usually considered going to the old man's retirement home, Naruto pushed that thought aside. It would take half a day of walking to get there and even then he would have to have some idea of where it was.

Damn IT! He kicked a small stone flat on its back before walking away.

As he continued to walk down the street with a scowl on his face, Naruto accidently bumped into a girl just about his age. With long black hair that went down her back with coal black eyes, she was wearing a blue shirt and white shorts with a pair of blue sandals. When he looked back up at her she felt familiar to him for some reason until he saw the fan recognizing her as a member of the Uchiha clan.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"It's okay," the girl answered before raising a hand, "I'm Satuski."

Ever since then things were better in some aspects of his life and others were just plain terrible even with them in his life. There were times Naruto even considered suicide at times over living with his parents and sister. The dream then changed again this time going to a certain promise that he made with her.

Naruto and Satsuki were playing near the lake by the Uchiha compound skipping stones over the water and telling each other stories and jokes to pass the time. It was late at night and his family had gone out to another party and locked the house leaving him outside again. He then decided to go to Satsuki's house and see if she was awake, when he got there he saw that her lamp was turned on and that she was in her night clothes. After the two kids talked for a bit the two then decided to go to the lake. And that is how they got here, the two were now looking up at the stars enjoying the view as the stars shinned down on them.

Naruto and Satsuki looked back at each other and smiled true smile, Satsuki enjoyed his company and had a crush on him not that she would ever admit it to his face or anything like that but she did like him allot. Naruto his feelings were much more powerful much more stronger then a crush, he cared for her deeply. "Satsuki you mean allot to me, more then anyone in this whole village, and I really like you do you um like me to," Naruto said with a blush on his face, which caused Satsuki to blush at least five shades of red. She then looked at him and stuttered, "you really mean it," Naruto nodded and then to his surprise she kissed him right on the check and said, "I really like you to Naruto,"

"Satsuki when we get older let's get married,"

Satsuki looked at him with a blush on her face and said, "you promise?"

He then held out his pinky and wrapped her pinky around and said, "I promise," he then kissed her cheeck to symbolize their agreement to a pact that would one day play a prt in both of their lives.

Naruto's eyes opened and then remembered his dream, he made that promise about a month ago before he left the village. He made a silent vow to himself that one day he would return. For her, he wasn't going to stay in that hellhole, but he would see her again. Even if he had to kill the Yondaime and anyone else that got in his way.

"Kid I've done some thinking and how would you like to have my bloodline you would get some useful powers and you would become my little brother in a sense," he turned around and stared at Alex with wide eyes, Alex was looking at him waiting for his answer.

"Powers such as?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, right. Well, I could shape shift, form claws, a shield, that sort of thing. Obviously, I also got faster and stronger. Oh yeah, I have unlimited stamina too, though that might be from my being dead." Which caused Naruto's eyes to widen and Alex to silently cursed himself or letting that slip.

"Wait, your dead!"

"Yes I'm dead now I'm going to tell you how I died okay," he said and then Alex started to pace as if to release some sort of stress that had come over him.

"Alright, I suppose that it all started with my job. You see I was once a scientist employed at a company called Gentek." Seeing Naruto's confusion, he quickly added, "It doesn't exist here it's outside the mist, so I'd be surprised if you had heard of it. Anyway, I worked with some other scientists on a special project. We were designing a virus for a certain branch of the military: the Blackwatch."

"What did they want it for?" Asked Naruto.

"They wanted to make their soldiers stronger and better and also to kill people of a certain race to kill the enemy. The only problem was that we weren't having any luck; we kept failing all of our tests nothing new came into the results. Finally, I guess that Blackwatch decided that our projects costed them too much money with not enough results. But they couldn't have us telling anyone what we had done for them. So they started killing off all the researchers and scientists associated with the project left and right. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your viewpoint, I caught on to what they were doing and tried to run away without them knowing. In the process, I swiped a sample of the virus before I went, thinking I might use it to try and bargain with them."

"You just ran?" Naruto asked incredulously, "where the hell did you go?"

"I didn't manage get very far." Alex said dryly, "they caught me just outside of a Penn station-that's another place that's not around here but outside of the mist, in case you're wondering. I immediately learned that they weren't going to bother making a deal. They just shot and killed me on sight."

Naruto paled, "they killed you?" He asked nervously.

"Now this is where it gets interesting. You will remember that I had stolen a sample of the virus, right? Well, when they shot me-"

"What does that mean, 'they shot you'?" Interrupted Naruto.

"Don't interrupt! I'll tell you some other time. Anyway, when I died, the vial with the virus broke and splattered everywhere. Then, for some unknown reasons, the virus entered my dead body and broke it down, having absorbed the DNA of my corpse, and it rebuilt itself...as me."

Naruto interrupted him before he said anything else, "wait, the virus became you? How does that work? Why did it work? I thought the experiment kept failing."

"Well, the problem we always had with the virus was it would give the infected great strength, speed and all that other good stuff. But they would have no reason or sanity. They were just monsters that indiscriminately killed anything that got near. In my case, however, I still maintained my mind, while gaining other powers. As for why...I don't know. Maybe I happened to swipe the one strain that was good. Maybe it entered my body before being exposed to anything else. Hell, maybe it was just because I was dead. Who knows?"

Most importantly, whenever I killed someone, I would absorb them completely, converting their body into biomass to heal myself, as well as gain strength."

Naruto looked sickened, "You killed people?" He asked, horrified, "And you ATE them? Are you sure you're sane?"

"Oh, shut up. I had to do what was needed to survive!" Alex snapped, "Did you think the Blackwatch was just going to sit back and let a new, uncontrollable bio-weapon be created in front of them? Hell no! Since the day I first woke up as myself, they were trying to end my existence. And that wasn't the worst of it!" He continued. He'd gotten to his feet and begun pacing before his audience of two, his speech becoming more animated, "When the vial with the virus shattered, it didn't just enter me! It spread to the dozens of people nearby, and then to the rest of the city. So, not only was there an army of people who are like the ANBU of the military on one side, there was also a horde of bloodthirsty monsters on the other. I was stuck in the middle of it all, just one man with deadly powers and no memories of how he got them. I had to find out a lot the stuff I told you later." He stopped, panting slightly, "Quick, ask me a question so I don't make myself dizzy from this pacing."

"How did you find out what happened if you had no memories?" Naruto asked, having become so entranced by Alex's story he'd forgotten his earlier disgust.

"Well..." Said Alex, glad to change the subject away from the 'Plague Wars', as he called them, "When I consumed someone..."

Naruto grimaced at that and said, "consumed, that's another one of your power's isn't it, you ate them didn't you?"

"Oh, get over it will you, anyway, when I consumed someone, not only would I heal, but I would also gain their DNA."

Having absorbed all this, Naruto sat silently, his face dark, "That still doesn't change the fact that you ate people," he said mutinously.

"Will you stop going on about that!" Alex roared, losing his temper, "yes, I did eat people, because it's part of what I am! Sure, over the years, I've refined myself to the point where it's not absolutely vital, but I still have to feed; and eventually, so will you."

Naruto paled, "What do you mean?" He asked nervously.

"Look if you accept this deal you will have to do it to too get stronger like I did, but remember what I said earlier, I've refined my powers so that you won't have to kill to survive. You still need to eat a lot, but it's an improvement."

Naruto thought it over and agreed to it Alex shifted his arms into a claw form with long razor sharp blades with four fingers instead of the average five fingers and said, "brace yourself kid because this is going to hurt like a bitch." He then stabbed Naruto with his claws and injected the virus into Naruto causing him to scream out in pain from the virus and being stabbed from the claws.

With Minato

Minato was currently in his office doing paperwork with a glum expression on his face, every day since Naruto left he had done this when the seals turned on and he read the note he realized just far things were bad for Naruto he had Naruto and how far he had fallen, when he sent the Anbu to go find Naruto around the village in hope of finding him, when they returned with nothing his hope turned into dread and self anger.

After that he sent letters to all of the Leaf's allies asking for help in searching for Naruto and sent Jiraiya out in hopes of finding him.

"Naruto where are you?" he asked out loud.

Minato turned to the only picture that he had of the entire family. In it he was holding his wife, while they each had a hand on one of her shoulders. Naruto was off to the side with a sad look on his face as he looked away. That picture reminded of his mistakes that he had made with his family.

He didn't hate Naruto; no in fact he loved his son as much as he loves his daughter. Just that when he found out that Naruto was learning how to use his chakra on his own it made him angry that he would do something so dangerous. He had wanted for him to learn at the academy. Yet he knew that most clans taught their children outside of the academy. No that wasn't an excuse for what he had done, he remembered why he did what he did. It was all because of that prophecy that the toads had made, and he believed that it was about his daughter. It then that he began her training and pushed his son to the side, all he could hope for was for Naruto to forgive him one day.

He looked at the photo only to see something that shouldn't happen, happen, the glass over the photo cracked by some unseen force over Naruto's face. That itself was an ominous sign, It worried him greatly, it meant that his child was alive and that didn't know everything but he knew that something had just changed drastically in his son whether it was a physical, mental, or if he was in danger he didn't know what this meant but he had a feeling that his son had just made a decision that has completely changed his life.

With Kushina

Kushina at the moment sat on the couch in the living room looking at the only picture that had her entire family together. It was the same picture that her husband had in his office. She still couldn't believe what they had done. How could she have pushed one child away in favor of the other, her grandmother had taught her better than that. Oh, what would Mito say to her if she were alive this day?

"Where did I go wrong?" she asked herself.

She shook her head as she glanced up at the clock. It was almost time for Minato to come home from work, not only that but, she had to go and pick her daughter from her friend's house. Hitomi was the most affected by Naruto's sudden disappearance that had it not been for her friends then she would have fallen into a deeper depression. Now that she thought about it, no one asked about where Naruto was expect Mikoto, Satsuki, and Itachi, when no else asked she wondered if he had any other friends other then them.

The photo to her surprise then cracked just like Minato's photo, the same thoughts that Minato had were running in her head and right now she was wondering what had happened to her son.

Kushina took one last look at the family picture before she was to leave. But, it was at this moment that something happened. The glass on the picture frame cracked across Naruto's face cracked just like Minato's photo, the same thoughts that Minato had were running in her head and right now she was wondering what had happened to her son.

"What is this feeling?" she asked. "Naruto please be alright, please,"

"Kushina!" Minato called for her.

With Hitomi

Hitomi was currently having tea along with her friends who were all chatting happily. Next to her sat the only other person whose family had blond hair, Ino Yamanaka. On her other side sat her timid friend, a girl with pretty indigo hair color and lavender eyes, Hinata Hyuga. As of now all three of them were the heiresses to their perspective clans. Well she hadn't been the heiress to the Namikaze-Uzumaki clan until after the sudden disappearance of her brother who was in her mind still the true heir to her clan.

"So Hitomi, do you know why your father pushed the graduation age back?" Ino asked as she lifted her tea cup to her lips.

"He said that too many genins were dying on missions at a young age since they weren't well trained so that's why he pushed it back," Hitomi responded, "not only that but he's saying that he's changing the entire curriculum for the next year and for the new generation,"

"Really?" Hinata asked wonder in her head and voice.

"Yes, we start training at age eight we graduate at age sixteen," Hitomi said, "that way we have eight years to prepare for the real world."

"That sounds like an excellent idea," said a new voice from behind.

The heads of the three girls turned to see three people walking towards them. One of them looked like an older version of Hinata, with her long indigo hair and bright lavender eyes, along with the woman was a five year old girl with brown hair and white pupil less eyes.

"mom, Hanabi," Hinata called out.

Next to Hinata's mother and sister stood a platinum blonde woman with the same blue eyes, and her hair tied in a long ponytail.

"Hi mom," Ino called out at the sight of her mother.

"Akira, Setomi," Hitomi greeted with a slight bow.

"How are you Hitomi dear?" Akira asked.

"I'm fine, thank you very much," Hitomi responded.

"That's good," Setomi said.

Hitomi smiled as she reached for her cup of tea but when her finger touched it the brim of it, the cup cracked before it shattered completely. A pain swelled up in her chest at the same time.

"Big brother," Hitomi said before she fainted on the spot, the last thing she heard were people calling out her name as she passed out.

Satsuki

Satsuki was currently staring at a photo of her and Naruto together by the lake smiling and holding hands the photo was taken by her mother Mikoto in the Uchiha household. Ever since Naruto disappeared her mother had seemed to be more of a sister figure then a mother. Itachi had also taken it somewhat hard though you had to pay real close attention in order to notice it really. She had remembered the promise they made that night and wouldn't forget it anytime soon.

"Still thinking about that stupid idiot," a arrogant voice said which she knew was Sasuke she immediately turned around with fire in her eyes and punched Sasuke right in the jaw knocking him down. She glared t him and yelled, "don't you dare call Naruto and idiot you stupid basterd!" she would have continued had she not heard a crack of glass breaking. She turned to the photo and saw Naruto's face where the photo was covered with a crack.

She was worried very much for her best friend and possibly the most important person in her life. She almost started to break down and cry, however she refused to cry in front of her brother she sent a death glare his way which caused him to run away. After he was gone she shut the door and locked it so no one could come in. he then started to cry for him praying and hoping he was safe and happy.

Later

Kushina sat next to her daughter's bed watching her rest. Minato stood next to her his hand on her shoulder, at the moment the two were worried for her and Naruto. Naruto, their moods immediately fell after the name crossed their minds. They had failed him so much

One thing that they were sure of was that Naruto would be coming back but, what would he bring with him.

Naruto

Alex then let go of Naruto causing him to fall and hit the ground. Naruto's body was convulsing after a couple minutes his body calmed down he managed to get into a kneeling position. Naruto was panting heavily after virus went into his system, Alex wasn't kidding when he said that it would be very painful first getting stabbed and then injected with the virus into his system. "Kid you may want to take a look in the river save you the experience later."

Naruto ran to the river and saw his reflection in it his eyes widened at his new appearance, his skin was pale nowhere near as pale as Alex's but like a person who stayed inside to much, his eyes were also different colors as well his right eye was a dark brown while his left eye was a crystal light blue in color, his hair had also gotten several shades darker making it a very dark shade of blonde hair. Naruto couldn't help it but laugh, he laughed out a laugh of joy, he lost what made him look so much like Minato, the hair the eye color. This was a major improvement in his opinion he didn't want to look anything like the man.

Alex could tell that he liked the change in appearance and he wasn't going to lie he did as well. He saw himself in the kid, his now turned little bother came over to him and said, "well what do you think," he said it as if he was wearing a new set of clothes.

Alex chucked and said, "looks good kid but now we got to do phase two of it," Naruto looked at him curiously while he had a smirk on his face and said, "we got to start training your powers."

Now People Review or a hunter will get you while you sleep tonight.