Note:

I've adopted this story from God Fist and will be using his first two chapters. Anything after that is my own work. Updates will be scattered so please don't ask me to do more. Reviews would be greatly appreciated but please no flames.

Prologue

Past the green of the forests and the small dwellings of the village, Naruto looked about with further, desperate confusion. He could not fathom the startling reality of his situation. Of course he could comprehend it logically, but the possibilities of his circumstances amazed him so much that rational thought almost left him entirely.

Here, amidst gallant tales of the great villages only rising some thirty years prior, or possibly even more recently, he looked with great bewilderment. He himself was in a place so familiar and yet it seemed so astonishingly foreign. He contemplated his position now with more logic, his mind finally done reeling at the awesomeness of the situation.

My body is so small, he thought, looking at his tiny hands with slight anxiety, it's like I'm four or five years old…

After waking up in the hospital—a very old-looking and apparently out-of-date hospital—he had stealthily snuck out and hidden among the crowds of people walking about in the afternoon day sun. He wasn't usually so cautious, but then again, he'd never expected to wake up in a hospital.

It was only after inconspicuously listening in upon civilian chatter that he understood what was going on. At first, he had suspected genjutsu but there was always a certain surreal quality among most illusionary techniques that Naruto had come to recognize. The vivid reality around him was definitely not a genjutsu.

Perhaps a master of the Sharingan, and its illusionary capabilities? Itachi and Madara were the only two Naruto could really grasp with certainty that had the ability of such lifelike false impressions. Sasuke was the other candidate that sprang to mind but Naruto dashed the thought immediately. Despite his prowess with illusions, Sasuke wasn't up to the level of Itachi or Madara yet, and this simply wasn't his style at all—Sasuke was much more of a direct combatant.

There was no way though that any of the Uchiha played a part in this odd turn of events. Itachi was long dead and Madara was still biding time. Naruto also had no recollection of ever being ensnared in those red, evil eyes, at least not recently.

Am I really so far back in the past? He asked himself.

No answer came.

After his theories were confirmed, he'd walked around in a daze, his thoughts constantly straying from one thing to another until, oddly enough; he was back at the front doors of the hospital.

He decided it did no harm to go back to his room. Perhaps the nurses or medics would yell at him, but it was no matter. He was little more than a toddler and he could feel it in his weak limbs and virgin chakra system. He absently noted that he couldn't detect the presence of the Kyuubi.

Just another craze to add to his 'List of Insane Things'.

Things were very quiet and morose in the hospital. Ironically, in the few hours he'd been gone, no one had even noticed his absence. There was even more irony to the situation in Naruto returning to a hospital of all places. Certainly, it was turning out to be the weirdest day of his life.

But the hospital would give him more time to think about what to do. He had seen the Hokage monument—or what would one day be the Hokage monument—and it was now simply a mountain side. It meant he had been thrown into a time where the first Hokage was still alive. Naruto remembered one of Iruka's lectures from his academy days—one of the very few he'd ever paid attention to—and recalled that the monument had only been built after the first Hokage had died. It was mostly a tribute to him, but it had soon turned into a tradition when the third Hokage had ordered that his sensei, the second, be honored in such a way as well. Many had then insisted that Sarutobi's face be built up there alongside the first and second; and so started the faces of the monument.

Some civilian had remarked—and Naruto had heard—that the son of the first Hokage was holding a celebration for the birth of his daughter. Naruto could only surmise that Tsunade had just been born very recently. This meant that he was now technically a few years older than the future Sannin. It also meant the first Hokage had already fought his legendary battle with Madara.

Naruto could now place himself perhaps somewhere in the middle of the First Great Shinobi War. He was already cursing internally for not paying any attention to Iruka's lessons on history, but at least he knew the general area on the timeline.

Before he could continue his musings, a soft female voice broke him from his thoughts. "Let's see…no name, no records, history or known affiliations…who could you be, boy?"

Naruto propped himself up on his elbows and looked at the woman who had walked into the hospital room. She had gentle features and an almost charming nature about her. Naruto guessed she was very happy at the moment, or perhaps recently. She had long blond hair and wore a white dress that Naruto supposed was the uniform of the time. Her bosom was large and Naruto couldn't help but be reminded of Tsunade.

"Well, who are you, boy?" she asked again, her foot tapping impatiently.

He hadn't quite had enough time to think of what he would do now that he was in an entirely separate and almost completely unfamiliar timeline. He decided abruptly that he couldn't reply with 'Uzumaki Naruto.' He would have to appear as a separate entity, so as not to cause any unnecessary problems for himself. The Uzumaki clan was still around after all, and it would be much too risky to endanger his future self from being born. He would have to wing it and hope his story added up in the end.

"Huh? Oh…I'm Kaiza," Naruto replied at random in a small voice, surprising even himself by its softness.

Naruto remembered the stories Inari, Tazuna and Tsunami had told him about the fisherman on his first serious mission. They had spoken so proudly of Kaiza's heroics that Naruto couldn't help but secretly admire him as well. He had always tried to emulate his great qualities, not being afraid of doing what was right and smiling in the face of death.

The woman's stance seemed to change. She was now the gentle and caring nurse, doing her best to reassure her patients. Her eyes softened as she looked at him and Naruto was almost sure the woman had a soft spot for children. He would have to use that to his advantage.

"Can you tell me what happened, Kaiza-kun?" she asked gently as she came to sit at his bedside.

"I…I don't know what happened," Naruto answered, and it was true. He wasn't sure of exactly how he'd ended up in the past.

The nurse nodded in understanding. "We found you near the hospital in a side alley. It looked as though you'd hit your head so that might explain you not remembering what happened. Can you tell me where you live or where your parents are at the moment?"

Naruto looked down at his lap in depression. "I…I don't live anywhere. There once was a lady that took care of me, but I don't know where she is anymore."

Naruto looked up slightly to see if she'd bought his gamble. He was successful, it seemed. The woman looked positively mortified. Her face was grim and Naruto could almost taste her pity.

"I…I see," she said softly.

She couldn't fathom the thought of a child so young having to fend for himself on the streets from all of the dangers and obstacles that no doubt faced him on a daily basis. It wasn't in her nature to turn a blind eye on something like this and soon a raging determination could be seen as her face set and her eyes became sharp and strong.

"I'll be back," she suddenly said very stiffly and left in a brisk pace.

Naruto wasn't sure what to make of her sudden actions but he sincerely hoped they boded well for him. He sighed tiredly and lay back to stare at the blank white ceiling. He still had some thinking to do.

Naruto sputtered as the woman—now identified as Senju Kame—dragged him along. After arriving some two hours later at his hospital room, she'd quickly told him to come with her. She had of course given him a change of clothes and ordered him in them quickly before taking his arm and dragging him out of the hospital toward places unknown.

"W-what are you doing, Senju-san?" he managed to say after matching her pace.

"Call me Kame, or Mother if you prefer. I am taking you to my home where you will live with my family until it is decided that you are fit to sustain yourself on your own," she said resolutely, her face high and her tone crisp.

"W-what!" Naruto stuttered out in response. "You don't have to do that, Kame-san! I'm fine on my own!"

She took notice of his squirming and thought he was frightened. Her pace slowed and she looked down at him now with sadness. She knelt before him so that they were eye to eye and grabbed his shoulders gently.

"I know this is strange and very different for you, Kaiza-kun," she started, her voice sincere, "but as a mother, I cannot simply allow you, a child no older than five, back on the streets to fend for yourself. I have talked with my husband and he agrees with me. He wishes to meet with you as soon as possible."

Naruto's eyes watered slightly at the utter kindness of the woman. He knew of the common man's capacity for kindness, just as he knew of his potential for cruelty. It stunned him to be on the receiving end of such kindness, and he felt not a small bit of guilt at lying to bring it about. During his true childhood, he was completely unaccustomed to such things and so when something like this happened, it always made him feel light and content. He turned his head down to shadow his face but didn't refuse her offer of compassion.

Kame smiled, an understanding gleam in her eyes. "Now let's go. I have to introduce you to my new darling daughter, Tsunade-chan."

As she started again to drag him along, he made no outward gesture at the coincidence of this truly being the mother of Tsunade. He simply sighed internally in annoyance and felt almost as if the gods above were laughing at his unique circumstances, amused and entertained.