Chapter 1: Where am I?

"Naruto!"

Ugh, Naruto thought. He rolled over and tried to block out the voice. It was probably somebody trying to get him up for something. He could just hear Sasuke's No, really at that last thought. Wait a minute, Sasuke--

"Naruto!"

Something heavy and hard landed on him. The breath left his body in a whoosh. The whatever on his chest began to bounce up and down enthusiastically. Ugh, Unh, Uh, Naruto thought in time to the bouncing. Finally, he just reached up and grabbed the thing when it was above him. He pried one eye open.

"Naruto! Naruto! Naruto!"

He saw above him a little boy of about seven, with spiky blonde hair and green eyes. The bouncy ball was grinning madly, eyes alight with . . . something. Who is this?

"Whuh?" Naruto muttered, still suspending the child in the air.

The kid grinned even wider. "C'mon, you promised!" He swung his arms and legs. "Time to train!"

"Huh?" Train?

Big green eyes rolled dramatically. "Last night, you said you'd take me training with you today!" His lips formed into a pout and he pointed an accusing finger at him. "You promised, niisan."

Niisan?

Slowly, his mind began to clear. He sat up, holding the boy away from him and set the kid on the floor. This isn't my apartment. The walls were a combination of royal blue and bright orange. Nice decorating. I really like it. There was a dark wood dresser on the opposite side of the room and a hanging cabinet full of weapons. To his left there was a nightstand, and on that nightstand were . . . pictures?

"Niisan?" the kid was now looking at him carefully. "Are you okay?"

"Uh . . . yeah," Naruto answered. "You just woke me up suddenly. Give me a minute, okay?" Anything to buy some time so I can figure this out."Why don't you go downstairs and get ready?"

The kid grinned brightly again. "Okay!" He sprinted out of the room.

Naruto watched him go, then quickly closed the door. He rolled his shoulders. Something wasn't right inside; he didn't feel normal and not just because he'd woken up in a strange place. The blonde shook it off, crossed to the nightstand and inspected the pictures. The first one he picked up looked like a Gennin team picture. This isn't my team, but I'm in it. What? He was in the middle, looking like he did when he was twelve. On his right was Kiba, with Akamaru on his head and on his left was a green-haired boy he'd never seen before. Standing above them, like Kakashi was in his picture, was a dark haired man that again, Naruto didn't know.

There were three other pictures on the stand. One was of a very, very old man. He was smiling the kind of smile only old people can smile, one of patience, wisdom and more than a little mischief. Naruto looked closely at his eyes. Woah. They're like my eyes. Naruto had spent a lot of time looking at his own eyes when he was young, wondering if there was something in them that made him unlovable, so he knew what his eyes looked like. Same shape, same rings of dark and bright blue. He stared at it a second more. That's weird.

The other picture was of three kids, obviously siblings, grouped together. The oldest was a girl, about sixteen in the picture, with soft golden hair, more blonde than yellow, and emerald green eyes. Just like the hyperactive bouncy ball a minute ago. The second kid was a boy of probably ten, who had the same color hair, except it went up in spikes. His eyes were blue. Again, just like mine. Creepier and creepier.The last kid was . . . Hey! It was the Manic Midget that had attacked him. Why do I have a picture of these three on my nightstand?

He moved to the last picture. It was of a man and a woman, obviously in love. The man was in the process of swinging the woman in a circle, so her feet were off the ground and they were both laughing into the camera. The woman, Wow, she's beautiful. Naruto thought. She looks just like the girl in the other picture. He scooped it up and compared the two. Yep, definitely mother and daughter. The man was . . . familiar. Naruto brought the picture closer and squinted at it. Hmmm. Where had he seen that face before? He stared for a couple more seconds. Nothing. Maybe I've seen him when he's serious. The blonde rearranged the man's features so they were scowling instead of smiling and—

The Fourth Hokage?!?!

He looked closely. Yep. That's him alright. Believe it. But why would I have a picture of the fourth in my room? Wait a minute! What if this isn't my room? What if-?

He could almost hear Sakura's voice in his head. Naruto, before you do anything stupid, you need to know as much as possible about the situation. Get knowledge.

He closed his eyes. Thank you, Sakura. Okay, first step? He glanced down, noting the boxers and T-shirt. Get dressed. He quickly crossed to the dresser and began rummaging through it. Nope, not in this drawer.He moved down. This one, either. The last drawer. Gaahh! Where is it? He ran through the drawers again, looking for his favorite black and orange outfit, but again, nothing!

"Naruto! What's taking you so long?" It was the kid again.

"Uhh." Oh, crap, crap, crap. What should I say? "Its, ah, part of the training. A ninja must be patient," he answered, borrowing one of Kakashi's favorite lines. You're one to talk, Naruto.

"Oh," the kid answered, making the word about five syllables long. "Okay. Got it."

Naruto grabbed the first clothes he found, which happened to be black pants and a bright blue sleeveless shirt that matched the walls. He dragged his sandals on and filled his pack with kunais and shurikens. Finally, he tied his headband on his forehead and reached for his necklace. My necklace! Where is it?

The blonde tore up the room before remembering where he was. Okay, maybe wherever I am, I don't have it.

"Naruto!"

Naruto grimaced and rubbed his neck. It felt weird without Granny Tsunade's necklace, but he'd have to make do for now. When I get home, I'm never taking it off, he swore.

"Good job," he congratulated, opening the door. "You're first mission was a success." Naruto gave him the thumbs-up sign.

The kid returned it. Okay, Sakura, here I go. "Now," he continued, crouching to the midget's level. Geez, was I ever this short? "A ninja must always be able to give a good report to his Hokage. So, for practice, I want you to tell me everything you can about the people that live in this house and draw me a map of it."

Manic Midget scrunched up his face. "This is dumb. You said you'd teach me to throw a kunai," he complained. "If you don't, I'll tell Dad."

Dad?Dad?! No, no, focus, Naruto berated himself. "I will, but you have to do this first, okay? Like I said, a ninja who can't give good reports can put his teammates in danger." And I need this information.

The kid sighed heavily, as though a great burden was being put on him. "Alright, but only if you'll still teach me throwing later."

"I said I would, right?" Naruto grinned and gave the Midget the "nice guy" pose. "I never go back on my word. That's my nindo, my ninja way."

Midget rolled his eyes. "Okay. Come on." He led Naruto through the house, down a flight of stairs, to what amounted to a living room. He sat down and pulled out a piece of paper.

"Okay." With his tongue tucked between his teeth, he set the pen on the paper. Slowly, he drew a sketch of the house, with a first, second and third floor.

"Wait," Naruto interrupted. "You always start with the guy the highest up. Okay?"

"Right," Midget answered. "The highest up would be Daddy." In the section for the third floor, the kid wrote the words NamikazeMinato. Hmm, must be the Fourth Hokage. "He's the Fourth Hokage, the most powerful ninja in the village. Next is Mommy. Namikaze Meara." Carefully he inscribed the name next to Minato's. Meara? That's not a normal name. "She's from the Churaeah clan in the mountains."

Naruto held up a hand. "Hold up. Expand on that a little bit more."

The kid scowled, but complied. "Well, Mommy's family is a clan in the mountains. They've lived there longer than Konoha has been here. They even have a different language from us. That's why their name is so different. Daddy says that 'Churaeah' translated into our language is 'Uzumaki.'" The kid smiled up at Naruto. "That's where your middle name came from."

"Uh . . . huh." Whaaat? Okay, Naruto, okay, calm down. Think about it later. If this is a trap, you can't let on. Stay calm. "Good job so far. Keep going."

The kid moved to the second floor. "I guess you would be the most powerful next." He scribbled the name Namikaze Naruto. "You're the best Chuunin in the village and Dad says you might be nominated for Jounin in another year or so." He grinned up at Naruto.

Me? The best Chuunin? Nominated for Jounin? Really? Alright! I guess wherever I am everybody realizes how great I am. Take that, Sasuke.

"Then, there's Namikaze Tama. She's your twin sister. She's a medic nin, and a Healer, like Mommy. She's learning the secrets of the Churaeah clan."

Naruto didn't hear a word beyond "twin sister." What?! A twin sister?! Whaaaat! How am I supposed to-

At that point he heard Sakura's voice in his head again. Naruto! A ninja never gives himself away.

Right, right, Sakura. I gotta calm down, keep my cool. All this probably isn't real anyway. Again, Naruto got that strange feeling, like something was . . . missing. He rubbed his neck, but that wasn't right. Come on. Think later. Listen now.

The kid moved to the next room. "Okay, then we have Namikaze Kenji. He's still a Gennin, under Uncle Kakashi's team. He's not really a great ninja, but Kakashi says that he breaks the rules too much for him to be a good ninja. Daddy always says that rules aren't everything." He penciled the name in a third room.

That's messed up. My younger brother is on Kakashi-sensei's team and Kakashi-sensei actually cares about rules? This is definitely weird. No way am I in a real place. Must be genjutsu of some kind.

"Okay, then there's me." The kid grinned widely. "I'm Namikaze Raidon. I'm not a ninja yet, but I start at the Academy in two weeks. Then I'm gonna be a great ninja and someday I'll be Hokage, just like Daddy."

So, the Manic Midget has a name. Raidon. Okay.

"So? So? So?" Raidon jumped up and down on the couch excitedly. Geez, the kid is part bouncy ball. Was I ever like that? Hmmm. Considering that Kakashi-sensei still calls me Konoha's Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja, probably.

"So what?" Naruto asked.

Raidon rolled his eyes dramatically. "So can we do kunai training now? Can we? Can we? Can we? Pleeeeeeeee-"

"Alright! Alright! We'll go." Naruto stood up, and Raidon followed, punching the air emphatically. "Do Mom and Dad-" Saying that sounds so weird. "-know where we're going?"

Raidon stared at him. "Duh, Naruto. We talked about it at dinner last night!"

Naruto put his fists on his hips. "Well, I just wanted to make sure. A ninja always double checks. Believe it!"

Raidon rolled his eyes again. "Whatever. Let's go!"

Naruto followed Raidon through the streets of Konoha, trying to assimilate everything the midget had told him. A family, consisting of parents, a sister and two brothers. Hmmm. That was interesting. He'd have to play along as a brother/son until he could figure out how to get home. One problem. I've never been a brother or a son. How do I pretend to be one? Won't they notice if I'm acting strange?

"Okay, so how are we going to start this?" Raidon asked, skipping about three feet in front of Naruto.

Uhhh. How do I do this? "Have you, ah, done any strength training?"

Raidon scrunched up his face. "Strength training? Like what?"

"You know, push-ups and stuff like that?"

Midget shrugged. "Not really."

Naruto nodded. "Then that's what we'll start with. Do you have a training field preference?"

"Huh?"

Ha! Now who's confused? "Okay, we'll just see what's open." Naruto led the way to the fields and decided on Field 3. It had several targets in an open field, so any that Midget missed he could find easily. No point in wasting kunais.

Naruto clapped his hands together. "Alright! First, we start with, uh, fifty push-ups. How does that sound?"

Raidon scowled. "No way. I can do more than fifty! I'll do a hundred!" He dropped down and proceeded to do so. Naruto followed, not seeing any harm in doing some push-ups to keep his strength up. As he pumped, he thought.

This is certainly interesting. What is the last thing I remember before waking up here?

Hmmmm.

Hmmmm.

Hmmmm.

Ah, hah! That thing I tripped over! Sasuke said, ah, what did he say when I touched it? "Its like the thing is pulling you somewhere." So, whatever that was pulled me into this whatever this is. Hmmm.

Hey, Kyuubi, he thought, addressing the fox inside him. Any ideas?

Silence answered him.

Hey? You there?

Fine, bastard. Don't answer, just remember that whatever happens to me happens to you, too.

Still nothing.

Kyuubi?

"Naruto?"

He snapped his head to the side to see a panting Raidon. "What?"

"I finished."

Naruto froze mid-push-up.Already? "Oh. Okay." How many did I do when I was thinking?

"Okay. The strength training helps you throw the kunai with more force, which does more damage." Oh, man I need more time to think. Uhhh. "What is just as important as physical strength is chakra strength." What did Sakura say when we ran up trees? "There are two parts to chakra: physical and spiritual. Only when the two work in balance can you be a great ninja." Something like that. "So, the next step in learning to properly throw a kunai is to get in touch with your chakra."

Raidon stared at him. "How do I do that?"

Naruto showed him how, channeling his own chakra into a small ring around his body. Raidon, thinking this the coolest in the world, sat down and immediately began to concentrate.

Kyuubi? Listen, if you're there this isn't funny. Whatever happens to me, happens to you, too, remember? I could use your help to get back home.

. . . Look, jerk, do you want to die!

"Naruto?"

The Chuunin opened his eyes and glared at his "brother." "What?"

Raidon shifted and pouted, Naruto's snapping intimidating him. "Nothing." His voice was very small.

Naruto sighed. Who knew the kid was sensitive? "Look, I'm sorry I snapped. You just broke my concentration. Now, what did you want to talk about?"

His green eyes slowly rose, then glanced away in shame. "I keep getting distracted. I can't concentrate."

Concentration problems? Those, Naruto could sympathize with. Hm. What was it the Pervy Sage said to help him during Rasengan training?

"Gimme your hand."

Raidon obediently held out his left hand. "Left handed, huh?" Naruto drew a marker out of his pack. As he drew the Hidden Leaf Symbol on the boy's palm, he explained. "When the village was founded, sometimes the ninja would have trouble concentrating, too. So they would lay down and put leaves on their foreheads and focus on the leaves. That's why we have a leaf on our headbands." Naruto tapped his own. "Now, for our purposes, we need to concentrate on our hands, so . . ." Finished, the blonde showed Midget his palm. On it was the Hidden Leaf Symbol. "Here you go. Now, just imagine your chakra as energy, fire if you like, flowing to that mark on your palm. Kay?"

A huge grin spread on the boy's face. "Alright! I got this now!"

Naruto went back to his own chakra and investigated it closely. Where was the fox's chakra? He shot a glance to Raidon and, seeing him deep in concentration, went inside himself.

He heard the steady drip of the water. The sewer of his mind—when he had told Kakashi-sensei how he saw his mind, the Jounin's eye had curved into a crescent. "I'm not that surprised"—was a familiar place. Naruto began to travel through the passages of his mind, searching for the cage he knew contained the fox.

He arrived at the place it should be. Nothing.What is this? Naruto turned around and began to look elsewhere.

Up this passage, down that. Right, left, straight. Nowhere.

Kyuubi?

The fox didn't answer. All Naruto could hear was the echo of his own voice.

KYUUBI!

Again, nothing.Oh, man. This is bad. Whatever that thing was managed to mess with the fox, or get so deep in my head I can't find him. Naruto checked for a couple more minutes. He flew down the halls, then back to the huge cavern where the fox was. Still, nothing. Mindful of the boy waiting, Naruto exited his mind.

Raidon was still trying to mold chakra. Naruto could sense a little bit collecting in his hands. Pretty impressive for a seven-year-old. The Chuunin drew out a polished kunai knife and checked his reflection.

Just as I thought. No whiskers.

His face was unblemished, smooth. He was missing the three lines stretching across his cheeks, evidence of the fox's possession. No whiskers and I couldn't find the fox in my mind.

Naruto reached out with his senses. Normally, they were super-heightened. He could sometimes detect a person by their scent alone and he could normally hear an insect buzzing at over twenty feet away. Now, though . . .

It's like someone put a damper on the world. Everything is dull compared to what I'm used to.

What could this mean?

Whatever that thing was, it was powerful enough to mess with Nine-Tails. That's pretty bad.

He glanced at Raidon again. Now, his hands were faintly glowing with chakra. Man. If I'd had that control when I was his age.

Naruto moved closer to his brother. "Raidon," he murmured. "Keep concentrating on your hands, but slowly open your eyes."

Midget nodded. His lids crept up. Then his eyes widened as he saw his blue-tinted hands. "WOW!!"

Instantly, the chakra was gone. Naruto laughed. The boy scowled and jumped on him. Naruto rolled over, easily taking Raidon's weight.

"Quit laughing!"

Naruto only laughed harder. He deflected Raidon's punch, but took a knee to the gut.

"Hey!" he protested. "Knock it off." He threw the kid about five feet in the air.

Raidon landed on his feet. Nimble little cat. "AARRGH!" He charged.

The older blonde sidestepped and tripped him. As Raidon flew through the air, Naruto grabbed his ankle and dangled him upside down.

"Put me down! PUT ME DOWN!" Raidon twisted and swung wildly—and ineffectively. Naruto held the child away from him, in utterly no danger because his arm was about twice as long as the boy's.

"Get down yourself," Naruto challenged. Raidon howled in frustration and continued to convulse. Naruto snorted in amusement. "That won't work. Use your brain, Midget."

Raidon snarled. "Don't call me that!"

Naruto laughed. "I can call you whatever I want until you get down, Shortie."

"I'll tell DAD!"

"Tell me what?"

Naruto snapped his head around. Raidon stopped swinging. There, at the entrance to the training field, stood Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage. He's . . . tall.

Minato grinned and stepped forward. "What's going on here?"

Raidon folded his arms and pouted. "Naruto won't let me down."

"Is that so?" Minato's grin widened as he turned to Naruto. Naruto simply stared at him. Spiky yellow hair, intense blue eyes, he was wearing a blue jumpsuit and green vest, like any Jounin. He was missing his Hokage robes. This man is . . . my father. No, wait. Maybe that's just a lie, concocted by whoever or whatever dragged me here! Really, what kind of dad would seal a demon in his own son?

But . . .

Look at him. I feel like I'm looking into a mirror. We have the same hair, the same eyes. Man, this is weird.

What if he's my father in the real world, too?

"Naruto, are you okay, son?" Naruto snapped out of it. Minato was looking at him intently.

"He's been doing that a lot," Raidon confessed.

The blonde frowned down at him. "Tattletale." He dropped Raidon.

"OWW!" The seven-year-old rolled around on the ground, clutching his head.

Minato bit his lip and closed his eyes. "Naruto . . ."

"Wha-at?" Naruto shrugged. "His skull's thick enough, I think."

The Hokage's shoulder's shook with suppressed laughter. "That's not the point. I-" He stuffed his fist into his mouth to hold the cackle back. After several seconds, he turned back to Naruto. "Your mother-" Again, he had to stop and control the laugh.

Naruto smirked and snuck up to Minato's ear. "You should really just give up," he whispered.

He swung his arm in a wide arc, which Naruto easily dodged. Then followed his advice.

Raidon scowled at the two of them. "Quit laughing!"