Blah blah blah disclaimer blah blah don't own blah

I'm back with a new chapter of the story that people apparently like despite the fact it was written by me. So sit, back relax, and ignore my inevitable grammar mistakes but first I need to respond to some of my reviews. (Check out the two polls I have posted)

Mzr90: Sory to lose you but I can't please everyone.

Karlsson: Thanks for the info I'll be sure to use it. But don't expect the NarutoXLucy story soon it's still just an idea at this point.

Milkitia: I'm not planing on having Naruto learn dragon slaying magic in this story but maybe in another one wink wink nudge nudge.

AnguishedOne: hey I had to kill Kushina. It's not Naruto if he doesn't go through some sort of trauma. As for Minato I explained where he was in the first chapter

GuestWithIdeas: I'm not going to have Minato or Jiraya (He's all but guaranteed to be in the story) appear and save Naruto since that would prevent Naruto from overcoming the obstacles I have lined up for him. Don't worry the blow to his head just knocked him out for a long time so go ahead and give me that idea of yours when your ready though I already have that scene more or less mapped out. I know where your coming from about my Omake but I'm not that sure what an omake is exactly so I've just been using them as if they were a bonus scene to elaborate a scenario that I either brushed over or didn't get to in the story. That and I couldn't think of anything funny last chapter but didn't want to not make an omake. I'm not going to have Naruto hate Minato nor will I bash anyone in this story at least on purpose. As for Minato's career that led to him becoming a wizard saint... to be honest I completely forgot about that. I have a large part of this story planed out but this was one of the things that slipped under the radar. He'll probably be a rune knight like you said which actually gives me a great idea for an omake this chapter.

Guest: No amnesia as for your Akisame idea... let's just say I'm suddenly more eager to write Naruto's physical training (insert evil laugh).

Chapter 3: The fox, the savage, and the forest

The first thing Naruto's conscious mind registered was the sound of running water. When he opened his eyes, with great difficulty, he found himself floating down a river with his upper body lain across a large piece of wood. The current was much gentler than the water he had fallen into, though it was still carrying him down-stream fairly quickly. Judging by the trees on both sides of the river Naruto was floating further and further into a thick forest.

When he saw a muddy shore at a slight bend in the river, Naruto began kicking to reach it. It took a while but once he washed up on shore Naruto removed himself from the driftwood and crawled away from the river. After Naruto traveled a few feet he began to violently cough up the water he had swallowed while unconscious. Eventually he stopped coughing and collapsed on the rivers shore.

Naruto could feel everything now that he was fully conscious. He was sore from his big fall, his head hurt from the blow it received from the rock, and his wet clothes left him cold and shivering. As he laid there the memories of his village's fate hit him worse than the rock did. His mother was dead, Erza had more than likely died after he fell, and his home was burnt to the ground. Naruto would've cried if he had the energy for it.

Rolling on his back, Naruto stared up at the clear blue sky. It was sunset when he fell into the river which meant he was unconscious for the whole night and half a day. The young boy continued to observe the clouds while the emotional and physical strain continued to eat away at him. Naruto became numb to the emotions as the pain was too much for him.

Once a few hours had passed Naruto pushed himself up on shaky feet and slowly made his way to the tree line. When he reached the first tree Naruto leaned his back against it and slid down the trunk. He still felt tired and beaten up so he slowly removed his wet shirt, wincing as he moved his arms above his head, and fell asleap.

Naruto opened his eyes and himself in an empty Rosemary village. Not understanding how he got here Naruto looked around frantically. Unlike when he left, the houses and other buildings were completely unscathed everything looked exactly like what the blond boy remembered.

But it was all wrong.

The streets were empty, the laughter of children was gone, and the birds were completely silent. Naruto became afraid as he began to feel alone.

" Hey! Where is everyone?!" Naruto shouted out. "Erza?! Simon?! Kagura?! Dad?! Mom?!" He continued to yell desperately looking for someone he knew.

"Naruto." A soft voice spoke behind him.

"Mom!" The blond shouted out happily, but his face dropped when he saw the state she was in. Her clothes were torn and singed in various places, the sword in her hands was dripping with blood, and worst of all her eyes looked dead. "Mom?" Naruto asked nervously. The boy would've asked what was wrong but just then he saw a dark mage coming towards his mother from behind. The mage brought out a gun and pointed it towards Kushina. Time slowed as the trigger was pulled.

"MOM!" Naruto shot up from where he sat against the tree. It was late at night as shown by the star filled sky. The blond was breathing hard and had broken out in a cold sweat. Naruto just sat still for a few minutes while he tried to get his breathing under control.

The dream had ended when Naruto heard the gunshot but the image of his mother getting shot repeatedly entered his head. The reality of the situation hit Naruto all over again. He was alone in the forest and his family was gone. There was no way Kushina survived and the dark mages more than likely killed Erza once he was out of the way. That just left Minato, his father.

'Will Dad come save me?' Naruto thought. 'How can he find me? Does he even know I'm alive? More importantly do I want him to save me?' These were the questions running through Naruto's mind. He had realized that Kushina died protecting him and he was too weak to defend Erza. The thought of seeing his father when he was responsible for Kushina and Erza's frightened Naruto. He didn't know how Minato would react. As thoughts of his family continued to haunt him Naruto did the only thing anyone in his situation could do.

He cried. Naruto hated himself for it but everything was becoming too much for him. The tears continued to pour out for a while until they became quiet sobs. Eventually the boy had cried himself to sleep.

The next day

Naruto awoke late in the morning. He still felt like crap from the other day so he chose to stay seated where he was. It was difficult for Naruto to keep his mind off his family and friends but he distracted himself by figuring out what he should do. If he went wandering around the forest he could become more lost than he already was. He could follow the river upstream but that would take him to the cliff and Naruto had no way to climb it. That left downstream as the only plausible direction for Naruto to take but who knows how far it would go or where it even went.

After much consideration Naruto chose to stay where he was. The boy decided that if he stayed still long enough someone would come along and show him a way out of the forest.

Naruto closed his eyes hoping to fall asleep, since there was nothing else to do, when his stomach made itself known. It was at this moment Naruto realized it had been at least twenty-four hours since he last ate and he was beginning to feel the effects.

Naruto scanned the forest for a food source and his eyes settled on the river. There didn't appear to be any edible vegetation nearby so the blond would have to fish if he wanted to eat. Naruto made his way to the river and stared at it intensely. Fish could clearly be seen in the river so the boy knew this would be a reliable food source. The only question left would be how to catch the fish. There was no fishing pole and it would be impossible to do it bare handed. His best bet would be spear fishing.

Naruto took a look around for something he could use as a spear and found a fairly long stick next to the tree he slept under. Upon close inspection the stick had sharp point on the end of it. Deciding that this would be the best stick he could use, Naruto made his way back to the river with the makeshift spear in hand.

A few minutes later Naruto was standing in a shallow part of the river paying close attention to fish swimming towards him. The boy's sight locked onto an average sized fish heading his way. When it was within reach Naruto thrust the stick forward into the water and pulled it out to reveal... nothing.

Again and again Naruto repeated the process but each attempt was met with failure. The sun was high in the sky and Naruto was more hungry now than ever. His muscles started to become sore and his frustration increased. Naruto was about to give up and look for some fruit in the forest when he remembered something from school.

Slowly putting the spear into the water, Naruto observed how it appeared to bend. Quickly taking the tool out of the water the boy watched for his next target closely. When the fish came close Naruto thrust the spear slightly to the right of his target. When the stick was pulled out a fish was desperately trying to get off the piece of wood impaling it. A huge grin broke out over Naruto's face as his theory was proven true, the light was being bent in the water so the fish appeared to be further right than it actually was.

Naruto walked ashore with his first catch. He had successfully overcome his first trial and he swore he would overcome the rest but first he needed to figure out how to make a fire.

Four months later

It has been four months since Naruto had caught the fish. He had been scratching tally marks into his favorite tree in order to keep track of time. The blond had successfully stayed alive so far but each day became harder than the last. For the first two months it had been relatively easy in the forest. Wild animals didn't bother him and fish were plentiful. He had learned to start fires and he sharpened the stick with nearby rocks. Once he was confident he could make it back to the camp, Naruto had begun exploring the immediate area and found multiple food sources such as berries and fruit. But each day became harder mentally.

After the first eight weeks Naruto began to doubt if anyone would find him. It became harder and harder to believe he would be saved each day that passed and Naruto was losing his will. By the end of the third month it had become a challenge just to spear his own fish. At this point he was lucky to catch one per day.

The worst part were the nightmares. Every night Naruto would have a nightmare and wake up in the dead of night. Sometimes it would be the dream where his mother was shot in the empty village. He would frequently dream of Erza getting speared by a dark mage while he was forced to watch. He would dream of Kagura getting dragged off into a dark alley before he was awakened by her screams. Naruto also saw dreams where Simon was repeatedly beat by the mages until his entire body was broken. He would occasionally dream of his father's disappointed face and glaring eyes. But the worst dream was the one where he stood in the center of Rosemary's town square surrounded by the bloodied villagers. They would scream and moan in pain but the voices Naruto cared for most were always the loudest. The dreams continued to eat away at Naruto's resolve until he was just a shell of his past self.

Naruto sat next to small fire he had made as he quietly ate his latest catch. It was just a small fish. He couldn't find it in him to look for any other food so he continued to eat the fish. Dark bags had found their way under Naruto's eyes which now had a distant look. As today was the end of his fourth month in the forest Naruto began evaluating his condition.

He was all alone and the silence was beginning to get to him. Naruto didn't talk anymore since there was never a reason to do so. It had been so long since he spoke the boy wasn't entirely sure he could anymore. Coherent thought were becoming harder to maintain and he was tempted to kill himself on more than one occasion. There was no doubt in Naruto's mind. He was going crazy. But the funny thing was he just couldn't make himself care. Naruto already realized he was going to die here so what did it mater?

It was becoming late so Naruto decided he might as well sleep. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the tree allowing himself to fall unconscious.

"Hey." A voice spoke up in front of Naruto. The blond boy slowly opened his eyes to watch the person before him. The person was a small boy around Naruto's age. He possessed spiky blond hair and blue eyes filled with anger. The boy was an exact replica of Naruto but without the defeated look.

When Naruto realized that this was only a dream he tried to close his eyes and ignore it, but his doppelgänger had other plans. Naruto's mirror image grabbed him by his shirt's collar and pulled him close. Empty eyes stared into ones filled with rage both blonds never looking away. "What do you think you're doing?" The angry blond growled out.

"I'm trying to sleep." The boy replied slightly annoyed.

The dream Naruto just got angrier. "That's not what I'm talking about. What are you doing in that forest?"

"I'm waiting for help." Naruto replied quietly.

"You're waiting to die." The dream countered.

Naruto felt his irritation grow into anger. "Why do you care? Who the hell are you?!" He began shouting at the end.

The doppelgänger let go of Naruto's shirt and punched him in the face. The blond was sent sprawling into the dirt. Ignoring the pain in his cheek, Naruto tried to get back on his feet but his clone kicked him in the side so he landed on his back. Before anything else happened Naruto found that his clone was keeping him pinned by stepping on him.

"I'm the part of you that actually wants to live." The rage had lessened from the second Naruto's eyes but they now held a strong authority over the boy.

"I want to live." Naruto protested quietly.

The doppelgänger just scoffed at that. "Really? Then why are you just lying around while you slowly starve? How come you never tried to leave this place? Face it you never tried to leave this place because you didn't want to. You talked yourself into thinking you were waiting to be rescued when you just wanted to hide from the world. Grow up and get out of here."

The two Naruto's glared at each other but the original blond broke the eye contact when his face morphed into an expression that betrayed all the mental stress and trauma he has undergone. "Why? Mom and Erza are dead, there is no way I can face Dad again, and I just can't think of reason to go on. Why should I struggle my way through this forest when I can just rest here?" His voice sounded just as defeated as he looked.

The dream Naruto regarded his counterpart for a moment before he stepped off. "Since when do you need a reason to continue livening?" The simple question caught Naruto by surprise and he looked back at his clone. "You can continue to live without your family it's hard but you can overcome this. And if you need a reason you'd be better off searching for one rather than just wasting away here."

Naruto considered those words for a few moments before he responded. "How can I get out of here?"

"I'm not sure. You need to figure that out yourself, but I'm sure you'll figure something out. After all we're the same person." The doppelgänger extended his hand towards Naruto who firmly took it in his own.

"Okay." Naruto smirked. "Let's do this."

The boy opened and found that it was morning. Naruto took a deep breath and looked around. It was time to accept everything. He was alone and no one was coming. If he wanted to leave this forest he would have to find his own way out.

After a quick fish breakfast, Naruto grabbed his favorite wooden spear and followed the river's current down stream.

One week later

It has been a week since Naruto left his four month long home in search of a way out of the forest. Multiple different animal species could be found drinking along the river. Naruto tended to keep his distance from the wild life to avoid being seen as a threat, but when he found a stray deer by itself Naruto made sure to spear it since the meat was much better than that of his daily fish. An occasional vulcan could be heard stomping around in the forest. After hearing stories about the violence and mischief a Vulcan causes from the villagers Naruto made it a point to stay as far away as he could. The nightmares still came but Naruto didn't let them control him like they once did. He missed his family but he would mourn for them later.

On the evening of the seventh day Naruto found the end of the river. And much to his disappointment it emptied into a lake with no sign of civilization in sight. It was a beautiful lake with clear blue water and several steams leading off in different directions of the forest.

Groaning Naruto dropped down on the shore of the lake. After a moment of rest he decided to catch his dinner and settle down for the night. He would come up with a new plan tomorrow.

A couple hours later Naruto sat next to a small fire and watched as his three fish cooked over it. To be honest Naruto was sick and tired of fish but he didn't have the energy to look for anything else. He pulled a fish off from where it hung over the fire and glared at it hoping it could somehow change into his Dad's homemade hamburger. Closing his eyes Naruto forced down the family memory and opened his mouth to take a bite but froze when he felt something watching him.

Turning to his right Naruto found a small fox, no bigger than a kitten, stating up at him with curious red eyes. The creature had beautiful blond fur with a slight tinge of orange. Naruto let out a small chuckle. He had been so afraid of the wild life he had forgotten just how cute some baby animals could be. "Are you hungry?" The boy asked with a smile. Getting no response Naruto grabbed one of his two remaining fish and tossed it in front of the small creature. The fox sniffed the fish and observed the blond cautiously before tearing into the offered meal. Naruto laughed and bit into his own meal.

"Was it good?" Naruto asked the fox that was now looking up at him with grateful eyes. It let out a small yip as if answering Naruto's question. The blond chuckled again and took the remaining fish off the fire. The cooked fish was torn in half and shared with the fox. When the meal was done the small fox ran up to Naruto and began to make strange gestures with it's body. The boy watched the animal in amusement for a moment before realizing it wanted to play.

"Sorry but I'm a little too tired for that right now." Naruto kept his amused smirk but the fox look sad. The fox, who Naruto decided to call chibi until he figured out a better name, looked up at the blond with adorable puppy dog eyes. Naruto felt his will begin to crumble but he was too sore from walking all day and he needed sleep since he would be doing the same thing tomorrow. Naruto let out a sigh and reached towards chibi he began to pet the fox much to the animal's pleasure. Once a couple minutes passed Naruto stopped and lied down for the night. Chibi looked off into the trees for a moment as if thinking something over before curling up next to Naruto and following him into slumber.

Several miles away

Somewhere in the forest a female figure sat silently on a large rock in the middle of a clearing. The person sat cross legged with her eyes closed in thought. Before long a dark green hawk flew down and landed beside her. "Did you find anything?" The girl asked never opening her eyes. The bird stared up at her and answered with a caw. "A fox and a boy huh? Is it who we're looking for?" There was another caw and the girl became irritated. "What do you mean I should see them myself? We've been looking for him in this forest for an entire month if you've found him tell me." There was a long pause as neither human nor bird spoke. "Fine I'll go in the morning!" The girl relented/yelled at the bird. The hawk flew up into a tree where it settled down for the night. The girl got off the rock and lied down on a soft patch of land before muttering out, "Stupid bird."

In the morning

Naruto opened his eyes to a beautiful view of the lake at sunrise. The light seemed to hit the water in just the right way to create the image Naruto made sure to ingrane in his memory. He was actually kind of glad the river emptied out here rather than lead to some village.

After pushing off his drowsiness Naruto tried to get up and start the day but felt something weigh down his chest. When he checked Naruto found that chibi had chosen to make the boy her bed for the night. Naruto gently moved his newly made friend onto the ground and picked up his spear so he could begin fishing for breakfast. Naruto threw a couple pieces of wood onto the fire to keep it going and made his way to the lake.

Four fish later the blond made his way back to the fire and the now awake chibi next to it. The fox seemed to glare at Naruto who merely laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry I made you sleep on the ground but I wanted to catch breakfast." At the end of the apology Naruto held up the fish getting an immediate reaction from the fox who began to look hungrily at the food. "Hold on I need to cook it first." Chibi deflated at that but still seemed excited for the food.

Before the boy could pick up one of the fish he had dropped next to the fire when he made his last comment, a shadow flew past them and two of the fish disappeared. Naruto and his fox companion were dumbfounded at the sudden disappearance of their food. They turned and found a large green bird eating both of the fish that had disappeared. Naruto was about to throw his spear at the thief but froze when a voice hit his ears.

"Was that really necessary Tibarn?" The hawk quickly finished off the meal and flew towards the source of the voice. A second later a women in her mid twenties stepped out of a trees shadow and made her way to Naruto and small fox who decided to hide behind the boy. To Naruto, who hadn't had any human contact in months, the women felt like a cruel dream.

She was fairly tall standing at about five ten if Naruto had to guess. Her dark brown eyes had a fierce look in them that could strike fear in any man. She had an angular face that was undoubtably beautiful and radiated power. Her short messy hair was a deep shade of brown and framed her face with bangs partly covering her left eye. A dark red headband was wrapped around her forehead and went down her shoulder for a few inches. She wore a tight golden brown tank top and blue jeans frayed in various places. Her hands were in black fingerless gloves that went up to just below her elbow. The well endowed girl radiated strength and power despite her beauty.

(I'm really not good at describing people. If you want to get a better idea of what she looks like look up Erza's early concept art)

Naruto finally found his voice and desperately asked the question he had been trying to find an answer to for the past week. "Hey. Can you please tell me how to leave this forest?" The women studied Naruto and Chibi with a keen eye before turning to her feathered companion.

"What the hell? You dragged me all the way out here for some boy and a baby fox. I thought you found my prey." The women complained. Tibarn let out a screech and the women looked confused. "The boy? What about the boy?" The still unnamed women turned back towards Naruto and studied him once more. "Hey kid. You look familiar what's your name?"

Naruto looked nervous but responded. "Um I'm Naruto Namikaze." He said nervously.

The women took a thinking pose and closed her eyes in concentration. "Namikaze. Namikze. Nami...kaze." Realization dawned on her and she gained a big smirk. "You're Minato's kid aren't you?" Naruto nodded nervously and her smirk grew into a full blown grin. "Oh this is perfect. Can you step aside for a moment I need to talk with that fox behind you." The blond looked confused and turned to the animal behind him who seemed to shrink back further. Getting defensive of Chibi Naruto chose to stay where he was, not that the women noticed. "I know that you're not an average fox so tell me where I can find Kurama." Chibi's eyes were filled with fear at this point and Naruto felt the need to act.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted. "Leave my friend alone!" Everyone stopped and turned towards the blond with various expressions. The hawk looked as if Naruto was just another mouse to hunt, the women turned to the boy with a raised eye, while Chibi stared up at the blond with admiration.

"Didn't I ask you to step aside?" Naruto could see that her smile was forced and any trust he had in her was gone. When Naruto didn't respond she dropped her smile. "I'll make a deal with you. If you step away from the fox I'll take you to your father before the end of the week."

It would be a lie if Naruto said he wasn't tempted but Chibi had been his first interaction with another living being in months that couldn't be described as eat or avoid. It might be irrational to remain alone in a forest for a fox you just met but his friend felt threatened so he wasn't going to abandon the fox. And something about the women felt off to Naruto.

The women scoffed. "Fine be that way. I just wanted to find the legendary Kurama. He's the reason I've been in this forest for the past month. Unfortunately I couldn't find him no mater how much I looked." Suddenly her face twisted into a dark smirk. "But I did find someone in his tribe."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked with a twinge of fear.

"It's a pretty simple concept if I killed someone Kurama knew he would be mad enough to find me." The women was starring Naruto straight in the eyes now. "If I were to kill you right now would your dad be angry enough to fight me?"

Naruto's eyes widened significantly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The women seemed to get a little annoyed at that question. "I met your Dad about seven years ago..."

Seven years ago

"Are you Minato Namikaze?" A young seventeen year old girl asked. She and the man who stood before her were just outside of a pub in Hargeon town in the middle of night. After hearing rumors of a man that could defeat an entire dark guild by himself in less than a minute the girl began searching for the legend which led her here.

"Yeah that's me." The man said with a nervous chuckle. He had been on his way home from some business he had in the capital but his train was early so he went into the bar for a quick drink. When he came out he was ambushed by the girl before him who was now smirking.

"Perfect." Suddenly she was armed with a spear and Minato was on alert. "You're going to fight me." She demanded.

Minato looked at the girl evenly for a moment and began rubbing his head while he gave her a slight smile. "Sorry but my train is about to leave and Kushina will kill me if I miss Naruto's first birthday tomorrow. I'll fight you some other time." With that the man turned around and walked towards the train station.

Enraged at being ignored, the teen rushed forwards intent on inflicting a small wound as a warning. Right when her spear was about to make contact Minato vanished and something hit the girl in the back of her head. She fell to the floor unconscious.

Present day

"Ever since that day when your father beat me so easily I tripled my training for when we would meet again."

"But why is fighting my Dad so important?" Naruto asked praying for a way out.

The women just laughed. "Why? Because fighting strong people is the best way to gain strength. And power is the most important thing in this world." The space around the women's hand seemed to bend and twist, before Naruto realized it she was holding a spear in her right hand.

The shaft of the spear was made of a dark brown wood with pure black lines creating intricate designers on it. An eighteen inch blade was attached to the shaft on one end while the other end was smooth and rounded out. The spear seemed to be of a really simple design but it was defiantly more dangerous than the makeshift one Naruto held.

"But before I fight your Dad I'm going to finish hunting Kurama." At this she turned to the small fox before her. "I'm sure he'll come out if I kill one of his family."

Naruto didn't know who this Kurama guy was or how he was related to Chibi but he did know that this women was dangerous. Hoping to buy time Naruto tried to get her talking again. "Who are you and why is this Kurama guy so important."

The women began to slowly approach the boy as she twirled her spear. "My name is Artrem Eru and I want to fight Kurama because I hear he's as strong as the dragons possibly stronger." She paused and took in a deep breath never losing the blood thirsty look on her face "I feel so excited just thinking about our fight. But enough about that I'd prefer to kill you in a way that your father can see so I'll ask you to move aside again."

Naruto quickly swallowed his fear and pointed his only weapon at Artrem who seemed amused at his actions. Suddenly the green hawk flew off the women's shoulder at impossible speeds. A strong wind blew behind Naruto and the fox he had come to know wasn't in sight. Fear griped Naruto's heart but quickly faded away when he heard a yip to his right. Glancing over Naruto saw that Tibarn had grown to a size slightly larger than a grown man and was currently keeping Chibi pined to the ground with a large talon. Before the blond could start to feel relieved Artrem chose to speak up.

"Fine I'll kill you now if that's what you want but remember that I gave you a chance to survive." Her smirk was no longer bloodthirsty but it was definitely cocky. "Since you're willing to stand up to me I'll make you another deal. Should you land one scratch on me I'll let you both leave. Deal?"

Naruto remained silent but gave a quick nod. If he only needed to land one scratch on her than he definitely had a chance to survive. Artrem continued her slow approach while Naruto watched carefully. When she was within range, Artrem raised her weapon up and brought it down on the blond. Naruto quickly raised his spear in a hasty defense and the blow landed on the spear between Naruto's hand holds. There was a loud snap as the boy's weapon failed to slow down the blow. The swing continued unhindered and left a large cut running down from Naruto's right shoulder to his left hip. Blood sprayed out of the shocked boys wound. Artrem looked disappointed as she stared at the wide eyed boy.

"Even if you are just a kid I thought you would've survived for at least a minute. I guess you didn't inherit your Dad's talent. Come on kid don't quit now I could've killed you with that but I chose not to in case you were holding back." Naruto continued to stare at the women in fear prompting a sigh from Artrem. "This is a fight kid if you won't give me a good battle I'll just use you as a punching bag." Artrem punctuated her sentence by swinging the blunt end of her spear against the blond's face.

Naruto was sent sprawling on the ground. He realised it was useless. There was no way he could touch her much less land a cut with his now broken spear. He briefly considered staying down in hopes that she left him alone, but he knew what would happen to Chibi if he failed this fight. Memories of Rosemary's destruction entered Naruto's mind and he swore that he wouldn't fail someone like that ever again.

Artrem couldn't help but smirk as the blond boy slowly got up and grabbed one half of his broken spear. This time it was the boy who made his way to Artrem. Once he was within range of the women's spear Naruto was sent flying backwards from a blunt blow. The boy refused to stay down and got back up. The cycle of standing up just to get knocked back down repeated for several minuets. Naruto refused to stay down and Artrem was becoming bored.

"Why do you keep standing up? You don't have the power to beat me." Artrem was genuinely confused at the boy's actions. Naruto didn't respond and continued to make his way towards the lancer. Artrem failed to hold back a sigh and stabbed her spear into the ground prompting a questioning look from the blond and the fox observing on the sidelines. The women raised her now empty hand next to her face and quickly shut it. "I don't think you realize the gap between us I haven't even used my magic yet you still want to fight." She extended her closed fist in front of her towards the blond. When she opened it there was a single leaf between her index and middle finger. "I can kill you with just about anything, even a leaf." Artrem took a deep breath before she spoke her next words. "Leaf magic: Iron Petal"

suddenly the leaf stiffened and became flat between her fingers. In less than a second the attack shot forward and pierced through the boy's shoulder ignoring the skin and bone along it's path.

Once the leaf exited out the other end of Naruto's shoulder the boy griped his new wound and yelled out in pain. He dropped to his knees and did his best to keep back the tears of pain threatening to come forth. A moment later Artrem stood before him once again holding her spear. A moment passed and the lancer raised her weapon intent on finishing off the blond but froze mid swing. Artrem's eyes darted to the left and her mouth turned into a full blown smirk "Finally." She whispered out.

Off on the sidelines a blur slammed into Tibarn knocking him away from the fox. The blur shifted directions and rushed towards Artrem.

The women stood her ground, completely forgetting about Naruto, and raised her lance to block a claw aimed at her heart. Artrem's expression revealed her bloodthirsty excitement as the claw continued to push against her weapon. The owner of the claw was a large fox who was now glaring at the lancer before him.

"Are you Kurama of the nine great beasts?" Artrem questioned with excitement in her voice. The fox remained silent and continued to glare at the women. "Not talking huh? Fine then." Artrem jumped backwards and swung her spear downwards at Kurama's head. The fox slashed with his claws and the sound iron against claw rang out. Artrem jumped further backwards and a dark green magic circle formed in front of her. "Petal blade storm"

The leafs in a tree behind her all stiffened and pointed at Kurama. Without a second thought the large fox grabbed the boy bleeding out behind behind him with his tail he then moved over to where Chibi was watching and picked up the smaller fox in his jaws. By then the leafs had already separated from the tree and were heading for Kurama. The fox took off into the tree line with the leafs in hot pursuit going through several tree trunks before they finally stopped.

Back by the lack Artrem turned to her companion."Don't let them get away." She commanded and the bird took off.

Two days later

Naruto awoke on the softest surface he felt in months. For what felt like hours he just lied their in complete bliss. Eventually the boy had enough and sat up. Naruto took in his surroundings and found that he was inside of what appeared to be a hollow tree. The surface he was sleeping on was a pile of grass and leafs arranged as a soft bed. He sat their for a few moments trying to recall what happened, but everything past the women using magic for the first time was a blur.

Eventually he was brought out of his thoughts by soft gasp to his right. Quickly turning to his right Naruto saw that it was Chibi staring at him with wide eyes. Suddenly she jumped at him and screamed, "Your awake!" Naruto was so shocked at hearing his friend speak he was unable to keep himself upright when the young fox slammed into him.

"You can talk Chibi?" The fox froze and looked up at him offended.

"I'm not a Chibi!" Chibi squealed in indignation.

Naruto heard the sound of a man chuckling behind him. "Don't get so worked up Kyu." The voiced scolded. Naruto turned around and saw a large orange fox walking into the tree. "After all you're the one who convinced me to bring him here." The now named Kyu huffed and looked away. The larger fox turned towards the blond. "My name is Kurama and this is my daughter Kyu."

"Yeah!" Kyu shouted. "My name's not Chibi!"

Kurama chuckled at the younger fox and turned towards Naruto expectantly. Realizing the unasked question Naruto, who had been watching the exchange with unbelieving eyes, straightened up and spoke hastily. "I'm Naruto Namikaze." The fox nodded and was about to speak but Naruto interrupted him. "How are you able to talk?"

Kurama looked at the boy for a second before he responded. "How are you able to talk?" Naruto opened his moth to answer but closed it when he couldn't find a retort. "Now as I was saying, Kyu told me about how you defended her from that mage so I owe you greatly for that." The blond was about to protest but Kurama held up a paw to silence him. "I don't feel any magic energy in you beyond what most people have so I can safely say you're no mage. To be honest I'm surprised that you survived in the forest for as long as you did." Naruto was about to ask something again but once again he was preempted. "I was alerted to your presence the day you washed ashore. I don't get involved with humans more than I have to so I chose to leave you alone. In fact I was planning to just drop you off at the outskirts of the closest human town, but Kyu convinced me to bring you back here and give you a reward." Naruto was a little pissed off that this fox just left him to die but decided not to get mad since angering the fox wouldn't be a good idea and Kurama had no obligation to the boy in the first place. Seeing that the fox was about to continue Naruto shoved down his thoughts and payed attention.

"To thank you for protecting Kyu I'll give you the opportunity to stay here for the next six months and learn magic." Naruto stared at the Fox for a moment and nodded dumbly. Naruto was always fascinated by magic and now this fox he just met was offering to teach him. There was no way Naruto would pass this up. "Good but before we begin I think it's important we make something clear. I will not be teaching you magic. I'll instruct you on how to access your magic energy but from there you will learn from this." Kurama maneuvered his tail in between himself and Naruto who saw that it was wrapped around something. The tail unfurled and a small book dropped to the floor.

"I tested you're magic when you were asleep and this book details the magic that's best suited for you." Naruto and Kyu stared at the book in wonder.

"What's it called?" The excited blond asked.

Kurama smirked. "It's called Divine Light Magic."

Omake-3: The start of a love story

"Why do I have to go to the hot springs with you again?" A sixteen year old Minato Namikaze asked of the man walking beside him as they made their way down a spacious hallway. The man in question turned to the boy with a perverted grin.

"Because it's my duty as your superior officer to show you the wonders on the women's side of a hot spring." At the end of his explanation he let out a small giggle as thoughts of what he would see entered his mind.

"I appreciate that you're looking out for me but I don't see how the women's side could possibly be any different from the men's." Minato stated.

The perverted man turned to the boy next to him bewildered. "Do you seriously not know what I'm talking about?"

Minato just shook his head and turned to the older man. "No but I was transferred into your unit six months ago and I'm tired of your perverted habits so I decided to ignore any implications of perverseness you may show." He deadpanned.

"You're no fun." Jiraya pouted before straightening up. "But I'm seriously worried about you. You spend every free moment you have in the library so I think it's long past time I force you to do something fun."

"Like peeping on women?" Minato deadpanned.

"Exactly." The older man clarified.

Minato just sighed and resisted the urge to facepalm. "But I'm almost done with the theory behind the magic I told you about." The blond protested.

"Look Minato, you can finish creating your magic later for now you need to relax or you'll stress yourself out." The man explained.

Minato was about to protest but the sound of someone down the hall interrupted him. "Lord Jiraya please stop that girl!" Minato looked back and saw that a girl his age was running towards them laughing histaricaly as the two rune knights chasing her failed to keep up.

Minato was about to intervene and restrain the girl but Jiraya beat him to the chase. Before anyone could blink the white haired man had already picked up the girl by the back of her shirt.

"Hey let me down old man!" The girl shouted without a hint of fear.

A tick mark appeared on Jiraya's forehead as he yelled back, "Old man?! I'm only twenty eight!" The two continued their shouting match and the rune knight's caught up.

Curious about the girl, Minato walked over to the knights in the hopes of gaining info. "Excuse me but why were you after her?"

The rune knight continued to gasp for air before he answered the question. "She broke free from our custody on our way to the courtroom."

"What did she do to get sent to court?" Minato asked confused on why someone so young needed to be sent to court with a rune knight escort.

The other rune knight cleared his throat and spoke as if giving an official report. "She was arrested for the destruction of public and privet property. In total she destroyed five buildings, two streets, eight food stands, three water towers, and traumatized several small children." Minato turned to the red head with wide eyes.

"It's not my fault! It was the only way to finish my job!" She defended.

"You were hired to catch a cat." One rune knight deadpanned.

"You have no idea what Tora is like." She said with a shiver.

One of the knights quickly tied her up and dragged her away kicking and screaming (Literally) while the other one stayed behind to thank Jiraya for his help. Before the man left to catch up with his partner Minato asked one last question. "What did you say her name was again?"

"She's Kushina Uzumaki of Fairytail."

DONE!

This took me a while and I'm glad I finally finished. You guys apparently like this so I'll try to keep wrighting for as long as I can.

Special thanks to a guest who reviewed on my first chapter for the idea about leaf magic. I was thinking about giving it to Iruka when he enters the story but gave it to Artrem, my first oc, instead since I felt it fit better.

Speaking of Artrem I wanna know how you guys felt about her. I thought up the character when I saw Erza's early concept art on the fairytail wiki when I was looking up the name of Rosemart village. I was originally going to make her the drill instructor for when Naruto undergoes basic training to become a rune knight, but decided to make her the villain when I decided to make Naruto meet one of the main villains of the story in the forest. Her drive for battle is similar to that of Kenpachi in Bleach. Also I already thought up her backstory and why she's so focused on gaining power so you don't have to worry about a character who is crazy just for the sake of being crazy. I also got her name from Artemis Greek goddess of the hunt. I just shortened the name and added an r. Eru is the name of the character Erza was based off of.

I plan on making Kyu Naruto's version of Happy. But rather than just flying around she helps fight

I was originally going to make this chapter end when Naruto left the forest but I felt that it was long enough as it is and I succeeded in getting to the beginning of Naruto's magic training which I'm happy with.

I'm also going to create two polls on my profile so please take the time to answer them. My pole questions are: 1.)would you rather I PM my response to reviews or write my response in the next chapter. 2.)Who had it worse in this story Erza who was trapped as a slave but with friends, or Naruto who was completely alone but in a better environment.

I would also like to get a beta reader sometime though I'm not sure on what they do exactly. If anyone's interested in the job let me know.

I could also use a good cover image if any of my readers are interested in drawing something.

Next time I will answer such questions as:

Why did Artrem decide not to attack during the two days Naruto was unconscious?

Why did Kurama run away when he's Kurama?

What does divine light magic do?

What was Kyu doing in the forest when their was a bloodthirsty women on the loose?

and more.

so see you guys next time don't forget to review.