A/N: I admit the premise of the story so far is a little ridiculous. If you can come up with a better story, please write it. I'd love to read a good FMP/Naruto crossover rather than write one, haha.

. : Whispers : .

The force of the impact knocked Gauron's head back hard and his body lifelessly fell to the ground afterwards with a thud. Blood trickled from the small red hole in his forehead as he lay there. His eyes were ecstatically wide open, completing a creepy look of smug satisfaction.

For a moment, nothing was said as the two Konoha-nins tried to absorb what had just happened.

"I really did it… I-I killed him…" said Ayame suddenly. Naruto wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement but he could tell from her widened eyes and quivering frame that she was utterly shocked. "Naruto... what should I do?" she asked absentmindedly. It's funny how a single action can change a person. Just moments before, she was the strong and determined older sister who had saved him; protected him from Gauron and this… this… war. And now, she was just like any other young teen, afraid and confused at the atrocities happening around them. She slumped down next to Gauron's dead body, robbed of expression.

Unfortunately, Naruto felt much the same as she did and it was at this moment that anxiety decided to strike him. Everything assaulted his senses at once: the pain across his body, the frightening sounds of explosions and gunfire in the distance, the bitterness of the dust in the air, the foul smell of blood, and the sight of death in front of him. The uncertainty of the events surrounding them and the fear of dying certainly didn't help matters either.

Naruto fell to the ground, easing himself the only way he knew how; by letting it all go and yelling out his frustration at the top of his lungs. Loud was the understatement of the day when he screamed.

This must have snapped Ayame out of her own delusion because now she had wrapped her arms around him once again. Back to her old self, she tried to comfort Naruto as he quietly sobbed on her shoulder. How utterly unmanly of him. But he couldn't help it.

"I'm sorry. It's okay Naruto," cooed Ayame. "Don't cry, okay? We'll make it out of this somehow."

Naruto, the kid that he was, couldn't help but sniffle as he let go a: "Promise?"

"Promise," she confirmed.

Satisfied, he wiped away the wet across his face and silently admonished himself. He was a boy, how dare he cry. I need to be stronger. I'm already eight!

"You're not eight," he heard Ayame whisper.

"Huh!?" Naruto looked up, startled. "What do you mean Ayame?"

"I said I promise we'll make it out alive."

Naruto shook his head. "No, after that. You said that I'm not eight."

"I did?" Ayame looked just as confused as Naruto was.

He nodded. "I heard it. Just when I thought about my birthday you—"

"December 24," whispered another voice into his ear. And clearly, it didn't come from Ayame. She wasn't close enough to whisper to him. Naruto looked around for a source but couldn't find anybody else.

"Naruto? Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"I thought I heard—Aggh!" Naruto's head suddenly began throbbing painfully and he clutched it with his hands, trying in vain to make it stop.

But the messages kept coming. They were like voices quietly screaming things into his head. No, more like memories that felt like whispers assaulting him from all directions.

"Make… make it stop," struggled Naruto.

"Make what stop!?" Naruto began searching around himself even more frantically but this time Ayame grabbed hold. "Naruto, calm down. You have to tell me what's wrong or I can't help."

The whispers continued to flood him. Complex mathematical formulae, engineering schematics, advanced scientific theorems, detailed explanations behind the physical and chemical workings of certain technologies he had never even heard about before... And strangely, Naruto understood all of it. Once he heard the whisper, it was ingrained in his memory like he had learned it long ago. They were 'memories' of technology. And one type of technology stood out from the rest. Black Technology.

Understanding the whispers didn't make the headache any better, however.

They kept coming and coming until finally the pain ended with a simple name for a single system that encompassed them all. The Chakra Driver.

In essence, it was a piece of Black Technology that would be able to manifest the life and spiritual energy of a person to devastating effect. Not unlike what ninja are capable of now. The difference, however, was that the Chakra Driver would work on a much, much larger scale.

"N-Naruto…?" asked Ayame again when she noticed Naruto suddenly relaxing.

"Chakra Driver," he replied blankly.

Naruto looked up at Ayame with questions in his eyes and she stared back much the same way.

What was this Chakra Driver for? How did he even know about it? What's the significance of December 24th? The information was all just too much.

The loudest explosion either of them had ever heard thus far, sounded out in the distance forcing Naruto and Ayame back to attention.

"If you're okay, Naruto, we have to move." said Ayame. "Or they might find us."

Naruto nodded in agreement but offered nothing else. "Where do we go? What should we do?"

Ayame considered this for a bit. "First, let's just get out of here. I think that Gauron person was heading to the South exit of the village for a reason and we're almost there. We can think about 'what to do after' when we get there, okay?"

"Okay," nodded Naruto understandingly. He struggled back to his feet and off they went.

A/N: I'm not sure exactly how the whispered work. Hopefully I got it at least kind of right.

If anyone is wondering where I'm going with this story, here's what I'm planning so far:

First Arc: Focuses on Naruto, Ayame, Gauron, and his other two apprentices.

Timeskip

Second Arc: Teenage Naruto enters Jindai High School. Focus on Naruto, Sousuke, Chidori, Tessa, and Ayame.

Third Arc: Enter that crazy Gates guy, Leonard and Amalgam. Won't know where this arc will go until I'm well into the second arc.

Fourth Arc: Largely hypothetical at this point. But I have read a lot of the FMP novels and I do have a certain ending in mind.