Ch.1 A new life.

When Raymond came to he was floating once again in a sea of dark nothingness, as if everything he just went through was a dream. With little else to do he pondered the warnings told to him by Jugudeil. 'He said I would be sent to a world similar to one that I know, not the one I'm from… that means I'm probably not going back to Earth. Or perhaps I'm going back in time, that would explain the majority of his warning.' Raymond couldn't help but ponder the message he was left with.

With no way to keep track of time he kept turning the words over in his mind, trying to understand their meaning. Until eventually he felt himself stop floating, and latch into something. His very being feeling like an anchor had been wrapped around him. Before he could question what was happening his eyes opened on their own!

'Wha-' he couldn't hold back his surprise as infront of him was a beautiful red haired woman with blue eyes in a hospital gown. He tried to move his head to get a better view of the room but his body wouldn't listen to him. He tried to say anything but no sound came out. He tried to move his limbs but they wouldn't respond. He could feel himself starting to panic as his world went black again, then he heard a cry. A baby was crying… realization finally hit him, he was a baby, and he was crying.

XxX

It had been months since his 'reincarnation' and he was starting to learn things. The first thing he learned was that his new name is Suzuri, and that his mother was named Sumi. They lived on an island with a lot of people, and almost everyone had red hair… well except the elderly, they had grey but that was unimportant. Unimportant because everywhere he went he saw the same swirl pattern it was buildings on his crib, and alomst always somewhere on the clothes of those around, he knew where he was.

He was in the world of Naruto, but more importantly he was in Uzushiogakure land hidden in the eddies. He was so sure that he wasn't even surprised when his father came home with a hitai-ate that had the uzumaki swirl on it. His father who had short cut red hair, was of medium build, with green eyes and a scar on his left cheek.

Despite all this new information he did his best to just go with the flow. He was a baby, so he acted like a baby, not that it was hard. He got tired quickly so he slept a lot. He had almost no control over his legs so he crawled, even less control over his arms so he ate messily, not to mention the lack of control over his nether regions, he was just grateful that was still a boy.

XxX

For the first two years of his life he just enjoyed the peace of being an infant, with no responsibility other than learning how to walk and talk. Thankfully he had an easy time picking up the language of his new home, it seemed similar to Japanese if not the same. He learned that his father spent most days writing out seals that would be shipped out to the other lands and his mother was well known around the island for making good quality ink brushes.

It was peaceful, and that was good. Except he knew that Uzushiogakure was due to be wiped off the map right before the third great ninja war. He had no idea how long it had been since the second great war had ended and thus had no idea how long he had to prepare. With that in mind he decided to find knowledge the only way a child of two and a half years can.

"Ka-sa, tell me story please?" Was it silly? Yes, but without the intent or the ability to read all he could do was ask about the world around him.

"Of course Suzuri-chan, what kind of story would you like?" his mother called to him, in the last two years she had taken to leaving him in a playpen near her crafting table as she worked.

"un 'bout Tou-sa!" He answered excitedly, past life or not a kid should talk like a kid. Besides, words are hard.

"Alright, I'll tell you about the time you're Otou-san helped Ashina sama seal a big scary fox!" She said in a singsong voice.

"Your otou-san, he is a student to the leader of our family Ashina-sama. Together they helped people all throughout the land of fire. One day a very bad man tried to hurt our cousins the Senju, who just wanted to play ninja with their new friends the Uchiha. This bad man didn't like that they were playing so well together and decided to cause trouble with his mean pet fox." At This point she had to take a breath, and started working on a new brush.

"Hashirama-sama, the leader of our cousins the Senju, punished this bad man and his mean fox for so long that they fell fast asleep. With both of them asleep Hashirama-sama asked Ashina-sama to seal away the mean fox so that it wouldn't bother anyone ever again. She stopped again looking to see if Suzuri was still awake, which he was, if only barely. At this point he already knew how the story ended, and even had an idea of when he was.

"Ashina-sama and your otou-san worked very hard to seal away the mean fox, but nothing they did seemed to work. They tried to use paper, wood, stone, and clay but nothing worked. They were almost out of ideas when Ashina-sama's daughter Mito-sama decided to use herself, and it worked. Now the bad man sleeps forever, and the mean fox is learning how to be nice inside Mito-sama, and the Senju and Uchiha play ninja together in peace." She finished her story, standing up from her chair at the crafting table stretching her back.

"Now it's time for lunch little Suzuri-chan, how about some omurice?" She asked picking up her son, walking them to the small well stocked kitchen.

"Yay! Omu omu!" After that story he had plenty to think about. If his father had helped seal the kyuubi into Mito Uzumaki, then it was at least after the first war. Since his father is here in town and not at the front then it's either the time before the second war or just recently after. If he remembered correctly there was about twenty years between the second and third great war, with Uzushio's destruction being the first battle. Meaning he had anywhere between twenty to ten years to get his butt strong enough or be convincing enough to make a difference. Well at least he now had a time frame.

'For now though I just want be a good kid for my parents'

XxX

It had been four years since Raymond now Suzuri, had asked his mother for that story the first time, in that time he had grown. Now at six and a half years old he had a slightly clearer view of things, his father was the head apprentice to Ashina-sama the Uzumaki clan head. As such because Ashina had no other living children besides Mito his father was set to be the next clan head, and leader of Uzushiogakure. He also learned that while the Uzumaki are the dominant and ruling clan they are not the only clan on the island, besides the Uzumaki there are the Namikaze and the Otsuka clans.

The Namikaze clan from what he learned where great researchers, and were responsible for much of the technological development in Uzushio. Though they had a smaller capacity for chakra when compared to the Uzumaki they were far from weak. Mostly specializing in speed and stealth they could not be forgotten about, with their bright blond hair, and stormy blue eyes.

Then there was the Otsuka clan who's white hair and golden yellow or blood red eyes made a lasting impression on anyone they passed. Though not as talented mentally compared to either the Uzumaki or the Namikaze, they stood out with their raw strength. They are feared on the battlefield for their strong taijutsu and their lighting kinjutsu techniques that allow them limited command of nature energy.

Ever since his third birthday Suzuri's parents have been teaching him how to run and jump properly, getting him to exercise his young body. Then instructing him on how to meditate and harness his chakra, and manifest the first links of his chakra chains. Finally before he went to bed his otou-san would help him practice his calligraphy, all the while telling him about the history of the Uzumaki clan. Suzuri now over six years old finds himself being trained by his otou-san and oka-san in the basics of taijutsu, shuriken-jutsu, ninjutsu, and most importantly fūinjutsu. It is now that his parents ask a question that he has been waiting for.

"Suzuri-chan, do you want to attend the academy?" It was a simple question

"Yes!" With an equally simple answer. Why wouldn't he join the academy? Sure it wasn't the same as Konaha's but he needed to go to be a proper ninja.

"Good, you've been working hard lately so to celebrate lets eat something good!" His otou-san called out happy at his son's quick response. It was a joyful evening filled with laughter and food, the sun had nearly set when a nock came from their door. Curious Suzuri's otou-san got up to answer the door.

"Tegami-sama, I'm sorry for interrupting your night, but there is an emergency! Ashina-sama has requested your assistance." A man with blond hair and a Uzushio hitai-ate, knelt on one knee, in front of Suzuri's otou-san.

"Take me there. Sorry you two, hopefully I'll be back soon" turning back to grab his jacket and a pouch from the top shelf Suzuri's otou-san, Tegami, left. It would be over a month until he returned, covered in more bandages than a mummy, and even longer until Suzuri knew why. For the moment he had to prepare for the academy.

XxX

well that was chapter 1, I know things are slow going but we should get to see some exciting things next chapter.

I hope you enjoyed the story time bit, I've been taking care of my little cousin lately and tried to keep it simple enough that a toddler could follow along.

I wanted to do something for his first chakra chain, but I think I'll keep that for later all you need to know is that he can form them.

also we get the family's names.

for those not keeping track there is

Sumi the mother

Tegumi the father

and Suzuri the son

anyway I'm rambling, thank you for reading

-Emerald Bandit