Ok, I've done some revisions, mostly in the middle. I'm so tired right now. . . and I need some sleep! However, for the good of all my readers, I'm typing this story, so try to enjoy it, ne?

Disclaimer: Me no own Naruto.

- - -

Naruto's whole body felt like lead, from his uncomfortable position on the hospital bed he tried to get some feeling back into his numb arm. Like his brain, it was sleeping, and it smarted real badly when he clenched it forcefully and relaxed ever so subtly.

It took several minutes for him to realize that the ceiling he was staring at wasn't his own. His had layers of paint that told the record of the entire building layout from the first floor up, and had web-like cracks and chips that stretched out like the hand of God. This one could have been classified as a 'nice' ceiling. It was smooth and not a single gaffe marred its pretty surface.

It took a moment to get his jaw working again, but no words came out. He felt like someone had pressed a pillow against his head, and it was hard to think because something was blocking his thoughts. His astonished sapphire eyes widened as he remembered...

"HOLY SHIT!!!"

Naruto leapt out of the bed and attempted opening the door. He really did try, except that the door was locked... and it seemed that it wasn't going to let him out either anytime soon.

He did what any normal person would do... in his special, unique style...

"OY! LET ME OUTA HERE! YOU CAN'T LOCK UP ME LIKE A STUPID MUTT! I'M UZUMAKI NARUTO, YOU HEAR, FUTURE HOKAGE OF KONOHA!!" He pounded the thick door with both of his fists, and even childishly kicked it when no one answered his call.

Of course, that didn't bode well for the loud genin.

"ITAI!! DAMN DOCTORS! ISN'T THIS SUPPOSED TO BE A HOSPITAL?!" He cursed viciously as he hopped on one foot to nurse his other. "Stupid guys in white suits... I always knew that they're only in for it for the money..." He glowered angrily at the blank door, glaring at the fake wood knots that were carved onto the surface.

Right now, he wasn't in the best of moods. He was lost, confused, and most of all hungry.

He still couldn't believe that he still had a father, but the Yondaime to boot! And he couldn't get over the fact that Kakashi-sensei was in ANBU... He had no clue to whatsoever was going on, it seemed that someone out there was really enjoying the twist that Naruto was going through.

He wanted some answers, and the wanted them now! Maybe Iruka-sensei would know what was going on...

Naruto wasn't the type to give up, and no locked door was going to keep him inside for long. His eyes traveled to the window that nearly doubled his size, not that he minded as so much now then as to before.

Pressing his face against the warm glass, he gulped as he realized that he was several stories above ground, as in a couple hundred feet that would no doubt seriously injure him if he wasn't a ninja trained in the fine arts of jutsu and ass-kicking.

"To hell with the door, I'll just jump off!" After vocally declaring his bigoted plan, he roughly pushed open the window and stuck his head out. The ground seemed A LOT farther away when half of your body was hanging out the widow.

Shoving his nervousness down by pulling himself onto the dubious windowsill, he just sat there for a moment before actually following through with his suicidal plan. It was simple, he just leaned forward and let gravity do its work, but not before cursing the Gods and whoever that managed to work their way into his brain.

And this particular person...

"DAMN YOU SASUKE!!!!" He shrieked as he fell very rapidly...

... managed to be number one on his list. How Uchiha Sasuke managed to place Naruto into this predicament, no one knew, but it felt damn good to blame everything on that bastard.

A thud and crash of breaking branches and foliage pursued seconds after the blonde had jumped off.

Damn those hospitals...

- - -

Uchiha Sasuke was having a perfectly fine day. The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and he had just returned from a nice training session. The wind felt good in his face as the breeze carried something more then just the leaves.

The dark haired ninja leaned against the base of a tree, head against the rough bark. Surprisingly enough, it felt good to just sit there and do nothing. He felt the sunlight stream through the foliage, enjoying the shadows it made.

Without turning his head, the Uchiha said, "So. . . you came. You know that tomorrow is the exams."

"Gomen ne. . . Sasuke. I was preoccupied with things."

Snorting, Sasuke ran his hands through his hair. "Ch, you always say that. But you never mean it." His clipped tone sounded annoyed, his pale features sculpted into a single look of exasperation.

The source of the voice didn't answer.

"I heard about that idiot Naruto. What did he do this time?" Sasuke suddenly spoke, after the long pause of silence. He turned his head to the speaker, who sat down next to him. Sasuke stiffened slightly when the other did that.

"He was found unconscious at sector 44, forbidden area."

"Ch, typical baka." Sasuke scoffed, playing with his kunai. His fractured reflection gleamed in the highly polished metal surface.

". . ."

Looking up through the branches of the tree, Sasuke could see the sapphire heavens. "Hn, I wonder what will happen if he would be refused the genin test. That moron . . ."

- - -

Hobbling down a street, the blue-eyed blonde used a walking stick to keep himself upright. Leaves, twigs, and burrs stuck out of his hair like some sort of a bird's nest, and scratches and bruises blemished his complexion.

After he jumped out of the hospital (literally), he found out the hard way that he wasn't wearing what you would call 'normal'. Not that his orange attire was the standard outfit among ninjas... He was wearing something that the shabbiest ninjas would commit suicide before publicly humiliating themselves.

Following the bewildered stares and putting two and two together, he ducked quickly into an alley and a quick henge later, was dressed in his said so jumpsuit.

Not bad for a dead last, not bad at all. He congratulated himself by buying a bowl of ramen, forgetting that he had no money on him. Oddly enough, the owner said that it was on the house, something that never happened to him before, no matter how many times he had bought ramen from there.

Groaning, Naruto made his way to his block, dragging his sorry ass to his apartment door. Fumbling around for his keys, the blonde realized a tiny problem. He didn't have any.

"Damn! Why does this kind of stuff always happen to me?" He tugged on the tuffs of his golden locks, moaning about the predicament he was in. If worst came to worst, he could always break open the door with his Kage Bunshin or something like that. He'll deal with the angry landlord later.

Sucking in a lungful of air, Naruto bellowed, "KAGE BUN-"

"Just what the hell are you doing ya no good brat?! Git the hell away from there or I'll report you to the Hokage!" An old man hobbled his way, waving his cane at Naruto dangerously.

The said so blonde fell over, distracted from his jutsu. When he recognized the old man, or 'the landlord' he shouted, "JUST LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO, YA OLD GEEZER!!!"

Apparently, the old 'geezer' took out a pair of thick spectacles and pushed them up to his eyes, magnifying them by ten-fold. "Oh, it's just you Uzumaki-sama... Please forgive my rude behavior... I didn't see who you were..."

"Eh?" Naruto was puzzled.

In his life, he had been called many things, from Dunce, Demon, Dead last, Chicken, Moron, Looser, and the occasional 'Fox boy', Uzumaki-sama was a new one.

By the time his brain had processed this new bit of information, the old geezer was leading him outside the apartment proximities. "Yes, it was quite the honor of having the son of the Hokage visit my humble apartment complexes... now if you ever plan to move out, come back here again. Good-bye Uzumaki-sama."

Naruto was in utter shock for a second, not before Konoha was shaking with, "YA DUMB OLD GEEZER...I LIVE HERE!!!"

- - -

Sighing, Naruto kicked a stone down the street. He was utterly, and completely lost. That was it. Lost. It wasn't like he didn't know where he was, but he didn't know where to GO.

Iruka-sensei wasn't at the academy and he couldn't find Kakashi-sensei. But then again, he never could find that copycat nin, even if the opportunity presented to itself in a silver platter. Meaning for Naruto, Kakashi standing behind him and scaring the living daylights out of him.

He was feeling a little tired, and briefly his hold on the henge threatened to break. Panicking for a second, Naruto did the first thing he could do. He jumped into an empty garbage can.

- - -

The Fourth sat wearily at his desk, a mountain of paperwork piled up at his sides, threatening to collapse upon the tired Hokage. Across him was a medic nin, who stood rigidly as he read off the contents of the report.

"Due to the several examinations of Uzumaki Naruto, the medic nins have concluded that along with severe exhaustion of chakra, he has been inflicted with some unknown jutsu." The ninja stated as his hands twitched in nervousness. "Traces of chakra not of his own were detected at the time of the examination. It might be the cause of Uzumaki-sama's lack of memories."

"Nani!" The fourth's eyes widened considerably. "Foreign chakra. . . are you positive that it isn't the Kyuubi's?"

"Hai! If it were, then we would know. After all, how can one forget such monstrous chakra the demon gave off? After all, half my squad was wiped out before the Third arrived to save us all!" the medic nin exclaimed. Coughing to hide his embarrassment, he murmured, "Forgive me for my outburst Hokage-sama."

"It's all right." The Yondaime's face was set in deep concentration. He stroked his chin thoughtfully as he fiddled with the possibility that he could have been behind this of all the damnable people in the world. . . "I want all ANBU squads scouting the forest and Konoha's borders. If my assumption is correct. . . Iie, I cannot think like that at a time like this. Dismissed!"

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" The ninja disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Just as the medic nin disappeared, another reappeared in a cloud of smoke, although it wasn't as big as this time.

It was Kakashi, with a worried look in his only visible eye as he looked at his former sensei.

Burying his head into his hands, the Fourth said in a tired voice, "Kakashi, this had better be good news." When he was assigned the job as Hokage, he expected the glory and fame that came along with the rank, not the paperwork.

Hatake Kakashi was unusually fidgeting as he gave his message. Clearing his throat and taking his time to talk, as if he wanted to stall whatever might happen he said, "Err... Naruto's missing... it seems that the doctors found his room empty..."

"What! Break in? Kidnapping?" The Hokage jumped to his feet, pushing his chair backwards. Even though he was a father, being a ninja was his first priority. His face wasn't of panic or worry, instead it demanded information and Kakashi's report.

"It seems that the window was open, most likely used to escape since my squad was guarding the door," Kakashi grimly accounted the findings of the room. "We are attempting to locate Naruto's whereabouts, whether he is alone or indeed kidnapped.

The Yondaime nodded. "Do that, while send the other squadrons to patrol the borders and sector 44. If it is indeed what I fear most . . . then the very existence of Konoha hangs in the balance!"

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" Kakashi disappeared, the usual cloud of smoke accompanying the teleportation jutsu.

Sighing, the man ran his hands through his blonde hair before too using the same jutsu to leave the office.

- - - -

"Crap! What am I gonna do?" Naruto panicked as he hopped from rooftop to rooftop, trying his best not to draw attention to himself. He had re-cast the henge, but stamina or not, he was getting tired.

The sun had already set and he had been circling around Konoha for hours. He had to squint to calculate the distance to the next jump. He was muttering curses under his breath as he suddenly crashed into something in midair, knocking both him and the object down to the ground.

"OWWW! Damn, what the hell was that?" Naruto rubbed his head as he looked around for the offender.

Several feet away from him, there was no other than his former teacher, Mizuki-sensei! But what the hell was he doing there? Hadn't he been... oh wait, he didn't know what happened to that traitor after he beat the shit out of him...

"Ch, so it's the nine-tails brat again. What's the matter, is daddy's boy all alone because everybody despises you?" He snarled as the renegade shinobi regained to his feet, dusting off the dirt that speckled his chuunin vest.

Naruto blinked several times as he struggled to register what was happening. "Oy... what's going on? Didn't I kick your ass? And what the hell's on your back? It looks like some sort of bad fashion statement." He pointed at the object strapped to the nin's back.

Mizuki bitterly laughed as he said, "It's the forbidden scroll; with it, I'll become powerful and rich!"

"Ano sa, Ano sa... Didn't you try that before and I totally wiped the floor with you?" Naruto suddenly smirked as he crossed his two fingers together as he performed his trademark Jutsu.

Ten clones appeared out of thin air and attacked the ninja, but suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke as the enemy casually destroyed them with no trouble at all. "When?" Mizuki twirled a kunai around his finger as he suddenly caught it. "After all, Hokage's brat or not, you're still a academy student, not even a pitiful genin."

Naruto felt the familiar feeling of shock course throughout his system as he only could gape at the chuunin. "What the hell you talking about? I'm SO a ninja! I was taking the chuunin exams before some bastard knocks me outa the exams! Betcha I did better than you ever did!" He shouted as he clenched his hands into fists.

"Tch, what do you expect from a demon? They're just lies. You haven't even gotten your hitai-ate headband yet! Now get out of the way or I'll have to kill you." Mizuki leered as he suddenly rushed Naruto. "Wait, I'll just kill you anyways!"

"KUSO! KAGE BUNSHIN!" The blonde quickly evaded the kunai aimed for his head as duplicates of himself took the blow. Damn, I didn't remember Mizuki-sensei ever being this strong! Naruto futilely tried blocking the taijutsu attacks with his arms but it felt like he was being beaten by a herd of elephants.

A hefty kick sent him flying into a wall; it nearly buckled in half as the Kyuubi vessel was rendered useless, his nervous system failing him. Pain seared his body as he was sure that he had at least broken something.

"Heh, so it ends... DIE!" Mizuki's wrist whipped out, and dozens of kunai, shrunken, and knives of almost every assortment all aimed at Naruto sliced though the night air, making almost a whistling sound.

Horror was the only thing the fallen genin could feel as time itself slowed down.

He closed his eyes and cringed...

Blood splattered everywhere as the blades hit human flesh.