Was I dreaming? Considering I had laid down, closed my eyes, and drifted off to sleep, that was the most logical conclusion. But this was the world of Naruto, and a moment later I knew this was no dream.

The land around me was an unfamiliar expanse of wilting grey grass beneath an overcast sky of dull ash colored clouds, but even though I wasn't in the sewer that I'd seen in Naruto's mindscape, I could already sense what was lurking ahead.

Looking around though, I could not see Kurama anywhere…

This hadn't happened before but I probably should have expected it. I wasn't a jinchuuriki but maybe I had somehow developed a connection when dad/Minato sealed Kurama into Naruto.

Or was I a jinchuuriki and didn't know it? No, I knew I couldn't be the other half of the nine-tails because there was no seal on my stomach or body.

"Curious… Maybe he's up ahead…," I murmured and began to follow a path of gravel that split most of the landscape in half. There were a few more paths that split further down the road but the one I followed had an occasional orange stone. "Must be where Kurama is in this place…" I wondered though; why this and not the dank wet dungeon of Naruto's mindscape?

I was still musing in deep thought when I suddenly bumped into the bars of a large metal wall and fell onto my butt. A void of darkness lay behind the bars, and I squinted into its ominous black silence. But before I could stand, a pair of blood red eyes opened in the gloom from within. They approached slowly, looming larger and larger as a great head seemed to form from the very shadows around them.

The fox soon emerged from the swirling fog, a fierce, deep snarl rumbling from between its rows of bared teeth. My jailor's brother had finally shown himself…

He was much larger in person than I thought he'd be, but despite his menacing glare and the fact that he could so easily crush me and kill me, I wasn't disturbed or uneasy. I was only elated and curious. I got up calmly and dusted off my pajamas before giving Kurama a rather bright and innocent smile. "Hello Kyuubi-san, I wasn't expecting to meet you at all."

"Mind your tongue, you little brat! I'm not some measly little human to be greeted so casually!" His growl was laced with annoyance but he seemed to visibly calm. "So what brings the brat's brother to visit the great Kyuubi?"

I only smiled back, rather chill and laid back in my opinion. "You tell me… I'm pretty sure dad didn't put your other half in me and I can only guess I have a 'bond' or connection with Naruto to be here with you… And I'm rather sure that in his mind you're in a sewer. Not this dreary grey place… Though I guess it's better than a sewer."

Grey was something that was everywhere around here. Even Kurama seemed strangely grey in the bleak surroundings. It made me frown a bit, but my old world was just as grey as this one.

Kurama's bristly brow lifted as he examined me before lying down in front of me with his head resting on both of its arms. "Well aren't you a curious one… Knowing things that you would normally not."

His demeanor surprised me. Calm Kurama was not something I had expected, and I wasn't sure if I should trust it. "That's true… Though I won't be telling you any secrets anytime soon as they are my own and not yours." I gave a polite bow before I turned back and began to walk off. "I hope you enjoy your time here Kyuubi-san… Farewell for now."

"Come back here you little brat! I'm not done with you yet!" I could hear him lumbering to his feet and felt the heat of his roar at my back. The gates of his prison clanged loudly as he banged on them. I kept walking. I didn't want to spend any more time here.

I walked back down the path until I found small circular cobblestone area with a fountain spewing grayish water. Sitting on the fountain's sides, I closed my eyes and relaxed as I left my mindscape and returned to my sleep.

…

Morning came soon and with it I suddenly remembered that Naruto and I were entering the academy this morning. We were finally six years old and I hoped the two years I had spent trying to formulate a plan on how to be stronger would pay off.

The last two years had been fun though too, as we had taken care of each other and become accustomed to life in our apartment. Jiji had given us each one, but I had quickly torn the wall torn down between them so I could use the kitchen in Naruto's side while I turned the kitchen in mine into a wood workshop.

With those two years I had given thought to an idea that I had and decided to try it out. I bought some Senju wood, or asked for it from Jiji when I couldn't buy it, which was more often than not due to my status as the Kyuubi's brother, which was just plain stupid and idiotic.

With the wood, I began to carefully carve and shape it with the knowledge I had from my last life in workshop classes. I could only use only handheld tools of course. This world had no power tools. . . and no internet or computers advanced enough for games, either, which was even more of a bummer.

I carved the pieces of wood into a wand with the familiar shape of the Eleum Loyce sword from Dark Souls 2, or at least as close to it as I could get. The thing was a twisting and twirling wand that had one side longer and pointed while the other was a slightly bit shorter and had a hole through it that connected to the base of the wand. I had sanded the handle of the wand down with some swirling patterns from the guard to the tip, and when it was finished, I had turned it over in my hands with satisfaction.

When I first landed in this world, I had planned to try to affect it as little as possible. But in the last two years, I had come to realize that I would probably be here the rest of my life and who knew what else was already changed because of my presence? I couldn't go about trying to be invisible. I needed to do everything I could to survive and keep Naruto safe.

The wand would help me do that. I knew the Senju wood was a powerful conductor of chakra, and my plan was to infuse it with all the chakra natures and turn it into something like an adapter or converter for my own chakra and use it to form every kind of jutsu.

Of course, I knew the wand would seem odd and strange for an academy student to have, so I needed to somehow hide its true purpose. That wouldn't be so hard to do at first, since it didn't have any real power yet, but it would probably become more difficult as time went on.

I had carved the wand's guard with small carvings of kanji for the five elements, which I would need to expose it to for it to work. I had thought of asking the Hokage to help, but he had always been busy, so I decided to wait for other sources of chakra to present themselves.

With a sigh, I shook my head and moved away from my thoughts as I got ready for the day. I brushed my teeth in the bathroom before stripping and stepping into the tub where I scrubbed myself clean and lathered shampoo into my medium length hair. I had my mom's hair style and my dad's hair color. I looked a little odd with it but I was grateful it wasn't messy or spiky like Naruto's.

I exited the bathroom and slipped on a dull brown shirt with wide sleeves and a button at the top. After pulling on my light gray shorts, I finally slipped on the standard shinobi black sandals.

I then went to the kitchen and began to cook a healthy breakfast. I had to, or Naruto would have survived only on cup ramen after cup ramen. Shaking my head with a warm smile I shook the wok as the rice flipped and flew in the air before landing back into the frying pan.

Fried rice was something I had really liked in my past life, where it was mostly called shawarma rice, and I made it now with some nice sauces, veggies, and meat. Scooping out large portions for myself and Naruto, I finally heard the door to his bedroom creak open as my twin gave a jaw breaking yawn and rubbed his eyes.

I laughed as I saw him begin to drool when he smelled the food. He turned to me with a bright smile and clapped his hands in thanks. "Itadakimasu~!" He then dug in rather fiercely to the large bowl of rice. I followed suit but at a more sedate pace.

After breakfast, I washed the dishes while Naruto bathed. I knew what to expect from the day, and had prepared as best as I could over the last two years, but I was still nervous. Where and how would I fit into the group at the academy?

But my thoughts were distracted when Naruto finally emerged in his bright orange and blue jumpsuit and goggles. With a satisfied nod, I handed Naruto his bag while I held onto mine and we set off from the apartment and onto the streets…

…

Since the sun was getting up in the sky, the villagers had already begun to open up their shops while getting ready for the day to sell their goods or prepare their food. I walked with Naruto's hand in mine through the slowly awaking streets, avoiding any unsavory people that gave us mean looks.

As much as it bothered me, I was getting really ecstatic to meet the rookie 9 at school and possibly make friends with them. If they didn't hate or dislike me, that is…

Turning one more corner, Naruto and I arrived at the academy. A lot of people were already there, and I could already make out most of the clan kids. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio was over by the right side of the area. The Inuzukas and their ninken were hanging out by the left near the Aburames. The Hyuga were also at the left side, and opposite them were the Uchihas glaring at each other. The kids from civilian families were in the middle and I swore I could see Sakura with her parents somewhere in there.

I couldn't focus. The last few years had in no way truly prepared me for what it felt like to finally be standing among the kids I had come to know so well in my other life. Naruto was only slightly less excited, pumped up and excited as he was to become a shinobi.

After the parents left, the kids got into formal lines and I stood behind Naruto in one of them. The Hokage then stepped up onto a podium where he began to speak about Konoha's will of fire and such.

While Jiji was doing his speech, my mind wandered to where I could see a particular Inuzuka, though he was missing his puppy at the moment. 'Kiba…,' my mind supplied as I stared at him. He was facing forward and didn't notice me staring. A breath of excitement escaped my lips. I'd been waiting for years to finally meet the brown-haired dog boy.

Turning back to Jiji with a slight smile, I thought of some of the others I couldn't wait to meet. I wondered if they would become my friends. There were many I had to save too, and I thought of Suigetsu. He was still rather far into the future unless I could find some way to travel to Kiri without getting found out and save the guy from being turned into a test subject by Orochimaru or the bloody mist with its bloodline killing. His brother, Mangetsu, could also be saved, since he should still be alive, but how could I leave the village?

I sighed rather sadly at the thought that I might be unable to prevent what I knew was coming. Shaking my head to get out of my depressing thoughts, I noticed Jiji had already finished his speech and we were being sorted into our classes. I would just have to wait and see what happened while I studied at the academy.

Focusing now on Naruto, I smiled as he all but dragged me to our first class. At least I already knew some of the things we were going to learn for our first year at the academy. It would be a cinch!

Little did I know. . .