Edit: 10/14/15 Made some slight corrections and modifications, in preparation to start writing chapter 2.


Chapter 1: Night & Day

"I left him... I fucking left him!" Kakashi screamed into his mask as he ran across the rooftops.

On his face was an ANBU, and a katana was strapped to his back. He kicked off to the right as he leapt onto another rooftop. His mind flashed back to earlier. He let the kid out of his sight because of reports of suspicious strangers outside the village. He didn't think the kid of all people would run into them. He remembered what Sarutobi told him years ago.

"Would you die for this child?" Sarutobi asked him. And his answer was a very determined 'yes'. "This child needs a guardian." Kakashi would've taken the child in, adopted him, and trained him to be the best. But, he couldn't. His sensei had just died, and he couldn't take another loss. Getting close to someone...

"What...?" He leapt to the side just as a red beam nearly took his head off. He felt the pure heat coming from whatever it was.

A few minutes earlier, a small blond boy ran through the abandoned streets of Konoha. Many of the villagers ignored him, but these guys, they weren't even part of the village. What did he ever do to another village? What did they want? Those thoughts and more plague the young boy. He saw the headbands, but didn't recognize the symbol. But as he passed by a dark alley, a hand suddenly flew out. He screamed as he was yanked up into the air.

"What do we have here...?" The smile on the man's face unnerved the boy. His headband had a cloud on it. He saw the symbol in the old man's office, but never did ask about it. It just didn't interest him. "...I know a village that would pay a fortune for you, boy."

The blond managed to glance around as best he could, only to pale at seeing the faces of his other pursuers. "I... what did I do?"

"You?" One of the men smirked as he spoke. "...nothing. It's what you could become."

"W-what...?" The child didn't understand. The villagers usually ignore him, but another village would be happy to take him in? He shook his head, and squirmed in the his captors hold. He kicked, but struck only air.

"Let's make this quick." A new voice made itself know. And the boy saw a man stroll up to the group. He had an arrogant look plastered to his face, and on his headband, was also a cloud. "The distraction I set in motion will only last so long." Draped over the man's shoulder was a small girl. Her hands and legs were bound, and she appeared to be knocked out. The boy's eyes widened at the sight of her. He couldn't see her face, so he didn't know if he knew her. But staring at the helpless girl, a pressure started to build in his eyes. At first he thought it was tears that threatened to fall, but this was a burning sensation.

The group were gathered near the river that flowed in the middle of Konoha. It was dark out, and was probably after midnight. And due to the distraction, the group were pretty much in the clear. They started to head for the bridge nearby, and then out of the village. But before they could even move an inch, one of the men gasped.

"His eyes..." And that caused everyone to look at the boy. The boy had his eyes squeezed shut, but through his eyelids, a red glow illuminated the dark area. The man holding the child was curious, and decided to lean a tad closer. But before he could react, the boy opened his eyes. Two red beams exploded through the man's head. It was only for a second, and the beam had ripped through the man's skull and out the other side. The beam stretched far into he sky. Even some of the clouds that were out at night were ripped apart.

The group were quick to back away in shock. The body of their comrade stood for a second. His head was completely ruined. The worst part was that the wound was cauterized, so there wasn't even any gore aside from small splotches on the child's face. And just like a rag doll, the body finally fell to the ground. The boy landed on his knees. His hands gripped at his eyes, and the men could still see it glowing.

"The beast?" One of the men backed away until he bumped into the railing. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the calm river below. He debated if he should just jump over the railing.

"Kill him!" The man that held the girl was quick to command. It wasn't worth the risk. He flt a movement on his shoulder, and frowned. The girl had started to come to. She squirmed and thrashed, and even managed to clip the man in the face. He growled. "...we have our prize for now."

But before they could do as they were told, the boy screamed. His shaky hands slowly slid down his face and he quickly turned in their direction, but as he turned, the red beams shot out in an arc. One man didn't have time to dive to the side as he was sliced cleanly in half. And the rest of his buddies were quick to meet their demise in the same way. But the man holding the girl glanced to the river below, and then his mind was made up. He shifted the girl on his shoulder, and quickly turned around. But he froze as he felt a sting. And barely a second later, blood exploded from his mouth. The girl blinked her eyes open as she felt a searing pain in her cheek.

The boy's eyes slowly went back to his normal blue as he calmed down. But he didn't care about that. He looked at the man and girl. The strange beam from his eyes nearly took the girls head off, but it managed to clip her cheek and hit the man through his back and out his chest. As the girl and man fell over the edge, his eyes met the pale wide lavender eyes of the girl. Her hands were still bound behind her back, and her legs were still tied together. And tightly wrapped around her mouth was a cloth. She closed her eyes as she collided with the calm river.

It was quiet for a brief moment, and then, his eyes widened as the sounds of a splash entered his ears. He watched the railing, in hopes that it was just a bad dream. Like the ones that he usually have. He wanted to save her. He legs felt like jelly as he tried to force himself to stand, but he only fell back. His hands shook as he tried to fight the urge to rest. His heart pounded in his ears. His teeth grounded together, just as several groups of ANBU and other shinobi leapt from the surrounding buildings. He didn't expect that, nor did he expect each of the shinobi to freeze in midair. His eyes examined each of the shinobi, then he paused on the ANBU closest to him. Silver hair was seen, and the man had his hands in a scooping motion. He knew who it was, and he was happy and nervous at the same time.

"Well, well... what have we here?" A deep voice growled. The child felt a chill, and his wide eyes glanced around. He felt fear before, but this one was different than before. The shinobi were still frozen... but he took noticed that they weren't completely froze. But movie at a snail's place. "...you have her scent on you..." The boy looked at the shinobi again. Maybe it was one of them. He was about to ask, 'Who's scent?' But he wanted, no, needed to know who was talking.

"Who are... d-did you do that...?" He whispered with a cracked voice. He decided to change his question. He was curious to see if this person was responsible for the mess that was around. "...kill them?"

The voice only laughed. The blonde was annoyed at that, but was still frightened, which grew at the man's answer. "Me...?" He heard a clang a second later. It was a series of them, almost as if someone was dragging something across metal bars. "Now, if I did that... there wouldn't be a pathetic human village here. Just a red and soldering smear." He glanced around, and failed to see a small ripple which formed from the movement. His eyes went to the bodies on the ground, then to the silver haired ANBU. "I'm afraid that this... was all you, kid."

Shock filled his eyes. 'Me...?'

"Yes. You..." The voice purred this time.

"You can... hear my thoughts?" He asked slowly. Around him, the shinobi barely moved an inch.

"... and then some." The voice was smooth, and had a tint of arrogance. He hated that in people.

"W-what about this...?" He indicated to the slow moving shinobi. "Please... make it stop..."

The voice came back, only this time it was softer, and more caring. "... it's all you."

"Me?" Despite the question mark that appeared over his head, he looked down at the ground. "... I'm not a ninja... just a worthless orphan that will never become anything."

The voice growled this time. He didn't know if it was in anger or agreement, that is, until the man gave his answer. "If you're worthless, then why do you have the power to turn this village to rubble?" He opened his mouth, only to close it. He couldn't find the words. The man that kidnapped him said the same thing, well, similar anyway. "You wanted to save that... female..." The voice appeared to be amused by that. "Your body is actually moving at high velocity. A speed that no one can accomplish, except for one person. And with the amount of chakra you have... thanks to me... you can keep this up for hours. As for your little... laser show..." He heard the voice exhale. It reminded him of a cow he saw at a farm Sarutobi took him to. "That's your bloodline awakening. The first of its kind. Pretty soon, you may be able to fly. Just think. Flying around, running at sonic speeds... the perfect soldier."

As he spoke, the boy had slowly extended his arm. And was in awe as he saw a ripple form as if he was underwater. "Whoa..." It was a second after that when he finally realized what else the voice said. "... I can fly?" He froze in his excitement as he remembered the girl. "No! I have to save her!" But before he could do anything, fatigue finally overcame him. And as he fell back, time once again resumed and he landed in the open arms of the silver haired ANBU.

Deep inside the blonde, a pair of red eyes watched everything. They were behind a large cage, which was cloaked in darkness and only the eyes were visible. The creature tried to feel for the little girl's chakra, only to feel it fluctuating. "This wasn't how the events were suppose to transpire." The creature watched as time resumed for the boy, and saw the man scoop him up. "This just got interesting. Hope he is ready for my training."

XXXXXXXXXX

Uzumaki Naruto shot up in his seat. As his tired eyes looked the classroom, he yawned. Very loudly. Many of his fellow students shot him a look of annoyance. But he just smirked at the looks and rubbed the sleep from his tried blue eyes. Naruto was decked out in an orange jacket with black stripes going down the sides. His blonde hair was in spikes, and they appeared to defy gravity by the way they were swaying. He popped his stiff neck, and that too, was loud. Even the teacher paused his lecture to give him a slight glare. It wasn't filled with malice, just annoyance for sleeping in class and making all kinds of noise. Naruto smiled though. Those two instructors had to be the two most boring people he had ever met.

He once again rubbed his eyes, and glanced around the room. His eyes stopped on a purple haired girl that sat across the room. She was as far away from everybody as possible. She sat up straight, and her eyes examined each person. He knew who she was, and he was very curious as to how she survived. He saw her rub the scar that was on her left cheek. He frowned at that, then he saw her eyes flick to Mizuki. Her eyes narrowed.

"Bad dream...?" The voice from right next to him caused him to smile. He turned, and saw his best friend Uchiha Sasuke. Said boy wasn't looking at him, nor at the teachers. Instead, he was focused on an object before him. It was a small keyboard, but what Naruto always thought was unique about it, was that instead of a screen, there was a hologram coming from it. The keyboard had a blue light that shot from it, and it acted like a screen. Sasuke typed away, not even noticing the heart filled stares of the girls that find him more important than learning.

Naruto snorted. "Something like that." He leaned closer to Sasuke to check out what he was doing. It was tad too close for Sasuke. Many of the girls in class grew wide smiles and even wider hearts in their eyes at seeing a possible yaoi moment before them. Naruto smirked when he finally saw what was on the hologram. "We already made the roster?" At Sasuke's nod, he read on. And then saw who was going to be their teammate. "...oooh, that's painful."

"Apparently we were going to be on a team, regardless." Sasuke mumbled. His outfit was darker than Naruto's. Mainly a black jacket, black pants and black hair. If Naruto was the sun, then he was the night. And if he had to guess, their new teammate would be... Twilight? He smirked at that. It seems about right.

"Hey, hey..." Naruto whispered. With a sigh, he turned to his friend, and saw what captured his attention. Yamanaka Ino. As the blonde girl walked by, Naruto filled his lungs with air, and blew. The air struck Ino's bare leg and caused her to shiver. Naruto blew a tad harder, and watched as Ino's clothing lifted up until he saw a flash of purple beneath them. Ino screamed, and looked around for the culprit with fire in her narrowed eyes. But unfortunately for Naruto, the person behind him saw the entire thing.

"Hentai!" And before he knew what happened, a fist landed on his head. It didn't faze him, but it did make him see swirls. Sasuke just shook his head. It was just the usual hijinks that goes on each day. "Pervert! Don't look at someone who probably doesn't have anything under there!"

"What did you just say?" Ino shivered as she lowered her clothing. "Ah, please. As if someone so flat that they could pass as a billboard has a right to talk." Her eyes whipped to Naruto, and she pointed a finger. "And you! Do that again, and I'll show you why my family are called the Mind Walkers."

Sasuke raised a brow. Why couldn't we have her on our team...? He typed on his computer and watched as Ino appeared. He read her statistics and compared them to Sakura's. And as he read, he understood why Sakura was placed on their team. He did wonder why the teams were finalized when the genin exam is coming up in a few days. Did the teachers and Hokage know something they didn't?

Purple... Naruto had a lopsided smile glued to his face. He turned to his friend. "... I have a new favorite color." But Sasuke wasn't even paying attention to him.

"Alright class. The final exams will be held two days from now. You must be able to show the three main jutsu. Henge, replacement and clones." The teacher, Umino Iruka spoke. The man was surprised he didn't have to use his big headed jutsu. "Please, use this time to practice. Remember, most of you will pass, while some will fail. And..." He looked at each student, and with each one, his eye twitched. Uzumaki Naruto was trying to get a look under Ino's skirt while Sakura and Ino were arguing. And Sasuke... he was doing whatever it was that he does. The rest of the class were either sleeping or talking. And was that Chouji near the window munching very loudly on a bag of chips?

Sasuke paused as he saw Naruto's statistics on his computer. He knew everything about his friend, and had to suppress a laugh at how much of Naruto's profile was blacked our or just plain made up. He was curious to his own profile, but he could easily hack into the system again and change things. He could've hacked into the system again and changed the teams. But he decided to put his trust in the Hokage. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Naruto watching as the girls fight. His friend was completely lax and laid back. He wished he was more like Naruto. He shook his head as a memory of when he was seven came to mind.

Sasuke stared at his reflection as he sat at the edge of a small lake. Thee reflection rippled and his face was replaced by fire. Buildings burned, people lay on the ground bloodied. His clan... reduced to only two overnight. His fist squeezed tightly, only to hear a crack as he forgot about the pebble he was prepared to throw.

"Hey..." The voice startled him and he nearly ended up in the lake. He looked back at his reflection, and he saw himself. As he regained his composure, he whipped around to the voice. And standing around ten feet from him was the boy he had only met a few times. They met when he used to stay in the Hokage office, and that blonde boy kept him company. His hair was in blonde spikes, and he always wore that white shirt with a spiral on it. But what he always found strange about the blonde was the strange symbols on on both of his temples near his eyes. And behind the boy stood three ANBU. They were further back to give the boys some privacy. "How ya holding up?"

They didn't know each other for very long, but strangely, they felt like kindred spirits. Sasuke looked up to him, not for his grades or anything, but for his strength. He saw the looks some have the kid, but the blonde didn't let it bother him. He just shrugged it off with a smirk. At first, Sasuke thought he was faking it. Wearing a mask. But after being around him for a few days, he noticed that Naruto just didn't care. And he saw that the smile was legit. He once saw Naruto defy the Hokage and talk back. If Naruto wasn't so reckless, he could see him graduating the academy at an early age. Hell, he knew his friend was far stronger than anyone there, and he just met the blonde!

"It's painful." Sasuke whispered as he stared at his reflection, which began to morph into an image of his brother. "The loss." He knew Naruto didn't have a family, but Naruto did loose his the day he was born. And each day since they first met, the blonde had been trying to cheer him up. And for some reason, he did feel a smile creeping up on his face when his friend was near.

Naruto squeezed next to Sasuke, and let his bare feet dip into the cool water. "Don't worry, I'll be right here with ya." Sasuke turned to Naruto, who rubbed the seals on his temple. "You may not like to hear it, but what if Itachi had no choice. What if, he was doing what he was told?" Sasuke froze as he remembered that day. Itachi's demeanor changed when Sasuke entered the room, just as his brother killed their mother. It was as if Itachi didn't expect him to be home. It was true, while he sat at the lake, he thought of what Naruto had said. That his brother may have had no other choice. "He was one man against hundreds, though..."

"All day long, I've been sitting here thinking. And I realized something." Sasuke looked back at his reflection. Naruto's feet made ripples as he swung his feet back and forth. "The safety and security we know is nothing more than an illusion. We live in a world of rules, and the worst part? We think they protect us. But they don't. My clan spent countless years enforcing those rules, and look what happened. Maybe... my brother grew tired of it. Maybe he wanted to dispense his own justice."

"Justice, huh..." Naruto looked across the lake. The sun felt good on his skin. "You know..." He turned to Sasuke with a lopsided smile. "... I say we get string. Together. And show the world our justice."

"But the village will only hold us back." Sasuke glanced at the quiet ANBU from the corner of his eyes. He knew they probably heard everything. Did they agree to what they were talking about? "... what can two kids do?"

"We do something outside the law. Go beyond it. If Itachi did what he did out of justice, we do what he did. Minus the... um, genocide part." Naruto whispered the last part as he slowly stood back up. "You could use the wealth you inherited, along with the power of your last name. And use it for something greater." It was quiet for a moment, with the only sound being the sound of water... and the sound of one of the ANBU flipping through pages of a book.

"What are you saying?" Sasuke furrowed his brow in confusion as he looked up and met the blue eyes of his friend.

Naruto lowered his hand. "Come on. I'll show you what these seals do, and what my bloodline is capable of."

Sasuke looked at the hand. He remembered Naruto mentioning his bloodline when they first met. It was some conversation starter. And then, Naruto didn't stop talking. He found it annoying as hell, but also soothing at the same time. "I want revenge. To see Itachi brought to justice. If he had a good reason for what he did, then I will find it." Sasuke lifted his hand. "Together..."

Naruto gripped Sasuke's hand, and finished his friend's thought. "... we'll bring our justice to this world."

"And rise above their so called laws." Sasuke spoke as Naruto brought him to his feet. Naruto smirked and threw his arm around the dark haired boy as they walked away from the lake.

Sasuke was shaken from his thoughts as Naruto plopped down next to him, and like usual, the smirk was ever present. And his blue eyes were lingering on Ino. "I think I'm growing on her." Naruto looked his way with that smirk, so Sasuke replied while going back to his computer.

"Like a tick?" Sasuke mumbled as he folded up his keyboard, and placed it into one of his pockets. "Perhaps a fungus?" Ever since Naruto found one of those perverted books, Sasuke saw a noticeable change in his friend. "Poison ivy?"

Naruto's eye twitched. His friend can be a real bitch sometimes. He decided to change the subject. "What do you think of our new team?" Everyone was idly chatting and nobody was really paying the two any mind. He did wonder how being in a team would affect their... other activities.

"It's balanced." Sasuke nodded to himself, and glanced to Naruto. "I could hack into the system and make some changes. Like say, could add the Yamanaka to our team." Sasuke watched as Naruto pondered that for a moment. He knew Naruto will also put his trust into the Hokage like him. His lip curved upwards. "This is a way to balance our team out. To complement us. I don't really see how Haruno could complement us, but who are we to argue with the Hokage?"

"So, we're an attack squad?" At Sasuke's nod, Naruto pouted. "Aw... and I so wanted to be a tracking squad. Sneaking in without being seen. Wham! Pow! And they didn't see it coming!" Sasuke saw his friend's eyes light up.

"That's a stealth squad. They don't usually make genin into those." Sasuke popped his neck. The class was noisy, and it was killing his ears. Naruto probably didn't even hear him. Many of the students were now practicing the jutsu for the test. But a tracking squad is the next best thing. He wondered why take the test when the teams were already logged into the system. Is this just the sensei's chosen students that could change if one failed? Or was the test a way to give students a chance to pass? Or maybe even a ranking system for the next exams to give people a head start.

He dismissed the thought. Naruto's chakra control was very poor. Perhaps the poorest he had ever seen. But since they first met, they had been pushing themselves. Training each other. But despite that, Naruto couldn't make a single clone. Naruto was the strongest in the class. He knew that for a fact, and the Hokage knew that too. He turned back to Naruto, who was nodding his head to some silent music. At least, he believed it was silent.

"Keep some secrets, my friend." Sasuke told his friend, who smiled as he heard it. Sasuke saw Mizuki sitting on Iruka's desk. Sasuke didn't like how that man's eyes roamed over everybody like they were searching for something. Searching for what, though? "How's the sky?"

Naruto snorted. He watched as Sakura and Ino finally finished their fight. He almost forgot they were still yelling. It was a normal occurrence after all. Them not arguing would feel strange. Both girls huffed and went back to their respective seats. "Fourth time this week should be the charm. I feel lucky this time."

"Practice makes perfect." Sasuke told him, then after a moment, he decided to ask, "You ready to do this?"

Naruto's fang poked from his lips as he smirked. "I should be asking you that."

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruto shielded his eyes from the glare of the afternoon sun. It shone down and bathed the clearing with heat. He loved the feeling of the sun. It always made him feel... immortal. And from what he understood, it was a power source to him.

"Focus." The familiar voice in his head growled. A few years ago, he found out what the voice was. His curse. His bane. The Kyuubi no Youko. Also known as Kurama. "Feel around you. Stretch out your chakra." Naruto did as he was told. They had been doing this routine for a year now. And as usual, the grass around him suddenly bent as a wave of chakra shot out. "To you, gravity is an illusion. You can manipulate it. Mold it. Become lighter than air itself."

Naruto's eyes closed, and the air from his lungs was slowly released. He tried to focus on the area around him, and every time he tried this, it always ended in failure. Kurama said it was because he was too impatient. But if Naruto could move at sonic speeds, then he was ready. Kurama knew that if the blonde figured it out, then it'll come naturally. A smile graced Naruto's lips as the sounds around him slowed to a crawl. He cracked his right eye open, and saw a nearby butterfly flapping in slow motion.

He decided to try a little mantra that Kurama told him to do. And so, he whispered, "Gravity is an illusion." He heard this before. The same fox demon saying the exact same thing every time he practiced. But what made this time any different? He had started to believe his mantra. With a smirk, his eyes snapped open. Everything around him blew back. "Gravity is my bitch." And as that left his mouth, he pushed off the ground which exploded.

He launched upwards. In his wake were ripples. He flew higher and higher in the sky until he exploded through a cloud. The moisture from the cloud froze as he went by. Some of the water bubbles stuck to his skin. He watched as the clouds slowly start to move again. Behind him was the sun that shone like a protector. He ran a hand against a nearby cloud and watched as it broke apart. His smirk got even wider and brighter. And upon looking down, he saw his village. It looked like nothing more than an anthill. As he hovered, he crossed his arms and maintained his smirk. He didn't realize that his control was slowly slipping.

"Focus, moron!" The sudden yell startled him, and before he knew it, he was plummeting back towards the village. And from the looks of it, it wasn't going to be a pretty landing. "If you die, I die!"

"Shut up!" Naruto saw the ground coming closer and closer. He tried to maneuver himself so he could be feet first, but the force of the air made it impossible. Luckily, he was headed for a grassy area. It should be a softer landing. Softer my ass... He tried to focus, to do like Kurama said. And before he could become a red stain on the grass, he stopped within an inch or two above the ground. The sudden stop caused a shock wave of wind. And as the realization came to him, he smiled. Albeit a nervous one. But that quickly turned to annoyance as Kurama spoke up.

"Heh... I knew that would work." The voice was laced with arrogance. The same arrogance he was used to from Kurama.

"You... you son of a bitch..." Naruto felt the grass tickle his nose from being that close to the ground. "Sadistic bastard..." He focused once again, and started to lift away from the ground.

XXXXXXXXXX

The Uchiha section of the village was nothing more than a ghost town. Store signs were barely hanging on and were slowly falling apart. Moss and other greenery sprouted from the ground over the years. Even the Aburame venture into the place to catch rare bugs that find the stench of decay arousing. And sometimes at night, strange sounds could be heard. Mechanical sounds. That, combined with the district being abandoned spawned plenty of rumors about the place being haunted. But if one were to examine the place more closely, they would see something strange. The Uchiha Police Force sign appeared to have been cleaned recently.

But what a lot of people never realized, probably not even the Hokage, was that deep under the compound was a series of caves. Bat infested caves that went under all of Konoha. The Uchiha made them in secret when the village was first formed. It started as a precaution. An evacuation point. But that soon developed into something much, much darker. A way to possibly take over the village should the need arises.

"Lights." In the middle of the cave system, was a large area. One that was filled with electronics and other devices. As soon as that word left Sasuke's mouth, the area lit up. One part of the area was lined with long glass containers. There was even a walkway above Sasuke with computers bunched together. Sasuke looked around the lonely area, the froze as a voice reached his ears.

"Sasuke..." Sasuke slowly turned around, and watched as a familiar face appeared before him. He squeezed his fist. Her long black hair flowed as if it was underwater. And just like that, she vanished. He relaxed his fist and turned towards the glass containers. He walked closer to them until he could see his reflection. And past his reflection, a black cloth was seen. His lips slowly curved upwards.


Pairing is still undecided. Small harem, maybe, or Naruto/Ino, who knows. Hopefully I can get started on chapter 2 soon, since it's been ages.