I do not own Naruto!
White. That's all he could see.
No pain, no thoughts, just white.
Where was he? Naruto tried to look around, but in all honesty. He didn't even know where he was. Or if he was even somewhere to begin with, he couldn't tell. Did it matter anyways? He pondered this question while trying to remember what had happened to him before he blacked out…well, white outed it would appear. "What was I doing? " "As a matter of fact, who am I? Where's my body? Do I have a body?"
"Hmmm, what do we have here?" Boomed an omnipresent voice with a slight female tone. "How did you get here, young dust child?"
Staggering around, if that was even possible, Naruto tried to reply. Realizing that he had no mouth to speak with, Naruto, or rather his answer remained silent.
"Hmm, it seems as if you are slowly returning to the eternal flow." "No matter. If you are not prepared to show your true self then it is probably for the best" Boomed the voice all around him again. "I'll be dammed if I go anywhere without some answers first!" Declared Naruto In what he could only assume was his mind. "Hmmm, Dammed? Thats a matter of relativity young one." Commented the voice. "If answers are what you seek then I shall give you them." Naruto relaxed, only to be put back on guard after the voice's next comment. "But first, a trial, " "Find yourself first, then I shall grant you a few answers." Commanded the voice. "I'd say take your time, hmm but for now it matters not. All that matters is that you find yourself. Now go."
Suddenly the light around Naruto was replaced with a void, pitch black. Balling his fist, Naruto looked around the void and began to search for anything of help. Wait… Hands? Walking? What on earth is going on!?
"Tch, Earth? Oh my, you ARE quite the ways away from home." Chuckled a slightly male voice, though this voice seemed to slither all around him instead of boom.
"Who's There!" Shouted the blonde into the endless void. Shifting into a poor fighting stance, the blonde waited. At first it sounded like millions of trees were having there leaves rustled by a unending gale of wind. "Why, I am here" chuckled the "male" again. "Where are you?" Quizzed the second omnipresent voice he had heard now. "That's what I'm trying to figure out." Grumbled Naruto. "You shouldn't need to figure it out, you should already know." Stated the voice in a matter of fact tone. "Well I'm definitely not in Konoha, heck I don't even know if I'm alive," "I suppose that I'm…." he drawled off. "You're?" inquired the voice. "I guess I'm nowhere." The boy finished.
"Tch, you're half wrong, half right." Answered the voice.
"Sooooooo…." Naruto drawled out while shrugging. "Tch, not the brightest around are you?" Lightly joked the voice, gaining an irritated look from the small boy. "Yeah, I guess you could say I'm in the dark right now." Countered Naruto. Silence took over, slowly filing with the sound of trees leafs shaking in the wind. "Amusing. It's been a while since I've had something or someone for that matter to chat with."
"Thanks?" Naruto replied unsure of what else to say. "In all seriousness though, where am I?" "Tch, that question again." "You tell me where you are."
Naruto was about explode, but for once. He decided to calm down instead. There was no point in freaking out right now, it wouldn't help. "Well I suppose I'm nowhere….." he started. "But I'm still somewhere… right?" He finished, hoping that he would get an answer that would help him. "Tch, thats close enough I suppose" And with that the realm he was in morphed again.
Now standing in a room that had no discernible color. The boy looked forward to see a stone table with what appeared to be a board game laid on it. As far as he could tell, the only pieces on the board appeared to an Infinite array of colored specs of dust that would twist and dance, come together then breaking apart. The colors mixed and separated, all the while entrancing the boy. He had never seen anything more beautiful in his life.
"Its you." Stated a voice behind him shocking the boy and making him fall down.
"Who are you?! And what do you mean?!" he shouted out, pointing dramatically at the entity behind him. "I am me, and you are you. Though you should not be here yet." "What events unfolded to allow this to take place?" Questioned the entity to himself as he floated past the boy and ignoring said child's natural reflex to shield his face. The entity touched the board causing it to glow a magnificent blend of colors and hummed to himself…err herself… well, Itself. "I see now." "Well I suppose we can help you out this time around" agreed the entity to its apparent self.
"Hmm, I suppose so."
"Tch, well he did manage to make me chuckle."
"Then it's settled" The entities stated respectively. Not knowing what else to do Naruto stood slack jawed with his index finger twitching in the direction of the entity. "WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Screamed the confused kid. "You are" stated all three of the voices before everything that was Naruto was twisted and sucked into a void like vortex.
Snapping his eyes open, Naruto once again looked around and grumbled, "Great, more white."
"We could always paint it orange for you, Kame knows you're here enough to practically take up residence." Joked an old, yet firm voice to his right.
Sitting next to the window and looking out at the storm at hand was the Great Professor of the village, and Third Hokage. "Jiji!" Naruto shouted out loud, only to receive a swift whack on the head. "Keep your voice down Naruto! We are in a hospital after all, not to mention you just woke up from a 3 day coma" grumbled the man. "It has been raining since the day we found you." " Do you remember anything?" Questioned the man silently.
"Hmmm" Naruto crossed his arms and began to concentrate, his face naturally squinted making him appear fox like. After a few moments of intense memory searching and concentration Naruto finally looked up and said, "Nope! Not a clue hahaha!" scratching the back of his head and laughing nervously, making the Sarutobi face vault. "To be honest, all I remember is tricking the guards at the gate and taking a leisurely stroll through the sunny woods of Konaha!" Adding a bit of sarcasm at the end. "It's not like a demon like me has a place here anyways." he whispered mainly to himself. But the Hokage being well… a Hokage, caught that last part and responded by firmly placing his hands on the young boys shoulders.
"Who told you that you were a demon?!" He asked seriously with a solid poker face to match. Starting to sweat, Naruto looked down even more (if that was even currently possible.) and started to think about who had said that to him. "Who was that?" Suddenly all he saw was what seemed to be a flashback of a head spinning through the air with a look of terror etched across its face. Clutching his hair for dear life Naruto began to let out a low whimper that slowly got louder as he began to recall the moments before his…loss of self. Sarutobi eased his grip and embraced the pained child.
Having gotten field reports from his Anbu and a few ordinary nin that happened upon the battlefield, he had more than enough information to conclude what had most likely happened.
After what seemed like hours, Sarutobi decided to pull Naruto back. Looking down at the boy, the Hokage noticed that he had passed out again. Laying the boy down on the hospital bed and getting up to dim the lights. While he was standing he removed his pipe from his sleeves and pulled out a small cherry wood box that had a red painting of an oriental dragon. Looking over at the boy, he sighed to himself knowing fully well how much the child hated the smell of his tobacco. Sighing again, he put the small box back into his robe and made his way back to his seat next to the window. "If only Jiriya would hurry back…" mused the Hokage to himself. Almost as if on que, he recognized a familiar chakra signature before the owner entered the room via the door.
"How rare of you to use the door, Jiriya. I was just thinking about you actually." Half joked the old Hokage.
"Normally I'd use the window, but as you can see.." Paused the legendary Sanin while casting his gaze out the window. "It was a less than appealing choice."
"Bah, a ninja of your caliber should be able to dodge the rain, besides aren't you a sage of the Toads. Water should hardly faze you." The old man lightly joked, before getting serious. "Did you bring it?" he inquired. As Jiriya searched through his bag, the Hokage filled him in on the past day's events.
"HOW COULD YOU LET THAT HAPPEN TO HIM!? EVEN WITH ALL OF YOUR ANBU AROUND!" Raged the Sanin, only to be instantly berated with the Hokages words.
"THIS IS COMING FROM HIS SUPPOSED GODFATHER? WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? I have an entire VILLAGE to run AND I'm Sixty-Eight for kame's sake!"
"You know what I'm busy with!" Jiriya shot back. Locking eyes with his sensei, growls slipped past their mouths as lightning practically shooting between them.
Finally sighing and breaking eye contact Jiriya tossed the Hokage a small cherry wood box similar to his red one, only difference being it was a green dragon instead. "Hmmmm…. I feel that we should both try harder to be in his life, only the Kami knows where this path of loneliness could take him." Finalized the Hokage, while opening the box and savoring the sweet pungent aroma of the spice before him. Packing the green spice into his pipe, he lit the bowl with a small amount of fire manipulation. As the room filled with the smoke from the spice the Hokage passed the pipe to Jiriya and they contemplated their next moves.
Feeling the aches and pains of everyday life slowly wash away, Sarutobi stood up and slowly made his way towards the bed. Jiriya quirked an eyebrow but looked on solemnly at the resting child. "You sure are a troublesome one, you know that?" he chuckled lightly while running his hand through the blondes hair. "Yes indeed, your life is going to full of twists and turns… but fear not, we will always be looking out for you." "When you wake again, prepare yourself for an intense reality check." Finished the Hokage to the sleeping child. "What do you have planned for him?" Asked Jiriya, slightly unnerved in the way his Hokage was speaking. Smiling slightly and turning around to face the window, he took his pipe back from Jiriya and stuck it in his mouth.
"Six words including this" Sarutobi's smile burst wide as slivers of sunlight broke through the clouds and managed to combat the stormy weather.
"Road Trip!"
Why is it so bumpy? Where am I going? Why does it smell like hoarse butt? Man I'm getting really tired of not knowing where I am!
And with that, the peaceful spring morning was broken as the hyperactive knuckle head rolled out of the now identified carriage he was in. Letting out a short lived scream and falling into the muddy depths below, Naruto picked himself up out of the mud and slammed himself onto the side of the now stopped carriage, holding on for dear life away from the muck below.
Hearing the scream from the back, the driver of the carriage stopped and looked back in time to see the kids "crazy antics."
"Come now Naruto, I didn't realize you were that anxious to get your day started!" Cheered an overly excited Hokage. "Hey gramps….."started Naruto. "Yes Gaki?" replied Hiruzen. "Where the heck ARE WE!" He cried out at the end, causing several nesting birds to depart in fright. "Well Naruto, if you would feel so inclined to get cleaned up and changed. I would love to tell you." "But.. I don't have any spare clothes." he whined at the Hokage. "No matter, I brought some for you!" "There is a river a little ways to you right, hurry now. We are waisting precious time."
After finding the river and freshening up, Naruto changed into the gear, not clothes, gear that his Jiji had gotten him. Not that he was complaining, he loved the way battle armor looked. Returning to the carriage, he managed to James bond his way around the mud…..James Bond? Who the heck is that? Anyways, "Can you please explain to me what is going on?" Sitting back down on his mattress, he looked around and observed the grand, luxurious carriage they were riding in.
Jolting to a start, Sarutobi filled his pipe from his special box as the carriage began to move and said, "Naruto. As of now you are being taken to be trained in the ways of the ninja." Naruto's eyes shot open, followed only slightly slower by his mouth. Whack! "Simmer down and let me finish first!" chided the Hokage.
"Should you choose to accept, and I stress should.", "You will begin an untainted regimen of training, day in, day out. NO exceptions, is that clear?" he commanded more than asked. "This is not a game, this is your LIFE and the LIVES of all those around you. However, do not be mistaken Naruto. Your decision will change not only your life but those around you too." "Never take this, lightly."
After a few strong gulps and minutes later, Naruto nodded his head to his now official Boss. "I understand and except.", "My decisions in life will alter those around me right?" after receiving a nod for Sarutobi, he continued. "Then I will try with all my might to help those in need"
"Then you understand that there is no backing out now." Sarutobi finalized. "Hai!"
"Good. Then your training begins."
"Welcome to day one of hell!"