A caravan of people had been walking through the hot desert sun, with night soon coming upon them. They had very little, being escorted by students of Lower Shade Academy. Passing near an oasis to collect some water for them and their beasts of labor, they only heard the crackling of thunder.

Storms weren't uncommon in Autumn. Though, very few clouds hung in the air. That's when a little girl spots something that falls into the oasis. Her cries for help caused the students to run over toward the fallen object.

They found that it was a person, heavily injured. The doctor of the caravan ordered that he brought to him immediately to her tent they had begun to set up. She had no medical equipment, instead relying on her ability to heal others.

Placing her hands on his chest she found as an assistant cut open the fabric of clothing that he had scars. The young man may have been a recently graduated student from somewhere or simply a mercenary that had a very bad day in the office.

Judging by his whiskers she assumed that he was a Faunus, a being with an animal trait. The woman saw that he had internal bleeding, quickly she applied her aura toward his stomach. When she did, she found extensive abdominal injuries. He was barely hanging on as is, and the possible internal bleeding was not helping him either.

He grunts in pain, his blue eyes slowly opening every so often, "help…"

"We're trying to, young man," the doctor spoke with a calm voice, "please relax."

He whimpers in pain when he tries to adjust himself. That's when a wad of blood spewed from his mouth, landing on her orange tunic. She watches as his eyes roll back, going limp. Grunting, she watches him convulse before going into action.

She makes sure to clear everything away from him as he started to foam, he was suffering a massive seizure. Blood and foam formed at his mouth, leaking down the side. Every so often she would see his eyes dash back and forth, silent screams forming at his lips.

As quickly as the seizure came, however, slowly, it went. As he stops squirming as she held him down, the blonde stained red on the face, just laid there. He was breathing, not calmly, wheezing at best. There was something else, he looked like he was crying, in fact, there were tears slowly forming at his eyes and traveling downward.

His labored breathing slowly becomes more normal, she reapplies her semblance, healing him as best she could. He grunts in tremendous pain, his hands twitching, they were probably just as broken as his arms. She looks over at her assistant, the boy nods and walks over to get a syringe and fills it up with a substance.

Walking back over the teen looks at her, "doctor I got the morphine."

"Here," she grabbed one of his hands to expose a vein. "In there, hopefully, it lulls him to sleep and stops the pain."

The assistant slowly places the needle within the vein. Squeezing the plunger, the clear liquid slowly drains into his arm. The teen winces at the feeling. Naruto Uzumaki felt a slight burning sensation at his very core before slowly giving himself to the medicine. His eyes slowly closed, his head went limp as he gave slight grunts and moans of pain.

Naruto was floating in the waters of his psyche. In this long-visited place there was no longer a cage, and no longer a giant fox. The blonde just laid there, floating in the waters as they started draining. It was a sign that his chakra was running low, and he could see the busted pipes that he thought as his chakra network.

"Kurama…" Naruto whimpered out as he kept looking up toward the ceiling, "can you hear me?"

There was no answer, not even a grunt. Naruto's eyes watered as he turns his head toward the blank spot in the room. A cold came over him, it was a fearful cold, but a cold of not seeing what should be there. In his last act he made sure to give Kurama to the world, he fully expected to die.

He should've died.

Naruto closes his eyes, "I'm hurting…it hurts so much…"

"Call me an idiot," Naruto grunted out. "Tell me I'm some stupid dumbass, goddamn it, it hurts."

"Someone gave me something, I don't feel right…are they putting me down? Where am I, am I even alive…is…this just a dream?" Naruto continues to ramble before the scenery shifts around.

The ceiling opens to reveal storm clouds, rain pelts at him as he laid there. He couldn't see anyone, not Kurama, not Son Goku, and not even Matatabi. Laying there, he felt a sensation he hadn't felt in a very long time. He felt empty, but that wasn't the sensation.

He felt alone.

"This darkness," Naruto looks up and sees the storm clouds before closing them, "please…I don't want to be lost in it again…"

"You watch, I'll be the greatest Hokage there ever was. Naruto Uzumaki, Godaime Hokage, Dattebayo!" Naruto's eyes snapped open to see a younger version of himself looking up at the storm clouds.

"I'm not scared of you, I'm not afraid to fight, I'm no-ack!" The small blonde child is hit to the ground, Naruto watches as dark figures descend on him and beat him into the ground.

"Kitsune Brat!"
"Monster…"
"Idiot…"
"Loser…"

Naruto grips his head, holding his ears, "shut up…"

"You'll be forgotten!"
"You'll be alone!"
"You'll never be remembered!"
"You are a failure, a failure!"
"Useless twerp."

"Shut up!" Naruto screams, he thrashes about in the water, "shut up!"

Naruto watches as everything fades to white, there he saw a familiar face. Hagaromo, of all people, and he was floating without his staff. The Sage of Six Paths looks toward Naruto, sighing, he brings a smile up to his face.

"Naruto-san," Hagaromo greeted the Child of Destiny with a smile. "Fancy meeting you here, I sensed that you were troubled."

"Old Man Sage," Naruto felt able to stand up, "what…is going on?"

"In due time," Hagaromo answered the blonde. "It seems that you've been called to a higher purpose."

"What do you mean," Naruto stand there before noticing something in the distance. "Who is that?"

Hagaromo turns to the figure, "that is The Light God."

"Light…God…" Naruto clutches his head, "so am I being collected since I died or something?"

"You're not dead," Naruto turns to the figure who was now suddenly standing by Hagaromo, "I merely chose you."

"Ahh," Naruto screamed as he pointed at the figure. "You were just over there, Dattebayo!"

"I am everywhere, yet I am not, the curse and blessing of being omnipresent." The God of Light stated as he folded his arms, his deerlike horns stuck up like a crown.

Naruto just blinks his eyes, "omni…what now?"

"Omnipresent," The Light God repeated, "it means to be everywhere and nowhere."

"Oh…I think I get it…" Naruto sheepishly replied while rubbing the back of his head.

The God of Light just shakes his head, "no, you do not."

"Well, I'm sorry, Dattebayo! Quite frankly I am coming to terms that I'm not dead, and I feeling this strange heat in my body. I feel like I want to puke, and then I get brought in here by Old Man Sage and now I'm dealing with someone who's probably Kaguya on steroids!" Naruto raged as he held his fist up, "so I'm sorry if I can't understand fancy words!"

Hagaromo pinches his nose, "Naruto…must you be so uncouth?"

"Gah!" Naruto grips his head, "uncouth, Omni-this, next thing you'll tell me is that this is not real and I'm just really in Naraku!"

The Light God looks at Hagaromo, "you warned me that he'd be a little unnatural for a hero."

"I warned you about other things, especially with your brother getting ahold of my mother, but my words always fell on deaf ears." Hagaromo stated to the God next to him, "Naruto-san is not without intellect, he just lacks tact."

"What the" Naruto looked around his pockets, "I was supposed to bring tic-tacs?!"

"Oh, for the love all life and creation," The Light God bemoaned as he pinched his nose. "It means you have no sense of vocabulary, no way to articulate and understand proper jargon…err wording."

"So…I'm an idiot?" Naruto questioned as he folded his arms, "well that's not very nice."

"Silence!" The Light God's voice boomed in the void, he then took a deep breath to compose himself.

The God took a minute, "I believe that's the first time someone has ever gotten on my nerves."

"Besides the God of Darkness," Hagaromo pointed out. "Hear that over there, you're now second only to the evilest being in existence, Naruto."

Naruto rubs the back of his head, "well…Jeez, I'm sorry."

"All is forgiven, for now at least, tell me does this area suit you?" The God of Light inquires.

"Does…does it matter," Naruto sounded confused. "You mean I can choose?"

"Not you, but I know what you are thinking of." The Light God answered before holding up his right hand.

A loud snap echoed before a flood of light blinded the area.

Naruto opens his eyes, he was standing in Myoboku. The air smelt the same, the feel of the humidity and such. He saw the many waterfalls, the various forest critters. A ladybird flies up to him, landing on his finger.

Watching the insect flutter its wings Naruto didn't acknowledge Hagaromo or The Light God behind him. The teen saw everything, it was exactly like Mt. Myoboku, just no sign of any of the toads. Turning to face the two that brought him here in the first place Naruto looks on confused, he watches as the ladybird flies away.

"Mt. Myoboku, exactly as you remembered during your Sage training. I peered into the veil of your mind, I've looked into your memories, you hold this place much closer to your heart than the village of Konoha." The God explained his choice of scenery, "and I feel sympathy for your harsh upbringing."

"However," The Light God then pointed out. "There is always those who suffer more, and you seem to gravitate towards them."

"Uh thanks, I guess?" Naruto offered up in confused gratitude.

The blonde looks at the two, "so, why am I here?"

"You and Kaguya Ōtsutsuki breached the realm of creation. Your final act together was both a sacrifice and a saving grace. For you've caught my eye, while Kaguya caught the eye of my brother. I do not know what he has done with her, he is twisted and has on occasion sabotaged our joint creation." The God of Light holds out his hand, "mankind."

Hagaromo frowns a little, sighing, "in truth Naruto-san you're alive because The Light God is curious."

"So," Naruto looked downcast, "all I am is just…a toy?"

"Far from it," Naruto snapped his head back up to face the God, "you're an anomaly just like Kaguya."

"Birth may have been different. The class you grew up in, beyond different. However, the life you led and the life she gave up, were one and the same. Kaguya wanted to protect her lover and her children, her lover turned on her and the people followed suit." The Light God created a miniature set for display, color coded.

Regular people were black in color, Kaguya was white, and her lover was red. Naruto could see where her lover and the people chased her down. That was before a large object made of green in the shape of a tree, and a golden light glowing from it. He watches as she took the light, consuming it.

And then, everyone turned to dust…

"Kaguya wiped out nearly all of humanity," The Light God said as he made the figures disappear. "In her hubris to gain the power to protect all that she loved…she destroyed it with that very power."

Naruto lowers his head, "so that's why she asked why I decided to help the very people that did those things to me…"

"Kaguya is a tragic character," The Light God lamented. "It saddens me when one takes such a path."

Naruto frowns and nodded in agreement, "yeah…and to think I could've just as easily…took that step."

Hagaromo looks at the reincarnation of his youngest son, "life exists on a balance Naruto-san, there must be balanced for tranquility and peace to prosper."

The former Jinchuuriki took a deep breath, "so, can I finally drift into the Pure World?"

"No," The Light God answered. "Child of Hope…I found it a shame for such a life to be thrown away."

"But I don't want to be here, not without Kurama…not without…Sasuke, and Sakura-chan. I hate this feeling, I don't know how long I've been asleep, and I just…I just…" Naruto starts to sob as he brought his forearm up to cover his face, "I really wished that I could just see Kurama again."

The God of Light looks at the young man, he then smiles as he brought his hand onto him. "Child…you must remain strong."

"How," Naruto lamented as he looked up at The Light God. "Kurama was my closest friend, and Sasuke and Sakura were my siblings. I…I have no one here."

"I brought you here because I saw a pure heart, this world needs that…" The Light God then looked up and smiled. "Ah…it would seem our time has come to a close."

"Wait…" Naruto reaches out to the duo, "when will I see you again?"

"When the time is right," Hagaromo bowed his head. "Please, go in peace, Naruto-san."

Naruto watches as they left before the whole world became dark.

The gasping of a young man laying in pure white linen makes the nurse jump. The room itself was stainless, pearly white, with some windows overlooking the city. The nurse watches as the teen reaches for the tube in his nostrils, she grabs his hands.

"Sir," she struggled to him down from pulling the tube out. "Sir look at me, I'm Nurse Coral. You're in the hospital, sir please calm yourself."

Naruto breathes hard as he finally gave up, "wh…e…re?"

The nurse made out the broken word, "you're in Vacuo First General Hospital."

"Va…cu…o?" Naruto breathed out.

"Yes, Vacuo," Coral answered as she looks at him. "You were brought here three months ago, critically injured."

"I, and a team of surgeons worked round the clock to keep you alive once you got here. You actually died a few times on the table," she looked around. "Sir, I'm going to go get the doctor, please do not pull at the tube."

Naruto flops his head back, watching as the nurse runs out. The teen breathes hard, looking at the painfully bright room. His eyes ached from it all, the teen sways his head on the pillow, he felt hollow. Looking around he noticed tall buildings just outside of the window, they looked no different than Suna's buildings.

Then he starts to remember some details, landing in water was of them, but it was the dry air he felt when he exited the strange void. Desert air, at least he thought it was, it felt exactly the way The Great Wind Desert felt.

The doctor walks in, she had long lavender colored hair and yellow eyes. The lady wasn't very tall, in fact, she was shorter than most people Naruto knew. The doctor looked him over, checking his pulse, and looked at his monitor.

She had webbed hands, not human ones, "nod if you can understand me."

Naruto nods weakly, making her smile.

"Hey there sunshine," she greeted him with a joke. "My name is Doctor Sahaba Sol, I've been taking care of you the last three months."

"Th…ree…months?" Naruto inquired as best he could.

She nods, "yes, you were brought in with what I can describe as the worst beat down, I've seen a very long time."

"You're very lucky, between your heart stopping several times and the fear of brain damage you came out of surgery successfully. We applied bio-degradable stitches that have already disappeared, you had massive internal injuries." The doctor revealed while she read over his file, "luckily you have a strong aura."

"th…ank…you." Naruto thanked her, watching as she smiled in response.

Sahaba then looks at his monitor, "we're going to monitor for twenty-four hours before we remove that ventilator that's been helping you breathe in your sleep."

"At which time we'll probably start seeing how well your nerves are," she grimaced a little before saying the next part, "and work on removing the catheter."

Naruto looks confused before he looks down past his feet. He saw two tubes, his eyes slightly widened before rolling to the back of his head. The doctor chuckles a little bit before walking out of the room. The nurse pats the teen's shoulder.

"Please rest sir," Coral requested as she nods her head and exits the room.

A few days have passed since he woke up, Naruto was leaning up from the bed. The blonde was feeling out some paperwork as best as he could, but despite the language verbally being the same, he found that he couldn't read it. He sighs, looking at the nurse.

"Is there something wrong sir?" Coral inquired as she walks over to him.

Naruto nods, giving an embarrassed chuckle, "I can't…read."

"Oh, well, let me just ask you a few questions." The woman grabbed the clipboard, watching his trembling right hand.

"Full name?" She asked while readying her pen.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto answered in standard fashion.

She looks at him confused, "which is first, and the surname?"

"Oh, Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto changed his answer to fit what she wanted.

"Very good." Coral praised a little, "and identification?"

"Um, Naruto Uzumaki?" Naruto answered nervously.

"No," the nurse shook her head, "what do you identify as?"

"Um, human?" Naruto once again answered nervously.

"Sir," Coral took a deep breath. "Do you identify as a man, a woman, or pan?"

Naruto looked thoroughly confused, "um…last time I checked…I was a man. Oh crap, you guys didn't cut it off did you Dattebayo?!"

The nurse laughs at his little uproar, "no, we assure you its still attached."

"Oh, okay them, nearly gave me a heart attack. But I'm a guy, so I'm a man." Naruto answered with a nod.

"Okay," the nurse pinched her nose. "Are you, or have you been sexually active in the past year?"

Naruto blushed a little bit, "not really…"

"Have you had sexual intercourse?" The nurse was getting slightly frustrated, "Oral sex?"

"I had sex," Naruto admitted with a blush as he thought his last time traveling with Jiraiya. "It was with a girl that I met…and…well…"

"Did you use protection," Coral stopped him from speaking, "like a condom?"

"Yes," Naruto answered, "I used a condom."

"Splendid, any medical history, familial issues?" Coral inquires as she readied her pen.

"Well, I've been stabbed in the chest twice. I broke my leg and arm when I was a kid," Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "That's about it."

"When you said stabbed, were you a victim of a crime, or working?" The nurse inquired as she got ready to finish the paperwork.

Naruto struggles to come up with an answer, but then smiles, "I was out stopping bad guys."

"Mercenary?" She asked.

"Um, yeah, I'm a mercenary," Naruto answered, a big dumb goofy smile plastered on his face to sell the lie.

The nurse then just shook her head, "idiot, no wonder you got beaten nearly to death. You mercenaries are all the same, trying to play Huntsmen. Well, with do you have insurance?"

"Uh…" Naruto took a deep breath before squeaking, "not really…"

"Then quite frankly you owe this hospital a debt," the nurse stated as she got up. "We will have you get in touch with an adjuster so you can work on paying the bill through your line of work."

"Um sure, that'll be fine, sorry…if I offended you or anything nurse Coral." Naruto rubbed the back of his head bashfully.

The nurse sighs, "it's not you…I had a friend who decided it'd been a good idea to become a mercenary."

"he died," she told him and then looked at him with her orange eyes. "You do well to keep your young life safeguarded…too many young people die to Grimm thinking they can make a difference."

'Grimm?' Naruto mentally questioned, "Okay nurse Coral, when can I leave?"

"Tomorrow, you'll be given the green light to leave, your personal effects will be delivered to you tonight." Nurse Coral answered him before walking out of the room.

The blonde sat on the bed, taking a deep breath, "well that could've gone better."

He looks at his arms and then looking at his legs. They still felt a little stiff, slowly, getting off the bed Naruto entered a fighting stance before throwing a couple of jabs in the air in front of him.

Naruto was handed a pair of black pants and an orange tunic. The tunic had long sleeves and made of a very soft fabric. Naruto noticed that his headband's sash was damaged, torn up, but his headband remained intact. There was a yellow sash obviously used to help tie his pants around his waist.

A pair of all-terrain boots, and along with several of his shuriken. His pouches were mostly ruined, save for one, which still had a kunai in it. Undressing out of his medical clothes Naruto began putting together his outfit and grimaced when he felt pain in his right arm.

The doctor said he'd have some healing to do. Sighing, Naruto just placed himself in the mindset of putting himself as far away from the hospital as possible. Gathering his bearings Naruto took a deep breath and began to mentally go over the things he had.

Sighing, he got himself walking out of the door. It felt weird as people gave him some looks, a nurse nodded with a smile. Apparently, he was well talked about as "the miracle guy" for surviving all that he did.

It didn't take long for Naruto to get outside of the hospital, looking around the arid city, he frowned. There were very few plants in the area, he didn't know what to do with himself. So, he took a step forward, then another and another. People were buzzing through the city streets, talking and gossiping.

"Stop the oppression!" He heard someone shout.

"Down with The Schnee Dust Company," a woman screamed. "Bunch of crooks and thieves."

"Down with The Schnee Dust Company, they are a bunch crooks and thieves!" A group of people chants.

This caught his eye as he watches the people from afar. All of them had the animal traits he saw on some of the nurses, Faunus. Naruto himself was confused on what he should've listed himself down as, considering he had whiskers on his face.

Then again it wasn't like they occurred naturally, his parents were human, he just happened to get bathed in Kurama's chakra before getting birthed. That's when heard sirens of some kind, he watches as men in fancy suites no different than the bastard Gato wore stood outside of a building.

The strange machines with the sirens pulled up toward the building, where he saw people with armor on and shields step out. They all had clubs in their hand, and bigger machine pulls up as well, this one had a cannon of some kind mounted on top.

"Attention all protestors," the lead of the group of armed people spoke in a machinelike tone. "Please desist and return to your dwellings."

"Man, that ain't right!"
"Hell no, we're protesting unfair pair!"
"We work just as hard as our human coworkers, we deserve to be paid just as much!"
"The Schnee Dust Company owes us a pension, as they do with the humans!"

"This is your final warning, we will use force!" The same person stated, only for some children to step up front.

Naruto watches as they arm the cannon on top of the large machine, "three!"

Protestors kept chanting, "two!"

The armed people chuckled and laughed, they seemed eager to be beating on people. Naruto's hands found themselves gripping each other, without thinking twice he moved. The cannon starts firing a stream of water out, aimed right at the children.

Naruto formed a hand seal before several clones popped into existence by him. He managed to get in front of the kids, taking the full brunt of the water blast. He stood there, anchoring himself to the ground with chakra as the people blasted him with a cannon full of water.

He wouldn't lie, it felt refreshing, the cold water.

After the water died down the lead of the group steps up to Naruto.

"What in the blue blazes are you doing critter, don't you dare use a semblance again, deactivate it immediately!" The man yelled right in the blonde's face.

Naruto growls as he glared right into the man's eyes, "why don't you stop what you're doing, you could've gotten children hurt!"

"Oh, you animals are all the same," the man complained. "You belong in the mines!"

"Kiss our ass!" A man from the crowd shouted.

"Shut your jaws, go back to your dens, your mangy critters!" The man shouted at the people behind Naruto.

Naruto looks at the symbol on their uniform, "are you guys…police?"

"No, we're security guards, and you're on Schnee property!" The Security Guard screams.

The blonde then smirks, "is that so?"

He walks backward, the guard follows, "yeah back up fleabag!"

"Oh," Naruto looked down at the line he secretly drew in the sand. "So, are you off Schnee property?"

"Yeah, what about it, you little bas-ack!" Naruto swings his left hand, catching him right in the face.

The blow was powerful enough to shatter his helmet. The man's mouth spat up blood before he hit the ground, hitting it with a hard thud. The crowd behind Naruto stood silently before cheering, the other security guards began beating their clubs against their riot shields.

Taking a deep breath Naruto got ready to fight, "the first one to move forward gets my foot up their ass, Dattebayo…"

"Enough!" Naruto heard from somewhere behind him.

A large, well-built man walks through the crowd. People separated in his presence, he seemed very well respected. The man looked right at Naruto, who was still on edge.

"Stand down kinsmen," the man ordered Naruto. "There's no need for more violence."

"It's the police chief," the man in the suit greeted the man mockingly. "The Caterer of The Beasts."

"Enough," The Police Chief replied with a flat tone. "This has gone on long enough, I came down personally to inform you'll be taken into custody if another attack happens again!"

"Attack?! These vermin came onto my property first, Mr. Schnee's property is my responsibility." The man in the suit stated, "and I'll not let some wild beasts tarnish it because they don't like their pay."

Naruto looks up at the man, growling as his fists balled up. The Police Chief just placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder, pushing him back. The Police Chief stares down the suit until the suit just lost his nerve. Snapping his fingers all the guards got back, the one on the ground slowly got up.

He glares right at Naruto, spitting a splotch of blood on the ground at his feet.

The former Jinchuuriki just flicks the man off, "kick your ass later Dattebayo."

"Next time I see, you'll be going in the hospital, fuckin' animal!" The punched-out security guard screamed.

Naruto just scuffs, "whatever, asshole."

The blonde backs away into the ground, being met by a few people patting his back. The woman from earlier stops, throwing her arms around him. He felt weird, looking at the people.

"Thank you, kinsmen," the woman thanked him. "Those bastards were going to blast our kids!"

"Yeah, what's your name!" A man with rough skin yells, shaking Naruto by the shoulder with a smile on his face.

Naruto looks at them, he then smiles, "my name is Naruto."

(Just wanted to take the time to give a shout out to fellow authors Psychosensei and Rio Skyron. If you haven't checked out their stuff yet, do me a solid and do so. Please Review, and as always see you in the next chapter!)