Chapter 1
Author Note: Hey everyone back with a new story…2 New Stories to be precise if my plans went through according to plan lol. Anyway this time it's a Naruto x Primeval Crossover.
I gotta be honest this is a story I have wanted to do, and have had in the works for YEARS. However I hadn;t actually started writing it until several months ago when I was rewatching the show. To be honest I actually finished this chapter about a month or so ago but with all the issues that the site has been having I had held off on posting it for the time being until most if not all of them were fixed…here's hoping they actually are when I post this lol.
Now I won't explain much of the show in the Author Note as personally I feel it's one you really need to watch for yourself to see how cool it is, and see how cool it is in this story as well.
That being said, not much else to say really but be sure to Favorite, Follow, and Review if you enjoyed the chapter and check out my other stories as who knows you might enjoy them as well…
Also be sure to check out the other story I published in this double publish/update as its a Naruto x Hotel Transylvania Crossover.
Naruto let out a depressed sigh of defeat and sadness as he came out of sage mode having not sensed any life in the entirety of the elemental nations. However as he came out of sage mode the blonde suddenly collapsed to his knees in pain clutching his abdomen in agony. It felt as if his entire body was both on fire and shredding itself from within. After what felt like an eternity the pain subsided and he breathed heavily trying to recover from the pain. As the blonde shakily got to his feet though he felt something was off with his body. Holding up his hand the blonde tried to form a rasengan only for a few wisps of chakra to appear before fizzling out. Seeing this the blonde's eyes widened as he realized what was wrong with him…his chakra system was shredded.
Letting out another heavy sigh the blonde ran his hands through his spiky hair "Great just great. I'm the sole survivor of the elemental nations because Kaguya decided to be a sore loser and self-destruct instead of being sealed, Kurama and the other Bijuu are gone, and my chakra system is shot to hell and back likely as a result of them flooding it with all their chakra to save me from her suicide bombing. What the hell am I going to do now" he rants to himself at his situation. At that moment it was as if the universe itself answered him as he noticed a shining glass-like ripple in the air. Raising an eyebrow at the strange anomaly he shrugged "What do I have to lose?" he asked himself before getting up and walking into the anomaly which closed and vanished shortly after he did so.
(Timeskip 6 Years)
For six years the blonde had explored the strange portals. With each traversal through one he found himself in a new environment with all sorts of animals both hostile and not, and ecosystems. There were even times when passing through the portals that he would come across the ruins of what was clearly a human civilization. That discovery had fueled Naruto's drive to not just explore the portals and the lands existing on the other side of them but also to find one where humans exist again.
Raising a hand to his forehead to shield his eyes from the bright and blaring sun as he looked out across the vast black sand landscape the blonde surveyed the current landscape. In addition to the black sand there were the odd scattered trees, and mountains/hills. The air was filled with animal cries, and small green flying lizards. While on the ground large hunched back quadrupedal reptile-like animals lumbered about in groups.
"Ugh I hate when the new lands are hot ones" the blonde says, fanning himself a bit due to the intense heat. It also probably didn't help that his outfit wasn't exactly ideal for intensely hot environments. He had long abandoned his orange and black jacket and pants having both outgrown them over the years with them also being reduced to ruins from his travels. He now wore a makeshift dirty white hooded cloak over a no sleeve military-style shirt. To accompany his hooded cloak he also had a black half-face mask covering his mouth and nose. For pants he wore a pair of black military pants, accompanied by a pair of brown combat boots. He had scavenged his new attire during one of his portal jumping trips where he found himself in the ruins of a human civilization.
The blonde shuddered at the memory of that trip "Ugh I REALLY hate those ruined civilization places the animals in them are something else" he comments as those landscapes were insanely dangerous due to the native fauna…while also being very confusing given the strange things he had seen. Hearing a bellow he turns to the side to see one of the large quadrupedal animals come lumbering out of one of the portals "...That's a first never seen the animals come out of the portals before" he remarks before adjusting the strap going along his chest securing the large object on his back before walking through the portal.
(Dark Forest)
Walking out of the portal the blonde man finds himself in a forest in the middle of the night. However what catches his eye is the group of five adults staring at him in shock. Naruto looks between the shocked adults and the portal behind him "...So I take it you just saw the large four-legged animal that walked through the portal?" he asks, pulling down his face mask and pulling back his hood, not knowing what else to say.
The group just continued to stare at him in shock before one of the guys wearing a hat spots the item on his back "Thats a big sword" he mutters causing the others to turn their attention on the very large cleaver-like sword strapped to the blond's back. Hearing the man's observation the blonde couldn't help but shrug as the comment wasn't untrue.
(Several Hours Later)
The blonde was lazily lying on his side on the ground of the forest floor with several of what were clearly soldiers standing guard around him. Naruto let out a yawn as he was bored out of his mind just waiting around for something to happen or be decided as the people he encountered observed the area and the portal.
One of the people a black haired male taps a pen to his lips as his observes the anomaly in front of him before noticing the metal pin being pulled in the direction of the abnormality "My pen" he remarks moments before the writing utensil is ripped from his grip and flies into the portal. Realizing what just happened his eyes widen "Professor Cutter that explains why the compass was going crazy on the way here" he remarks to the short brown haired man standing a bit to the side.
"What could cause a magnetic field that powerful?" Cutter remarks in observation and thought at the sight.
"Alien spaceship?" the young man who had previously been holding the pen says with a shrug.
"Seriously Connor?" Cutter remarks with a deadpan look on his face as he stares at his colleague for the completely ridiculous suggestion about what they were looking at. In response Connor just grinned and gestured towards the spiky haired blonde lazing about on the forest floor.
"I can assure you that I am not an alien, and that is not a spaceship" Naruto remarks with a yawn after hearing the conversation causing the two men to shrug.
Off to the a blonde haired woman with her hair in a pixie-cut sat on a stump looking at the scene when the last member male member of the group Naruto had met upon his emergence from the portal walks over and hands her a cup of coffee "How're you feeling?" he asks.
"Confused, Frightened, exhilarated, intrigued" the blonde woman lists off looking between the anomaly, Naruto, and the small green flying reptile currently in a cage and being carried away by two soldiers "You don't think they're going to hurt them?" she asks, looking at the reptile and then Naruto.
"Oh of course not, maybe a little poking and prodding but nothing serious" the man says before extending his hand to the woman "Stephen Hart by the way" he says introducing himself to her.
"Abby Maitland" the blonde says, also introducing herself.
"They can poke and prod but the moment they try to probe I am putting said potential prober through a wall" Naruto calls out having heard the conversation from his spot on the ground. His remark got a smirk from Stephen and a snort of laughter from Abby. The blonde then cracks an eye to see a couple of the soldiers staring down at him with glares "Oh don't give me that look, if someone tried to probe your ass you would probably react the same way" he says actually causing them to think on his words for a moment before they shrug in agreement and go back to just keeping an eye on him.
"Everything we've seen about the animals so far is consistent with vertebrates that last appeared in the fossil record hundreds of millions of years ago." Cutter remarks standing next to the other woman that had been among the group to witness the four-legged reptile enter the anomaly and the blonde emerge from it..
"You mean they are like creatures from the past? Also where does that leave our mysterious blonde fellow that emerged from the anomaly?" the woman asks, looking between Naruto and the glowing distortion floating above the ground.
"No, I mean they are creatures from the past. As for our mysterious blonde, I have no theory regarding his appearance" Cutter remarks, genuinely perplexed by the blonde's appearance. The two then hear a laugh and turn to see Connor letting the anomaly pull something else metallic into it.
"That is so cool…oh wait those were my front door keys" Connor says with a wide grin before realizing just what he sent through the anomaly.
"You really should stop letting stuff go through the portal," Naruto remarks lazily.
"Why's that?" Connor asks with a raised eyebrow.
"The animals are usually drawn to shiny stuff…especially the predators" was the blonde's response causing Connor's eyes to widen in slight fear.
"Yes Mr. Temple do please stop tossing objects into the strange glowing thing. Cutter we have to go now" the woman says to Connor before turning back to look at Cutter.
"Oh so you've got your own experts?" Cutter asks skeptically with an amused look on his face.
"They didn't see what we saw, and they don't know what you and likely the mysterious blonde know" the woman says to him in response as she looks at the lounging blonde who grins at her before waving cheekily. She had no idea what but the woman had a sinking feeling in her stomach that this man was going to end up being a mountain of headaches for her in the future.
"This mysterious blonde has a name you know…It's Naruto Uzumaki by the way" Naruto remarks with a roll of his eyes finding it a little insulting that she kept referring to him as the mysterious blonde.
"...Claudia Brown" the woman says dryly as she introduces herself on instinct before turning around and walking off.
Cutter looks at the departing woman for a moment before turning his attention to the anomaly in front of him "You're thinking about Helen aren't you?" Stepehen says walking over to stand next to the man and join him in staring at the oddity.
"It explains everything" Cutter remarks as the reality of a portal to a different point in time opened up a new possibility as to what happened to his wife.
"Except why she didn't come back" Stephen counters before Cutter follows after the departing Claudia with Abby joining him, and Naruto right behind them being escorted by some of the soldiers guarding him.
(Home Office)
"Are these really necessary?" Naruto asks, looking down at the handcuffs locked around his wrists and chaining his arms to the table he is sitting at. The guards watching over him in the room choose to just ignore the question causing him to scowl "You know I think I prefer the other guys, they at least had a personality other than stick up the ass" he adds before smirking as he sees the eyebrow of one of the guards twitch slightly in annoyance.
Off to the side in another room Abby and Cutter were being watched over by a pair of government officials as they looked through a stack of documents basically stating that they weren't allowed to speak of what they saw.
It was this scene that Claudia was watching from across the hall when she noticed a man in a suit walk up next to her "Claudia Brown, Home Office." she says introducing herself to him.
"Yes, I've seen your file. James Lester and I'll be in charge of coordinating our response" the man says introducing himself to Claudia before turning to look at Cutter and Abby in one room and Naruto in the other "You shouldn't have brought them here. Those two have no security clearance, and that one is a potential security risk in general" James says gesturing towards the trio of people in the two rooms. "I don't like civilians in these situations, and I like complete unknowns in them even less" he finishes with a frown on his face.
"Just how many situations like this have you had?" Claudia asks with a raised eyebrow at the statement.
Instead of answering her question James responds with a question of his own "How do we know they're not somehow responsible for all of this in some way? After all the blonde one came out of the…what are they even calling it?" he asks.
"An Anomaly sir. As for Naruto while he did emerge from it he has shown now hostility towards us or anyone else" Claudia says with a smirk.
"Hmm…You spend your entire career planning for just about every crisis imaginable, up to and including alien invasions, then this happens. This Naruto wouldn't happen to be an alien would he?" James says before giving the woman a side look as he stares at the relaxing blonde in the room. If he was being honest with himself, the sight of Naruto casually relaxing without a care in the world despite being essentially a prisoner in a government facility was starting to be annoying.
"No sir he is not an alien, the small DNA sample we managed to take from his fingerprint on a bottle of water we gave him came back as a 99.8% match to the average human genome" Claudia remarks.
"Shame and I was actually looking forward to initiating 'Operation Karma' alas I guess I will need to inform the extraction and insertion teams to stand down" James says with almost a disappointed sounding tone causing Claudia to stare at him in confusion.
(Forest of Dean)
Stephen and Connor were walking through the forest with Stephen in the lead as they followed the trail of an animal. Kneeling down next to a large broken branch from a tree Stephen looks at it intently as before staring off in front of them "Something large has been through here recently" he states seeing more broken branches ahead.
"I'm not very outdoorsy. I have sinus issues, and allergies, I can write you a list" Connor states with a sniffle due to said issues.
The man was about to say something else only to stop as Stephen stands up and turns around with his finger held up to silence him "We can't rely on the arm to find this creature so we need to keep looking" he says before staring out into the forest looking for any sign of said animal as the two resume walking.
"Um this whole suave big game hunter thing you got going on right now is cool but shouldn't we wait for the professor?" Connor asks before sighing as his question is ignored and they continue on their way
(Home Office)
Lester was walking down a hallway with Cutter, Abby, and Claudia following behind him "This phenomenon, Professor, Claudia tells me you have an explanation?" he says back to the man.
"More a Theory. The boy's experience, along with that of Naruto's, proves that there's a concrete landscape on the other side of the anomaly. Given how we have seen creatures that were last seen in the fossil record over hundreds of millions of years ago, it's clear that it's most likely the Earth many millions of years ago" Cutter says in response as the group stops in front of some windows.
"And this Anomaly as you call it, is a door between time zones in the world's history?" Lester asks, turning to look at Cutter and getting a nod. "Suppose this remarkable theory is correct, what are the immediate risks?" he adds after a moment.
"Famine, war, pestilence, the end of the world as we know it, you know the usual doom and gloom" Cutter replies with a hint of sarcasm at the question.
"I think I could do without the facetiousness" Lester retorts with a slight narrowing of his eyes at the man's reply.
"And I could do without standing in some anaemic office in Whitehall talking to a civil service pen pusher, when I should be exploring the most significant phenomenon in the history of science, and talking with the sole man to have had extensive experience exploring said phenomenon" Cutter replies rather snarkily to the man.
"Technically I am not actually a civil servant. More along the lines of a troubleshooter without portfolio in the PM's office" was James's reply as he crossed his arms.
"You mean you're a government hatchet man" Cutter remarks with a smug grin on his face getting a snort from Abby.
"Colorful, but surprisingly accurate" Lester says with a nod of his head.
"There is something else you should know as well. I intend to find out what happened to my wife whatever the risks, so I'm going through the anomaly, and if you want to stop me you're going to have to shoot me" Cutter says in determination as the anomaly was the best lead he had to find out what happened to his wife Helen.
Hearing this Claudia's eyes widen slightly and Lester chuckles a bit "I hope it won't come to that, now let's discuss our blonde guest shall we?" he adds before the group turns to see Naruto still sitting in the room down the hall.
(Forest of Dean)
Connor and Stephen were still roaming the forest as the latter tracked whatever large animal came through the area when Connor suddenly says "So what do you think of Abby?" causing the other man to roll his eyes.
"She's okay, why?" Stephen asks, already having a hunch as to why Connor was interested in learning his opinion of the blonde female.
"I was picking up some heat between us" Connor remarks before shrugging his shoulders a bit "You get an instinct for these kind of things" he adds with a slight chuckle.
"I was under the impression you already had a girlfriend?" Stephen replies as the young man had mentioned it before in passing.
"She's more of a pen pal really. She lives in the Gambia" Connor reveals as he scratches his cheek a bit in slight embarrassment.
"That's really convenient for a night out" Stephen remarks sarcastically with a slight chuckle given how the Gambia was in West Africa.
"Yeah tell me about it…So do you think Abby likes me?" Connor says before getting to the point of the questioning.
"Honestly Connor we just met the girl so I have no idea. Though from what I have seen that Naruto guy seems to have piqued her interest more than you have. But if you want to know for sure why don;t you just ask her for yourself" Stephen says actually stopping and turning to look at Connor.
"Yeah alright I might" Connor says getting a nod from Stepehen before the latter resumes walking. "After all it's not everyday you meet a potential girlfriend…and find a dinosaur" he adds, getting a chuckle from Stephen.
(Home Office)
The group had moved away from the windows after their discussion and were now standing outside a viewing window for a secure lab where some scientists were prepping the small green flying reptile to be examined. "I still find it hard to believe that this Naruto character was so open to discuss his knowledge regarding the anomaly…in exchange for a bowl of noodles" Lester remarks in a dour tone at the absurdity of it.
"This Naruto guy is standing mere feet from you y'know…and one does not disrespect the perfection that is ramen. I also was hungry and haven't had ramen in like 6 years" the aforementioned blonde says standing just a little ways away from the other four, a bowl of the noodle dish in hand as he uses some chopsticks to put more of the noodles in his mouth.
"Right well one would think after 12 bloody bowls of the dish you would at the very least be full" Lester fires back with a deadpan stare on his face. However the man grew rather annoyed when his remark was ignored by the blonde in favor of shoveling more noodles into his mouth.
"...You must really like ramen" Claudia remarks with a lightly shocked look on her face at seeing Naruto eating yet another bowl of the dish.
"It's my favorite food for a few reasons that I would like to keep to myself at the moment" Naruto replies mysteriously as he resumes his eating.
"They really shouldn't handle a lizard like that" Abby suddenly says as she watches the scientists set the green lizard down on an examination table.
"Right, well let's let the experts do their job shall we?" Lester remarks with a roll of his eyes.
"They don't know what they're doing" Abby mutters to herself though it's just loud enough to be heard by the others getting a chuckle from Naruto. Inside the examination room the two scientists take a few swabs from inside the lizard's mouth though it gently swipes at the swab a few times while letting out a few chirps. Seeing this Abby narrows her eyes a bit "You really shouldn't mess with an angry or agitated lizard" she remarks as that was one of the most common known things when it came to handling lizards or any animal really.
"Oh I'm utterly terrified" Lester remarks in response with a sarcastic roll of his eyes as the lizard was clearly no threat to any of them given its size.
As the scientist pulls out a handheld MRI scanner and begins slowly waving it over the lizard Abby remarks "Do they know it can fly?".
Hearing this Lester turns to look at the short-haired blonde with a slightly unnerved look on his face "Fly?" he asks questionably, not liking the potential implications of that.
As if fate itself heard it was at that moment that the little lizard decided to do just that and begin flying around the small lab as the scientists panicked a bit and tried to catch it. Now the lizard taking flight wouldn't have been that big of a deal given how the lab was a contained room. However at that moment another scientist had decided to enter the lab opening the only door to the room and thus giving the lizard a clear opening in which to escape from and into the large open interior of the building.
Seeing this Abby and Claudia begin chasing after the flying reptile trying to keep it in sight. Naruto meanwhile decided to casually follow after them while still eating his bowl of ramen . Cutter and Lester remained where they were and watched as the reptile flew all around the large open interior of the building "He can fly" Lester remarks with a tilt of his head.
"Mmm and pretty well it seems" Cutter adds in observation as the reptile effortlessly flew about the building before flying into an open elevator just as the doors were starting to close.
Coming out of an elevator themselves Claudia and Abby were seconds too late to catch the escaped lizard as the doors to the elevator closed right in front of them
From across the way a couple floors up Naruto casually walked in the direction of the elevator while .Lester and Cutter continued to watch the scene from a few floors above him "It would seem it also is fond of elevator music" Cutter remarks with a chuckle as through the glass siding of the elevator they can see the lizard bobbing its head back and forth to the music that is likely playing in it.
As it reaches its destination the elevator stops and the doors open resulting in the lizard running out and startling a woman who lets out a shriek as it runs by before taking flight again. The lizard begins flying through various offices with Claudia and Abby right behind it as they had passed Naruto who was still making his way causally after the lizard. Reaching an open window in one of the offices the lizard stops for a moment to perch on it as it gazes out at the freedom of the open air.
Seeing this Abby and Claudia come to a stop a few feet from the lizard not warning to startle it "Rex" Abby says having decided to name the lizard that as she tries to get its attention "C'mon don't do it Rex, that's not your world out there anymore." she says, trying to coax the lizard down as it turns to look at her. Reaching into her jacket she pulls out a small piece of beef jerky and holds it out to the lizard "C'mon buddy try this, you'll like it I promise" she adds.
Naruto watches this with a raised eyebrow before Rex makes to fly out the window to which he lets out a whistle to and holds up his arm. For a moment Rex flew out the window before flying back into the building and landing on the blonde's outstretched arm and crawling up it to perch itself on his shoulder rubbing affectionately against the side of his head. Turning his attention from the lizard nuzzling him the blonde looked at the stunned faces of Claudia and Abby "What? You really think I spent an extended period of time on the other side of the anomaly and didn't end up bonding with a creature?" he says with a chuckle.
"Why didn't you just do that from the start when it escaped the lab?" Claudia asks in a slightly exasperated tone as all the running they did chasing it down was a bit tiring…and difficult to do in high heels.
To which Naruto just shrugged "I thought it would be amusing to see you guys chase him down and was curious to see how you would handle the situation" he says causing Claudia to sigh tiredly while Abby just smiles a bit seeing how Rex was with Naruto.
(Forest of Dean)
Stepehen and Connor were still searching the forest when the former spots something in the forest floor and runs over to see a large five-toed foot print from a large animal in the muddy ground leading off in another direction. Kneeling down next to the print the man puts his hand next to it seeing that the foot-print is easily twice as large as his hand "What made this?" he asks Connor as the younger man kneels down next to him.
Connor gains a nervous look on his face as he looks at the print before looking off in the direction it and the other prints of the same type and size lead "I think the scientific term would be 'really bad news'" he says in a fearful tone at what could have possibly left a print that large and was roaming around somewhere in the forest.
(Home Office)
Naruto and the others were standing in front of Lester's desk in his office as said man was reclining in his desk chair "Well the lizard's dna has confirmed both your theory and the blonde's claim about the anomaly as the lizard is a living fossil" the man says steepling his fingers in front of him "Given the circumstances I am allowing your exploratory mission into the anomaly. However you will not be going alone" he adds.
"I will be taking the lizard back through the anomaly when I go. Creatures that don't belong here should be returned to that natural habitat so as to not potentially disrupt the timeline" Cutter says with a nod of his head as the potential damage that could happen should a creature not be returned to the past could be catastrophic.
"Right well that's all well and good we don't want to suddenly find ourselves in a modern example of the Flintstones now do we? Also I will be needing your signature on this disclaimer. Afterall we don't want any nasty lawsuits should you not come back as a result of say becoming the lunch of whatever beasts might reside on the other side" Lester says pulling a stack of papers out of his desk and setting it on the desk.
As Cutter begins to sign the documents Naruto leans over to Abby "What's the Flinstones?" he asks, having no idea what Lester was referring to when he mentioned it. His question caused the pixie-cut blonde to let out a snort at the question.
(Forest of Dean)
Connor was sitting on the ground next to the footprints in the mud with his laptop open searching for a potential identity of the creature that left the footprint. "Okay so my best guess is that the creature we saw last night before Naruto came out of the anomaly was some kind of Scutosaurus, which resided in the Late Permian Era. That footprint however is not from a Scutosaurus and if we're talking Permian Era then this little charmer is our prime suspect" he says before turning his laptop around so Stephen could see what he was looking at.
On the laptop screen was a picture of a large quadruped creature with a large head, lengthy and large railroad spike-like shaped teeth noticeably protruding from its upper jaw over its lower one similar to how a Alligators are when their jaws are closed. All in all it twas a fearsome and deadly looking predator.
"It's a Gorgonopsid, it's a super lethal compact killing machine with incredible strength" Connor lists off revealing the creature's name and listing how dangerous it was. "Stephen if it's still out there then you need to find it fast as this thing is walking death basically" he adds as Stephen looks at the picture of the creature.
"What about you?" Stepehen asks as he continues to stare at the picture intently.
"Oh um…You, mighty hunter…Me I'm more logistics and uh backup" Connor says sheepishly at the remark.
Stephen gives the younger man a deadpan stare for a moment which hardened a bit when Connor proceeded to give him a pat on the back for good luck, afterwhich Stephen got up and began resuming his tracking of the creature whose trail was getting closer and closer to the edge of the forest.
(Elementary School Near Forest of Dean)
Within one of the classrooms of the school a preteen boy sat at his desk in a dour mood. The boy in question was none other than Ben, the boy that had ended up finding Rex with Abby, traveling through the anomaly briefly to the other side, and survivor of a Gorgonopsid trashing his room in the creature's attempt at eating him. The latter of which had resulted in his mother severely grounding him as a result of seeing his trashed room…and not the creature that did said trashing. The boy was currently the only student in the classroom with the only other occupant being his female teacher. However unknown to the two they were being hunted as not far from the school the Gorgonopsid emerges from the forest before it begins approaching the building. The prehistoric creature was hunting Ben in particular, having tracked his scent once more as it previously tracked it via a drop of his blood he left on a thorn bush prior to it attacking him in his bedroom.
As the woman walks down the line of desks she looks over to the young boy "The sooner you finish your detention, Ben the sooner we can both go home" she says as the boy was serving detention due to having not finished his homework for the previous night.
Ben continues writing out his homework when he catches some movement out of the corner of his eye and looks over to the large windows at the side of the room just in time to see the Gorgonopsid walk past. A look of terror forms on his face at the sight of the creature "Miss, Miss there's a dinosaur in the playground!" he nearly yells alerting his teacher and causing her to turn around to look out the window.
However as luck would have it due to the way she turned around looking to her right instead of her left she just missed the tail of the Gorgonopsid as it finished walking by the window. The woman turns her attention back to Ben with a disbelieving look on her face "Really Ben, how old are you now?" she says in exasperation unaware that the Gorgonopsid had entered the building and was currently talking the halls following Ben's scent.
"We have to get out of here!" Ben says in fright as he makes to get out of his desk.
"Ben sit down now" the teacher says a little angrily, having enough of the boy's acting out thinking he was playing a game.
"There's a dinosaur!" Ben yells loudly unaware that his yelling alerted the Gorgonopsid to their presence "We need to leave now!" he yells again.
"Ben settle down and sit down!" the teacher snaps having had enough of the boy's outburst. However, hearing the loud growling and thundering footsteps of something in the hall the woman begins making her way to the door to the classroom.
"Don't open the door!" Ben yells desperately moments before the woman does just that and lets out a bloodcurdling scream of terror as she stares down the Gorgonopsid before slamming the door closed and locking it before running over to Ben and try to shield him should the creature break through the door. The two wince with every crash into the door that the Gorgonopsid does before rushing around and pushing as much furniture like desks and tables as they can to create a blockade to hold the door.
As the Gorgonopsid continues bashing its head into the door trying to get at the food sources within the room the door begins to heavily crack and as a result starts folding inward. With just one more bash of its head the creature would break through however as it goes to smash through it suddenly stops when something crashes into its head.
Said object that crashed into it was a chair that had been thrown by Stephen as the man stood in the hall staring down the large predator "Pick on someone your own size" he says before he runs down the hall away from the creature. As the man runs he pulls over any and every cabinet, desk, or shelve that he can to try and slow down the pursuing creature. Reaching the end of the hall he runs down some stairs before having to suddenly stop to avoid being crushed by a metal locker that the Gorgnopsid sent flying over the railing of the stairs at him.
Upon racing to the lower floor he sprints down another hall towards a pair of doors to exit the building only to have to stop as in a case of extreme bad luck given the situation the doors were locked. Turning around to run back the way he came, Stepehen stops in his tracks as he sees the predator approaching him. Thinking fast he grabs a nearby fire extinguisher and begins spraying the creature with it hoping to drive it off; however he only ends up irritating and disorientating the Gorgonopsid as it charges him. However luckily for the man it misses with its jaws and just knocks him through the doors as it breaks them down.
The force of the blow knocks the man unconscious and thus at the mercy of the predator. However in a stroke of luck his motionless body is covered by one of the doors hiding him from the creature as it lets out a roar and runs back into the forest.
(Forest of Dean, Anomaly Site)
Connor paces back and forth as tries to reach Stephen on his cellphone to no avail while off to the side Cutter is being examined by a doctor prior to his expedition into the Anomaly "Will you try calling Stephen again?" he asks as the doctor shines a light in his eyes and has him follow a finger with his eyes.
"He's not answering" Connor says nervously as he tries to call Stephen again.
Claudia walks over to Cutter at the moment just as the doctor finishes his examination of the man "It's 18:55 now, I want you back no later than 20:00 Hours. If the first contact works out we'll take it from there" she says as a soldier with short brown hair and blue eyes wearing a military backpack and holding an assault rifle walks up next to her.
"What's he doing here?" Cutter asks upon seeing the man stand next to Claudia.
"This is Captain Ryan, a veteran of the Gulf War. He has extensive desert experience and he will be accompanying you as we don't know how dangerous the other side of the anomaly is" Claudia explains, introducing the main and his reason for being there.
"He isn't needed as that's the whole reason Naruto is coming along as part of the deal he made to be released from holding" Cutter retorts not wanting the soldier to come along.
"Oh I didn't make the deal to be released as I could have escaped at any time. I just did it to put you all at ease" Naruto says with a shrug as he walks over to the trio and rolls his shoulders getting a few pops as he limbers them up. "That being said though, another man wouldn't be a bad idea as the other side is no stroll in the park. Plus in the worst case scenario it means we have a distraction to be chewed on while we escape" he adds getting shocked looks from Cutter and Claudia at the morbid remark. Seeing their expressions the spiky haired blonde deadpans "That was a joke…geez no sense of humor. Anyway before we head out I do require one thing first" he says turning to look at Claudia.
"And what is that?" the woman asks, wondering just what the man could want.
"My sword…I'm not going into the anomaly without it. That being said, I presume it's still stuck in the ground where I left it prior to being guarded by the soldiers last night?" Naruto says as the sword had saved his life quite a few times in the years he spent exploring the portals…er anomalies as the others had taken to calling them.
"Right yes it yes and very well" Claudia says pointing over to said sword that as Naruto said was still sticking in the ground where he left it…Not for the lack of trying to be removed by the soldiers though. It boggled her mind that he was able to wield such a blade when not even six full grown men could make the sword budge an inch from the spot he had stuck it into.
The blonde just grins cheekily and walks over to the blade before effortlessly pulling it from the ground and sheathing it on the holster strap on his back much to the silent annoyance of the six men that had tried to move it when he was gone.
Walking back over to the others Naruto sees Abby and Connor approach with the former holding Rex in her arms. The sight of this actually caused him to chuckle a bit as the lizard was a bit temperamental at times in the time that Naruto had known him. Abby approached the fellow blonde and held Rex out to him with the lizard proceeding to crawl out of her arms and onto Naruto before perching itself on his shoulder "Please take care of him" the woman says before giving Naruto a quick peck on the cheek "And look after yourself too as I wanna hear what it's like on the other side of these things" she adds before walking off leaving a confused Naruto. The blonde just shakes his head at the action, chalking it up to her being nice or some other mystery of the female gender before he walks over to the anomaly and stands outside it.
Off to the side Claudia pulls Captain Ryan aside "Whatever happens bring him back" she says to the man while looking discreetly at Cutter.
"Ma'am?" Ryan asks with a subtle gesture in Naruto's direction.
"Cutter is priority if such a situation should arise" was her response to which he just nods in understanding before the soldier joins Cutter as they walk over to Naruto. Everyone watches with bated breath as the three approach the anomaly with Cutter sending a look Claudias way before the three step through with Naruto going first followed by Ryan, with Cutter bringing up the rear.
(Permian Era)
Upon crossing through the anomaly Ryan and Cutter marvel and gawk at the landscape in front of them while Naruto just grins and turns around to face them "Welcome to the other side!" he says with a wide grin and his arms spread wide "Be sure to mind the wildlife as they can be a bit…bitey" he jokes with a chuckle getting a blank look from the two men before the three continue to walk away from the anomaly.
(Forest of Dean, Anomaly site)
Everyone just stares at the anomaly that the three men just walked through when Connor reaches into his pocket to grab something only for another of his pens to fall out and onto the ground. As he bends down to pick the writing utensil up his eyes widen as he realizes something "The magnetic field didn't take my pen…The anomaly must be getting weaker" he says causing the others to look at him and then the anomaly in shock at the revelation and the implications it could mean for the men on the other side of it.
(Permian Era)
As the three men continue walking a bit further away from the anomaly they stop for a moment as Rex decides to take off from his perch on Naruto's shoulder and fly around a bit. Cutter looks all around in awe and amazement at what he is seeing while Ryan takes his pack off and sets it on the ground intending to set up a makeshift camp.
"Give me an hour, just one hour on my own" Cutter says, turning to look at the two men.
Hearing this Ryan stops searching through the bag and stands up with a look on his face that just screams 'Really?'.
Naruto just shakes his head in amusement at Cutter wanting to head off on his own for a bit "It's alright soldier boy I will go with him and make sure he doesn't become lunch" he says the statement seemingly appeasing the soldier.
"We have a radio as well so we will be fine!" Cutter says before he begins he begins walking off with the two other men just shaking their heads before Naruto follows after him.
The two walk for a bit with Naruto following behind Cutter and keeping an eye and ear out for any potential nasty surprises from the local fauna as they climb a large hill. Upon reaching the top of it they stare out at the vast landscape and horizon as Scutosaurus go about their business grazing on what little vegetation they could find and Rex flies through the air without a care.
"HELEN!" Cutter suddenly yells at the top of his lungs the call echoing across the landscape. However other than the odd Scutosaurus turning to look in the direction of the shout there was no response.
"So…Who's Helen?" Naruto asks after a moment feeling like there was a story and reason behind the man suddenly yelling out a woman's name.
"She's my wife" Cutter reveals as he continues to scan the landscape with his gaze "Eight years ago she went into the Forest of Dean and vanished without a trace. And now we find a gateway to the past so I figured she might have wandered through it as well." he adds not looking away from the horizon "Naruto…In your travels have you ever come across another person on this side of the anomaly?" the man asks, turning to look at the blonde.
The question has the blonde thinking for a minute as the answer would TECHNICALLY be yes given his explorations of the ruined civilization lands and the terrors that inhabit it as there were lots of human remains there. However ultimately he decides to leave that little bit of info out as the less they know of those lands the better "No, I haven't come across anyone else in my travels of the various anomalies" the blonde says after a moment.
Hearing this Cutter's expression drops a bit however the attention of the two men are quickly attracted to behind them as Ryan runs up "You two need to see this!" he quickly says before hastily leading them back down the hill to whatever it was he found.
Said discovery was none other than the remains of what was clearly some kind of makeshift camp. Scattered across the ground were the shredded ruins of a tent, several bent and broken cases of snack foods such as candy and energy bars and other such stuff. Picking up one of the candy bars Cutter looks it over in shock "My god, somebody's been here before us" he says in disbelief.
"That's not possible" Naruto says with a shake of his head causing them both to look at him "There was no signs of anybody being on this side of the anomaly when I exited it, and it has been guarded by your men since then" he adds looking at Ryan when he says the last bit.
"He's right nobody has gone through the anomaly since my men have been guarding it or they would have alerted me" Ryan says agreeing with the blonde "However whoever it was that left all this didn't get very far" he adds before leading the two men a bit to the side and showing them the partially buried skeletal remains of a human.
The captain then notices something sticking out of the ground and reaches down to pick it up before handing it to Cutter. Said object was a camera case which upon turning over in his hands causes Cutter's eyes to widen in shock as the initials 'H.C.' are printed on the back of the case.
"It's H.C. it's Helen Cutter'' he says somberly looking between the camera and the supposed remains of his wife.
"Is it her?" Ryan asks, looking down at the remains wondering if it was in fact the man's missing wife.
"Cutter…check the rib cage" Naruto says, narrowing his eyes a bit at the remains as something doesn't feel right to him.
Hearing this the man kneels down and counts the ribs on the remains and looks closely at their structure which causes his eyes to widen "It's not here, this is a male" he says almost breathlessly at the revelation.
"How did he die?" Ryans asks in curiosity at the cause of the man's death.
"Judging by the cracking around some of the ribs, and the slash marks on the shoulder bones some kind of predator mauled him but didn't kill him or it would have feasted on him and there would be a lot less remains if any. Not to mention how he seems almost buried in a grave it's likely that he survived the assault but then died of his wounds with somebody else having buried him afterwards" Naruto says looking at the bones and thinking of a scenario as to what could have happened to the man.
Ryan was about to say something only for his watch to beep, causing him to look at it "Times up it's time to go" the man says alerting them of the need to head back through the anomaly.
"Yeah I'm not going back I have to find my wife" Cutter says almost like he is in a daze as he begins slowly walking off.
"We have to go!" Ryan says sternly to the man not at all pleased with the sudden decision.
"I'm staying!" was the stern response of the professor as he looked out across the landscape.
At that point Ryan makes to move behind Cutter and knock him out only for Naruto to hold a hand up stopping him "Cutter think about this rationally" he says causing the man to turn to look at him "Those remains are YEARS old at least based on their state, and the weathering of the camp. The odds of your wife still being here are minute at best" he explains. Seeing Cutter open his mouth to respond Naruto cuts him off "I have been in this specific land for a month and have seen no sign of any human activity before today. Your wife most likely has already gone through at least one other anomaly in the eight years that she has been missing. The best bet you have of finding her is to head back with us. I can guarantee you that this is only the beginning and that more anomalies are going to start opening up. When that happens I will make a trip through them one by one and take a quick survey for any signs of your wife or human life, deal?" He adds explaining how slim Cutter's chances of finding the exact order of anomalies that Helen likely passed through are while also offering the man a compromise.
Cutter's face twists through a variety of emotions at the statement before he sighs heavily "You're right, heading back through the anomaly is my best chance of finding her" he says in agreement getting a nod from Naruto.
However at that moment the hairs on the back of the blonde man's neck stood up causing his eyes to widen in shock "Oh shit" he says.
"What is it?" Ryan asks as he brings his rifle up and scans the area thinking there was a threat nearby based on the man's reaction.
"The anomaly is closing soon, we need to run now!" Naruto yells out causing their eyes to widen in terror as the three proceed to begin running back to where the anomaly was.
As the three ran Rex flew after them from above and Cutter breathed heavily as he ran "How do you know the anomaly is closing!" he yells out through labored breath.
"It's like a sense I picked up over the years of my exploration of the anomalies. I don't know how or why but it's similar to that primal sense of dread you get when you're being hunted or something is the best way to describe it!" the blonde yells as they come within visual range of the anomaly which is noticeably flickering "C'mon hurry!" he urges as the flickering intensifies just as Ryan runs through the anomaly, followed by Cutter, with Naruto taking up the rear managing to make it through moments before it closes behind him.
(Forest of Dean, Anomaly Site, Nighttime)
The trio of men land on the ground with Cutter and Ryan stumbling a bit but Naruto landing perfectly "They're back!" Abby yells as people rush over to check on the three.
Several cameras flash as some of the group takes pictures to document the event, medics hastily look over Cutter and Ryan as Claudia helps the professor to his feet. Hearing a chirping Abby turns to the side to see Rex skittering across the ground, the flying lizard having sneaked through the portal behind the men prior to it closing. Naruto takes notice of the prehistoric creature as well, shaking his head in amusement before silently nudging his head in Rex's direction indicating to the blonde woman that she should hide him.
"What did the three of you see?" Claudia asks the three men.
"There was a camp there, potentially some kind of small military camp, you're not going to believe it" Ryan says with a shake of his head to the woman having a hard time believing what he saw himself.
"What was it like?" Connor says looking at Cutter who takes a deep breath.
However before the man can respond a low growling sound is heard causing Naruto's eyes to widen, followed by a loud roar as the Gorgonopsid arrives on the scene much to the horror of many.
"Oh my god run!" Claudia yells out in terror as the creature starts charging the humans.
"Open fire! Defensive line!" Ryan yells out to his men as he and they all open fire on the prehistoric apex predator of the Permian. Several of the soldiers push forward and fan out a bit creating a curving formation so as to try and somewhat catch it in overlapping fields of fire.
However their attempt proves to be both fruitless and foolhardy as the Gorgonopsid shrugs off the small caliber rounds due to its thick and tough hide as it charges the soldiers. One soldier lets out a scream as he is sent flying through the air as a result of the creature headbutting him. Another soldier is sadly less fortunate as he becomes up close and person with the predators long and very deadly teeth as it sinks its jaws into his torso killing him almost instantly as the force of the bite crushes his ribs, while the teeth peirce his organs. Even if the man had somehow managed to survive the bite he sure as hell wouldn't have survive his upper torso being ripped from his lower half due to the force of the creature's momentum as it charged.
Seeing the grisly death filled the humans with horror as they began to scatter and flee "DON'T SCATTER IT WILL PICK YOU OFF! SOLDIERS PROTECT AND PROVIDE COVER FOR THE NON-COMBATANTS! Naruto yells out his eyes hardened and his fingers dancing against the handle of the massive blade strapped to his back.
Hearing the shout the soldiers quickly do as the blonde said begin covering the civilians in groups. Ryan was covering the fleeing Claudia, Cutter, Connor, and Abby when the brunette haired woman trips and falls to the ground with a loud yelp. Unfortunately the Gorgonopsid heard said yelp and turned its attention their way presuming that the yelp came from an injured prey.
The apex predator made to charge them when suddenly a very loud whistle filled the air "OI! Ugly over here!" Naruto yelled off to the side by himself, presenting himself as a perfect target for the creature. Turning to look at the solo blonde male the Gorgonopsid let out a roar before charging at him. The group watched on in shock as the creature got slicer and closer to the blonde who made no attempt to run or defend himself as he just stood his ground still tapping the handle of the blade on his back with the fingers of his right hand.
Just as the Gorgonopsid reached the two foot mark from the blonde and everyone thought the blonde was a goner Naruto grabbed the handle of his blade and in a blur of motion whipped it around as he narrowly dodged the jaws of death with a slight spin kicking up dirt and leaves blocking him from their vision. Once the dirt and leaves fell back to the ground they were treated to sight of Naruto standing with his very long butcher-style blade held out in front of him with two hands as the Gorgonopsid suddenly tripped as its head fell to the ground having been severed from its body with a single strike.
Everyone looked on in shock that the spiky haired blonde had felled the creature let alone with a single strike from his sword "Bloody freaking hell" Connor utters in disbelief and awe at the sight being the first to regain his ability to speak after what he just witnessed.
Naruto then proceeded to holster his sword back into the sheath on his back before pulling out a small knife and walking over to the Gorgonopsids corpse and carving a medium sized chunk of the dead creatures flesh off before wrapping it in a cloth and putting it into a plastic ziploc bag and ten stuffing it into one of the many pockets on the front of his jacket. Upon seeing the stares of disbelief and curiosity at his actions the blonde shrugs "I always try to eat a part of whatever creature I kill whenever possible as a way to honor said creature" he says explaining his action regarding the corpse. However there were a few creatures he had killed in his travels such as Pincers, Swarmers, and Hunters to name a few that he refused to eat any part of for one reason or another.
It was at that moment that Cutter's truck came racing onto the scene before skidding to a stop as Stephen got out of the vehicle with a look of shock on his face at teh scene "You're a bit late dude it's all over now" Naruto says with a shrug.
Stephen raised an eyebrow at this before turning to Cutter who just sighs a bit "I will explain everything that you missed Stepehen" the man says to him getting a silent nod in return.
(Home Office, Next Day)
Cutter was sitting in Lester's office while Naruto leaned up against the wall and Claudia stood off to the side "We managed to develop the pictures on the camera you brought back and well take a look for yourself" Lester says turning on a computer screen to show a picture of a brunette haired woman in a tank-top.
The sight of the woman causes Cutter's eyes to widen in shock "It's her, it's Helen" he says in awe at the sight of his missing wife.
""I'm sorry for your personal loss Professor" Lester says, actually sounding sincere in his statement to the man before he begins pacing his office "This camp you discovered. Were there no clues as to who made it or what it was for?" he adds after a moment and gets a shake of the head from Cutter. "The thought that someone's been there before us, not including our blonde associate here, is far from reassuring. Have you ever come across any other signs of people on the other side of the anomaly's Mr. Uzumaki?" the man says, turning his attention towards Naruto.
Hearing the question Naruto just shakes his head "I have been exploring and traveling through the anomalies for roughly six years…and this is the first time I have ever seen evidence of other people in the past eras" he says choosing his words carefully so as to not reveal too much about certain things.
"Hmm well that is rather unhelpful. Still at least the immediate crisis is over with" Lester remarks actually sounding hopeful with the latter half of his statement.
"Some force out there, ripped the boundaries of space and time to shreds. Maybe it's happened before, in which case every single thing we thought we knew about the universe is wrong. Or this is the first time and if so then what changed? What happens next? Believe me this is very far from over" Cutter suddenly says getting up from his chair and looking at the three.
Internally as Naruto listens to the man's statement he can't help but think "I really hope all that shit that happened with Kaguya wasn't the cause of this" as he really didn't wanna happen to reveal that whole can of worms to everyone as his past is best left in the past. Turning his attention back to Lester and Claudia he clears his throat "Well…assuming you aren't going to try and lock me up in some room or prison cell…do either of you know of a place I can stay?" he asks, really hoping to have a place to stay instead of sleeping outdoors.
"I believe Ms Maitland mentioned that she would be open to having you stay at her flat" Claudia says as the blonde had mentioned to her that should Naruto not have anywhere else to go he could stay with her.
"Ah right…and who is that?" Naruto asks with a raised eyebrow.
"...Abby…The short haired blonde woman?" Claudia says with a blank look on her face at his question.
"Oh yes her, must have missed her last name the other day when she was talking with the late arrival guy…One more question…what's a flat?" Naruto says with a tilt of his head.
Claudia sighs heavily at this and puts her hand to her forehead and starts rubbing her temples in exasperation at the blonde "Mr Uzumaki please just go follow Professor Cutter as I do believe he is on his way to mee the others and I am sure they will be able to assist you with any…questions…you might have" the woman says trying to make him leave so he wouldn;t be her problem anymore.
In response Naruto just shrugs and stops leaning against the wall before following after Cutter. The blonde meets up with the man just as he reaches Connor, Stephen and Abby, and the group of five leave the building together.
Later that night Cutter sits in his office thinking about everything he had learned regarding the existence of the anomalies, the eras of time on the other side of them, and ofcourse everything regarding Helen. As he looks at a picture of Helen he puts it face down before getting up and going into the kitchen to get a cup of tea. As he leaves a shadow passes across the skeleton of a saber tooth tiger briefly. When the man re-enters the room he sees an Ammonite shell sitting on his desk. However to the man's shock its not a fossil but and actual living Ammonite as the creatures tentacles extend out of the spiral shell for a second before curling back inside. Seeing this his eyes widen in shock as before he runs outside and for a brief moment he thinks he see's his wife Helen standing by a streetlight down the road. However as he goes to call out to her she disappears into the darkness of the night.
Meanwhile across the city Abby is showing Naruto her flat aka apartment as both blondes have a grin on their faces as they watch Rex fly around the room without a care in the world.
End Chapter 1
Ending Author Note: Well there is chapter one for all of you and hope you enjoyed it. I have a bunch of mysteries starting and needing to be solved by the group as you can see from how things played out in this chapter.
Also props to anyone that is able to guess what creatures I am referring to when Naruto mentions things he hasn't/won't eat.
Be sure to Favorite, Follow, and Review if you enjoyed this and check out my other stories as who knows you might like them as well…Until next time.