Preface

I prefer to keep these short. I may have failed.

My primary inspiration for this story was an American science-fiction and fantasy series called Sliders. In it, Jerry O'Connell played the main character, Quinn Mallory, a young scientist who discovered a way to travel between parallel universes. I binged every episode on Netflix and, like many, was disappointed to reach the cliffhanger.

A decade ago, I read a fanfiction called Echoes written by Kagaseo and reread parts of it several times. You can find that story right in the Naruto fanfiction section. Let me be clear that this story pays homage to that one. I really liked their version, and I wanted to write mine, so here it is. You may go read that story; it's finished, my fic takes cues from it, and you'll start seeing the similarities immediately if you've read it recently. I write this story out of reluctantly-admitted fascination with how that story treated Naruto and the franchise's various characters.

I am a fan of a game called Slay The Princess by Black Tabby Games. The writing style I use is my reckless attempt at emulating the mood I experience in those games. Shout-out to Black Tabby Games for fueling my passion for writing.

The Marvel comic book series Exiles also served as an inspiration, but I admit I haven't read it for as long or as closely as I did Sliders. Still, a team of X-Men characters forced to go into alternate realities to "set right what once went wrong" is something that resonates with this story thematically.

Introduction to Naruto Mugenden

This story is rated Teen because of things that happen to the characters, many of which are violent and/or depressing.

I write stories out of a love or an admiration for things. I know that sounds weird, but I don't write this story to punish characters I dislike, or elevate characters I do. I'm never writing this story to be mean, to ship anyone, or to create a one-sided conflict. I'm a staunch believer in writing lots of moments where characters click with the reader or do something cool. Writing a character as malevolent, or killing them in one universe isn't the summation of what I think of that character.

Whatever horrible things might happen to our heroes, or startling developments take place in this story, take heart and keep reading. This story is an adventure for the characters and for the audience, full of up's and down's. Everyone is going to go through some manner of struggle: physical, emotional, or spiritual before this is through.

This is a world created by Masashi Kishimoto, and I'm borrowing his ideas and characters to tell a fun science-fiction story that's a little different from the Naruto canon you know. In the process I get to explore some what-ifs. If you don't care for Naruto as a series in some capacity, this may not be the story for you.

I am a huge dork who watches too many movies and plays too many video games. You'll see quotes and lines referencing or directly lifted from things like Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings, Resident Evil Village, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Naruto itself of course.

At some point, if the story is popular enough, or there are more than a few readers, I'll do a character poll for who your favorite Naruto is. Trust me, there's going to be a lot of different characters in this story. I had a lot of fun writing alternate selves, doubles, etc. Just as Kagaseo did before me, you'll recognize some of them as AU's that are common in Naruto fanfiction, and maybe some that didn't originate from fanfiction.

A thank you to those of you who liked the story and added it to your favorites or are following it. It's always nice to see this and get feedback, and motivates me to continue writing and improving.

All of that said, please enjoy the story.