The Fox-Eared Spiral Surge Ninja from the Land of Fantasy

Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto is the owner and creator of the world of Naruto, and all of its official characters, locations, history, concepts, and etcetera. ZUN and Team Shanghai Alice are the owner and creator of the world of Touhou Project, and all of its official characters, locations, history, concepts, and etcetera. I don't own the characters Sakura, Hokage, and Shimon crafted by Alice Margatroid (the former two dolls made for Naruto). I also don't own any cameos made referenced by Yukari Yakumo during the making of this tale. All I own is any Original Character use, Sekai Ishtal, and this plunny I skinned and turned into a plotted story.

Author's Note: If there is any problems with the story or if you have a problem with how I am writing out the characters, then by all means; don't read. This message is mostly directed to those who don't like characters in AU settings. I always try my absolute best in ensuring characters are portrayed as they are in canon. Of course, some in what many call Alternative Universe, there would always be changes; otherwise people would not read fanfiction at all.

Now, I've been working with this for awhile. Various different scenarios could have gone from the moment Naruto got gapped back to his home dimension. I believe this worked the best in this chapter. Of course, time passed. Changes have indeed happened. Without Naruto being in Konoha, well... many plots in canon have derailed completely.

Here are those changes...

After checking over Sakura and Hokage, ensuring they were functioning properly, he looks his surroundings. There was a river nearby, that fed out from the forest in the distance. Scattered woods lined the horizon, and he saw a mountain in the far distance. It was the mountain in the far distance that looked familiar.

"Damn that annoying woman," Naruto mutters.

Sakura and Hokage look to one another for a moment, then back to Naruto.

Naruto kicks off the ground and takes to the air for a better view to scan his horizons. The wind blows, making his ears twitch a bit now and then, as he looked in all four directions. He smiled when he saw it; tall walls encompassing a village surrounded by a wooded land, with a mountain towering over the village. But with his keen eyes, he could see the Hokage Monument now had an additional face carved upon it. He sneers. Looks like the village was operating fine without him... no one likely knew of his disappearance. If any did, they likely pretended he never existed. Lowering himself back to the ground, he made sure his aura was smothered enough so he would remain invisible to any ninja capable of sensing chakra.

"Sakura, Hokage, I discovered the village. Let us return, huh?"

The two smile softly to their beloved master and follow dutifully as Naruto's form is surrounded by bluish fire that washed over his form. It was an advanced kitsune magic that Ran taught him to hide his tails and his fox ears, and appear human to others. He had to look strange in the clothes that he wore, considering it was a fashion likely never seen in this world. He accepted the tin of make-up Sakura handed to him, and he used this make-up that matched his skin tone to cover his pronounced birthmarks on his cheeks.

Time to discover if he truly WAS forgotten by the village...

Via gap, Yukari turns away from Naruto's trek towards Konoha and she opens her book she held in hand to begin reading.

"Yukari-sama will Naruto be fine by himself?" Ran questions her mistress.

"Don't worry; our lovable fox boy will do fine. He's grown considerably over the past five years. He's mature now, and has the power to back up his words."

"Well, I'm dead," Sekai's voice drifts from the entrance, as the elf yōkai plops down at the table.

At the confused looks from both Ran and Yukari, Sekai elaborates, "Someone killed me over something I did in WWE, and the guy was unable to separate fiction from reality. I had to leave behind a false body and change my looks. So, yes, Daisuke is dead now. Hurt like hell though extracting the bullet..."

"That's... uh..."

Yukari for once didn't know what to say.

"Annoying? Yeah. I kinda got tired of living as Daisuke anyway, so my murder is a weird blessing in disguise." Sekai noticed the gap. "What's going on?"

"Naruto's in his home world again to silence his thoughts and curiosity," Ran answers.

"Ah."

He accepts the cup of tea Ran handed him, and takes a sip.

"How are Remilia-sama, Flandre-neesama, Sakuya-chan, Patchy, and the others?" he asks.

"Missing you," Yukari answers, as she looks back into the gap again, to see where Naruto was now.

It was a forest and some mountainous area. Naruto still remembered this part of the land. He was heading towards Alice's other temporary home she built to hide from Konoha after that misunderstanding forcing her to leave. But now that he learned how to fly just like the other ladies of Gensōkyō, reaching Alice's other location took little time. He still kept low, just in-case he had to hide from any shinobi in the area, not that they were no match for his Danmaku. When he arrived, he stuck firmly to the ground, Sakura and Hokage keeping close to him.

The place looked deserted now. None of the puppets and dolls Alice was forced to abandon five years ago were here. The sentries were missing. The garden was barren and looked neglected. Jumping into the center of the abandoned home, he noticed the house's condition; it had been ransacked of everything not nailed down. Naruto scowled a bit. He had a feeling his and Kurama's powering up of Shimon to drill their way to Gensōkyō had Konoha alerted. After all, Kurama's yōkai chakra was like a giant flare.

And when investigating ninja couldn't find any trace of them, they decided to steal everything that belonged to Alice. He enters through the doorway, stepping over the fallen door. The interior was devoid of everything. No dolls hung on the walls, the counter. Entering the other room, everything was gone. The walls of this room also devoid of everything, the furniture stripped, Alice's belongings gone. Even the tea and cakes were missing.

The good tea and cakes...

He feels a tug on his arm sleeve and looks down to Sakura, who was looking up to him.

"Don't worry Sakura, we'll find what was stolen by Konoha."

She nods, following her master as they leave the house. Bounding over the front gate, Sakura and Hokage float, following Naruto as he parkours through the forests, following the path he took five years ago to return to a village he left behind.

Sipping her tea, Yukari turns away from the gap again that televised Naruto's every movement.

"You believe Naruto will cause trouble?" questions Ran.

"Likely. This is a place that forgot him. Gensōkyō takes in those whom were forgotten at times. I know he'll do something once those that forgot him discover he has returned. The humans of that realm only desire power. Without Kurama, Konoha has no super power to imprison."

Sekai looks to Yukari.

"What are you planning, Yukari?"

"Me? Nothing at all, Sekai-kun," the woman responds kindly, offering a smile as she picks up her tea cup and takes a sip.

Sekai offers in return an annoyed look. "And why do I have the urge to call you a liar?"

Yukari laughs softly.

"Now, Sekai-kun... when have I ever stir you wrong?"

"When you dumped Alice in another world that brought to us Naruto Uzumaki and Kurama," Sekai answers.

Her smile turned wicked for a brief moment.

"I'm not harming anybody, dear. Just wait; we'll see what Naruto can do. Five years, and turning into a fox yōkai after getting exposed to Kurama's potent energies, he's bound to turn heads once he shows the village hidden in the leaves true danmaku."

Sekai finishes his tea.

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time a human has turned into a yōkai," he says, remembering back to his father who vanished long after his birth.

He stands from the table and makes for the exit.

"Leaving so soon, dear? Don't you want to watch the fun and excitement?" Yukari calls out to Sekai.

The violet-eyed elf yōkai looks to Yukari.

"I'm sure Remilia would like to know I've returned. Flandre can be a bit of a handful at times even if Sakuya can stop time." He then gives her a hard look. "Try not to do anything rash, Yukari..."

"I wouldn't dream of it, darling," she bids him in parting, as the elf yōkai vanishes in a swirl of black shadows.

"Liar," his voice drifts from the fading shadows.

"Yukari-sama..."

"I know, Ran." Glancing up from her tea cup, Yukari's eyes almost seem to glow. "Naruto's home is here now. There's no doubt he'll decide not returning to Gensōkyō. After all, his dear Alice resides here..."

=0=0=0=0=

Konohagakure no Sato looked to be a great village, however internal politics in the shinobi military would tell otherwise. Ever since five years ago the one called Alice had vanished entirely, leaving behind everything, Konoha had lost a great deal of power. The village's Jinchūriki had also vanished entirely. Ninja never want to be proven wrong, especially those in Konoha whom hold high positions of power. The Hokage never wanted to be wrong, but from everything that they were dealing with, with the things that they uncovered when reinforcements showed up five years ago, they had to finally face facts that they were in the wrong. And that cost was Naruto Uzumaki. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, had ordered Naruto not to see the woman again, fearing her as an infiltrator, a spy for an enemy ninja village. He refused and kept contact with her.

Kakashi Hatake, the Jōnin-sensei who briefly had Naruto Uzumaki as his Genin Team, felt like he had failed in his life. Unlike the majority of the village, he knew who Naruto truly was, who his parents were. Enemies of his parents would have done everything in their power to see such offspring gone from this world. After all, Naruto's mother was a survivor of the destruction of Uzushiogakure no Sato, and Naruto's father was the Yondaime Hokage. The ramifications of Naruto having vanished entirely with the strange blonde woman led to Konoha's power being shifted entirely. It was known to those with high ranks that Jinchūriki were seen as nothing more than weapons, considered special war time powers. And with the strongest bijū no longer under Konoha's control...

With Naruto gone, Team Seven was crippled because Konoha was hosting the Chūnin Exams the year Naruto disappeared. Without a third Genin to fill the team with Naruto's disappearance, Kakashi's team unfortunately was not able to enter the Chūnin Exams. The village quickly learned of this, because someone blabbed Naruto vanished. Sarutobi had to keep the villagers from doing anything rash because they had foreign shinobi teams in the village, and the last anyone needed to learn was their Jinchūriki's disappearance. Team Seven eventually entered the Chūnin Exams in time, because of a fill-in from the reserves, some child named Sai.

Konoha nearly was destroyed a month into the Chūnin Exams, starting when Orochimaru gave Sasuke Uchiha the Cursed Seal in the Forest of Death prior. Sunagakure betrayed Konoha, attacking the village. However, the double whammy was Iwagakure whom joined forces with Orochimaru, who had killed the Kazekage and took his form to infiltrate and kill the Sandaime Hokage; Orochimaru did succeed with this task. Jiraiya however defeated Suna's Jinchūriki when the vessel unleashed his bijū's power in the middle of Konoha Stadium. With Orochimaru however revealed as the killer of Suna's leader, Suna changed sides and forced Iwa into retreat, however Konoha was now at war with Iwa whom wanted them destroyed, now that the Iwakage learned the Leaf's Jinchūriki was gone.

Suna's Jinchūriki had its seal fixed by Jiraiya due to the folly by the previous Kazekage, so the beast no longer tempted Gaara with bloodthirsty ravages. But with Konoha weakened, and Iwa banging on their doors with war, Konoha was no longer at peace time. Jiraiya forced Tsunade to return and take the mantle of Hokage. She initially refused; until Jiraiya told her Minato and Kushina's son went missing and couldn't be found.

Five years...

In five years, Konoha and Suna's alliance was renewed, but still on unstable ground. Konoha had to train their ninja to become strong, forcing the next generations to know techniques on killing. In five years, Konoha had to deal with the falling out when Sasuke Uchiha was tempted by the power Orochimaru promised him and abandoned the village to join the Snake Sannin. Because they were in a war with Iwa, Sasuke's leaving of Konoha put him on the Bingo Book as a traitor. There was another entry in the book...

Naruto Uzumaki.

Speaking of Naruto Uzumaki, the fox yōkai jumped on the last tree branch and hid in the foliage, Sakura and Hokage crouching at his sides. Naruto looked around. The gate he exited from was sealed. There were two Jōnin standing at the gate, guarding it.

"Now why would the gate be sealed? Hm... Curious..."

He looks at the sealed gate, finding two more on the top towers of the gate. Further on, he could see the Hokage Monument, and he could see that there was an additional face added to it. The face looked like a woman's. Did the Sandaime retire again? Grabbing hold of Sakura and Hokage, Naruto bounds away quietly. He had to find another way into the village without disrupting the security. He rather explore quietly.

In the Hokage's Office, there was a buxom blonde woman, wearing fitting pants and a white shirt and sleeveless kimono. This woman was Tsunade Senju, and the Godaime Hokage. She looks to the last of the papers signed away, as Shizune grabs the stack and walks out of the office to file them proper. She leans back into the chair, rubbing her temples. Iwa was adamant on destroying the village.

Their only saving grace was that Iwa was also without their Jinchūriki, because of Jiraiya's spy network having discovered Iwa's two Jinchūriki were captured by the Akatsuki eleven months after the initial invasion concocted by Orochimaru, but the whereabouts of the two Jinchūriki were unable to be discovered. But, if what the Akatsuki had planned to do with the Jinchūriki, the bijū from Iwa's hands were forever out of their reach.

Otherwise Konoha would have been destroyed a long time ago when their war began.

There is a small burst of wind, before Tsunade groaned.

"Jiraiya, can't you ever take the door?" she complains.

At the open window of her office was a white-haired man in a kabuki getup, wearing a horned hitai-ate. The Toad Sannin smirked.

"What kind of ninja ever uses the door?" Jiraiya asks Tsunade.

"Baka," the woman calls the pervert.

Jiraiya steps off the window still, his sandals hitting the carpeted flooring of the office. He spies a certain photo that was on Tsunade's desk. It was a framed photo that was taken many years ago, one found in Sarutobi's things. It was Minato and Kushina, with the red-haired woman in her eighth month of her pregnancy.

"Sarutobi-sensei told me that he would take care of Naruto..."

Tsunade sets down the bottle of sake that she took out from the drawer. The woman looks to the framed picture sitting on her desk.

From all that she learned, Naruto was very much like Kushina when she was little; a prankster at heart. From the dossiers, Naruto had changed somewhat ever since this woman came to the village five years ago. This Alice Margatroid... she opened a shop in the middle of the village, called the Seven-Colored Puppets, selling dressed-up dolls. She insisted she was not a ninja.

After an incident involving some bullies that tormented this doll that Naruto had called Sakura, Sarutobi had Alice brought to the office, where their sensei interrogated the woman, believing her a spy. With written paperwork detailing the encounter, the woman denied such accusinations, but Sarutobi continued on his original idea that Alice was an infiltrator and that she was discovered, before the ANBU guard jumped to kill her. But she fought them all off conjuring bullets of all things made of energy not of chakra, before running away after disabling all the highly-trained ANBU and the Hokage himself. Or rather some reported after she ran off that she didn't run, but rather flew through the air.

Flying however was something they were still confused about.

The only other shinobi who ever flew in such a manner was the Tsuchikage.

The one Hyuuga who were witness to Alice flying very high straight up to the skies followed by hundreds of dressed-up dolls, other than Kakashi, would report to Sarutobi-sensei that the woman used no chakra at all to fly when the woman abandoned the shop she built. And it certainly did not explain all the small dolls and puppets the ANBU recovered from Alice's secondary location, where she and Naruto vanished mysteriously after the Kyuubi's chakra was felt like a great flood.

When their sensei told Naruto to never again talk with Alice, the boy refused and kept meeting with her, even though guards were tasked to keep an eye on the child. A month or so after Team Seven went on a mission to Nami no Kuni, and returned from it, Naruto would disappear again. This time, he wouldn't return, same with the woman. The woman's stuff was all left abandoned, all of them still in the research department under the village.

Shinobi Puppeteers couldn't figure out how the dolls even operated. The few experts in puppetry who were sent from Suna to investigate on their behalf could not connect chakra strings to them to move. They were all left in storage afterward while Konoha focused more on the threats from Iwa.

"What are you thinking, Tsunade?"

"Those puppets in the research department," Tsunade answers. She finally takes a swig from her bottle of sake. "The dressed dolls confiscated from the villagers she sold them to. All of them stopped working according to the villagers that owned a doll when that woman and Naruto disappeared."

"No fūinjutsu, no use of chakra threading. Sarutobi wrote down Alice said she does not use chakra, but magic."

Tsunade scoffed hearing that word. Magic. Magic didn't exist. To an ordinary civilian with virtually no ninja training, the jutsu that ninjas use would very well be like magic to their eyes.

"Any word on the front, Jiraiya? I know this isn't a social call."

He sits down on the corner of the desk.

"The Akatsuki believe Konoha is hiding Naruto away still, thanks to my intervention. But it'll be a matter of time until they grow tire and attack the village searching for Naruto if they succeed in capturing the other bijū, only to find out he's been gone for five years. Iwa seemed to have stopped their advancement into Hi no Kuni, but we still got skirmishes and battles on the borders and pockets of Iwa in Hi no Kuni have been flushed out and destroyed. Kumo still refuses to join in this war because one of my spies in Kumo reported there was an attempt on the Raikage's brother, the holder of the eight-tailed demon. Their two-tailed Jinchūriki was however captured several months ago, thus the increase of border patrols along Kaminari no Kuni."

"Do you believe Akatsuki would take advantage of Konoha and Iwa's warring each other to launch an attack on the Elemental Nations?" Tsunade questions the man.

"I'm not sure, hime," he answers in kind, stealing the bottle and pouring himself a cup, before draining the shot down. "If only I had come much sooner, then maybe Naruto wouldn't have disappeared with that Alice woman."

"If we ever find him again, we'll tell him of his parents. I believe that the boy only desires such."

Jiraiya nods, remembering how Sarutobi mentioned in his diaries all the times their godchild always asked about the identity of his parents, only to be stirred away from such questions. Deep underground, in the research department of Konoha's intelligence squad, a dismantled and stripped-down doll of Alice's creation was on a steel table. One of the fingers of the detached hand twitches briefly.

=0=0=0=0=

She wiped her brow, finished with the medication she was mixing up for the hospital staff. Storing away the medicines and filing down the names, she took off her gloves and apron before leaving the room.

"Thank you Sakura," said the medic-nin.

"No problem, Yuri."

Sakura Haruno, age sixteen, rank of Chūnin.

Her naïve look in life had changed since the invasion from a bewitched Suna and Iwa, and then Sasuke abandoning Konoha for one of the village's greatest traitors, Orochimaru. Naruto had vanished five years ago mysteriously and was never seen from again. And then after Orochimaru had attacked them in the Forest of Death during the second test of the Chūnin Exams, and gave Sasuke that Cursed Seal on his neck, he cut ties from the village and left with infiltrators to go to the Snake Sannin.

Because Iwa declared their intentions to destroy Konoha, Sasuke was declared a traitor and placed in the Bingo Book for leaving to accept power from Konoha's greatest traitors. Konoha was no longer at peace time. The next generations of shinobi was taught how to kill, to fight on the front lines incase Iwa led any attacks upon the village. Over the past five years there were skirmishes on the borders of Hi no Kuni and Tsuchi no Kuni.

And she had to pull her weight around. She had killed. She had no choice because this was war; a danger for anyone who were ninja. Everyone of her graduation class had to harden themselves. For Sakura, she was alone. She regretted how mean she was to Naruto years ago, and he was gone. She believed Sasuke loved her, but on that fateful night, the boy surrounded by four other ninja wearing sound headbands knocked her out cold and left her on that street bench in the park.

The team of ninja that were available to chase after Sasuke to retrieve him was near death, with the group of enemy ninja taken out. However there was only one death: Neji Hyuuga, the almost-killer of Hinata during the Chūnin Exams.

"Hey, Sakura!"

The young woman looks up and sees her friend. Ino Yamanaka. Also age sixteen, and Chūnin rank.

"Hello, Ino."

"We're gathering at the restaurant. You want to join?"

Sakura smiles. "Yeah. I'd like to. Where?"

"Ichiraku Ramen," the blonde answers. The answer made Sakura hitch in breath. The ramen shop that Naruto always loved going to...

There was a symbolism in this. Ever since Naruto disappeared, they all started feeling guilty when he was never found. Poor Hinata, when she found out Naruto vanished, she caved in. She was poor during the Chūnin Exams, and Shino and Kiba had to keep Hinata protected as they advanced. She nearly died during the preliminaries when Neji struck her in the heart with a chakra-enhanced attack using the Hyuuga Clan's gifted Jyuuken.

"Sakura? You okay?"

"Yeah... it's just..."

Ino then realized it, and looked away. "Sorry, Sakura..."

"No." Sakura waved off Ino's concerns. "It's fine... we'll be late, huh?"

"Yeah... Let's get going."

For ninjas, it's not uncommon they would take to the roofs to avoid the foot traffic. Just a few quick steps and jumps, and the two ladies soon arrive at a certain ramen shop, where the others awaited. Shino, Kiba with a fully-grown Akamaru, Chōji, Shikamaru, and Hinata. All of them were at seats at the counter of the large ramen booth. And Sakura and Ino join their friends for lunch.

The only one not there was Naruto's replacement five years ago for the Chūnin Exams; the weird pale-skinned boy named Sai who had the penchant to insult people, give such a fake smile, and had an unhealthy obsession over male genitalia when throwing his insults...

One seat stood out at the ramen shop; it accumulated dust. It was always left that way by Teuchi and Ayame. Ever since they learned Naruto disappeared, they refused anybody to sitting at the seat Naruto always sat down in to enjoy bowl after bowl of their delicious ramen recipes. It was reserved for Naruto, whenever the boy returned back home...

"There you are, Sakura! What took you?" shouts Kiba, finishing slurping down the broth and last bit of noodles from his medium bowl of miso.

"Sorry. I was held up at the hospital creating some medicines and antidotes for the medic teams that get stationed out in the field," Sakura apologized. She tells Ayame she would have a medium bowl beef. "So, why here?"

"Sakura... today's the day that Naruto..."

Hinata stiffened up, which did not go unnoticed by everyone. Ayame briefly stopped in her serving up, but quickly finished the order and sets Sakura's order on the counter with chopsticks. And Teuchi remained silent as he starts cooking up another batch of miso ramen in the kitchen.

"Sorry... I kinda forgot," the pinkette apologized. "I've been busy fulfilling orders from Lady Tsunade... it must have slipped my mind..."

Sakura choked up a bit. Naruto was gone, and Sasuke was a defector who went to Orochimaru for the power he promised him five years ago in the Forest of Death after the altercation. But both her team mates were in the Bingo Book regardless; Sasuke properly due to defecting, but they still did not understand why Naruto's entry was ranked the same class as Orochimaru's bounty, but twenty percent higher.

"If only we were better to him years ago... maybe he'd still be here," said Kiba, mulling over things that could have gone differently.

"It's because of that blonde woman," Hinata bit out.

The rest of them recalled a conversation they overheard from their Jōnin senseis four years ago. How Konoha was visited by a blonde woman who called herself Alice Margatroid, and ran that shop they recalled seeing before in the village, the Seven-Colored Puppets. But the Sandaime Hokage believed her to be an infiltrator because she befriended Naruto. It was Alice where Shikamaru connected the dots due to them recalling Naruto having the pink-haired doll that he toted around back in the last year of Ninja Academy. That he named after the real Sakura for the crush thing.

"Kakashi-sensei theorized everything regarding Naruto and that Alice woman... we don't know truly their relationship," said Sakura.

"I still blame her," said Hinata, in a rare tone of anger. "If she had never shown up, Naruto-kun would still be here, with us! With me!"

The others stared at Hinata, who looked away, blushing, realizing what she had said. They however didn't blame her. It was obvious Hinata was in love with Naruto, enthralled by his determination to never give up, even when he had it rough in the academy. A bravery and courage that Hinata wanted to also share, to experience, so she could hold courage against the problems she received from her family's internal politics, against the scorn by her father who often saw her as weak for not steeling her emotions...

It was Hinata who blamed the Alice woman for Naruto's disappearance, believing she may have seduced him into leaving with her, leaving the village because she could see how the villagers treated Naruto with scorn and shun him as a very young boy. Even Shikamaru could see anything lining up with an enemy ninja in disguise kidnapping Naruto for any reason. Any type of scenario conjured didn't match up.

Then finally, that day, when a heavy oppressive force that scared nature away for a brief moment, and then just as suddenly vanished allowing everybody to breath normally again, and how the village went into complete lockdown eerily similar to fifteen years ago when Konoha was attacked by the nine-tailed demon, when all of them were either not born yet or infants.

"We can find him, you know. It may be hard, but even Jiraiya and Lady Tsunade want to find Naruto," Shino stated.

It was no secret they learned Tsunade and Jiraiya were apparently Naruto's godparents. But they still didn't know about Naruto's family or whom they knew. Well, except Shikamaru. He had theories as to who Naruto looked like, and was eventually told by his father to keep it silent until it was safe to discuss it in public when he connected Naruto's hidden origins.

"What do you think Naruto would say if he learned that Sasuke defected from Konoha?"

"He'd likely want to find Sasuke and drag his butt back to the village," comments Kiba, throwing out the idea to the open. Naruto and Sasuke were rivals, but Naruto always believed in friendship above everything else. Maybe Naruto would make a promise he would keep, to find Sasuke if he learned of this?

Sakura entertained the thought, a fleeting smile showing. "Maybe..." It would be a dream coming true for her; her team reuniting once again. So she could apologize to Naruto for all the mean things she's done to him...

Overall, as the Rookie Seven enjoyed their lunch at Ramen Ichiraku, Naruto Uzumaki was someone who apparently was a treasure that you didn't know you had, until it went away never to be seen again...

And they want Naruto to return safe and sound, whenever he was...

And there ya go.

That's what happened.

With no Naruto, the Chūnin Exams are vastly different. With a vastly different Chūnin Exams, certain victories and losses were different. With no Naruto to encourage Hinata in the Preliminaries, she fell much quicker and almost died at Neji's hands (still saved by the Jōnin intervening), and no Naruto to show him the light at the finals.

And with no Naruto, Itachi and Kisame would fail their mission of "meeting the Kyuubi Jinchūriki" like in canon, only much sooner. Of course, is Akatsuki really believing of the lies Jiraiya spread about Naruto just being in hiding, or do they suspect something had happened that affects their plans involving the nine bijū?

Who knows what will happen...

Now, some are worried my character Sekai replaces our lovable silver-haired maid. So, here's this to satisfy your curiosities.

EXTRA STAGE

In a swirl of shadows, Sekai appeared at the edge of the Misty Lake. He looks to the large manor that rested at its foot, and walks up the path that would lead to the stone bridge, and the iron wrought gates that protect the front garden and entrance of the home. Typically Meiling does her job well, except on certain days when she would become bored and tend to doze off with a nap. Nap's never hurt anybody, after all. But, on this evening as the sun begins to set off into the west to end another day, Meiling is sadly taking a nap. Who knows how long she's been asleep?

His feet moves forward with a sprint, and then he leaps into the air.

This next bit is always fun...

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

CRASH!

Inside the tea room, Remilia pauses, the tea cup inches from her lips. At her side, Sakuya sweat drops a bit as they all heard the crash, and the following cry of shock from their gate guard. Meiling was either asleep and had been woken up by said battle cry and attack, or she was awake and doing her job as gatekeeper, and thus caught off-guard by said battle cry and attack. Regardless of reason, the ladies knew one thing.

"Our butler has returned," states Remilia, as she finally takes a sip of her lavender tea.

Flandre giggled. "Otouto-chan's back home!"

Patchouli turns a page in one of the tomes she's reading.

"Well, I'll see to them, Ojou-sama," Sakuya says to Remilia before heading for the exit in a hurry.

Already the remaining occupants can hear the start of a danmaku duel between Meiling Hong and Sekai Ishtal.

"Wasn't Sekai busy with something he had to do in the Outside World, Remilia?" questions Patchouli.

"Yes. I gave him permission to tend to his business. I wonder what he's doing back home so early." She takes a small bite of her slice of strawberry vanilla cream cake prepared by Sakuya. It was delicious. "I'm sure he'll inform us of his early return." After all, Sekai wasn't set to return until four weeks from today, according to the schedule he detailed for her.

Sakuya was quick in hurrying to the front gates, where two figures met in mid-air, legs a blur with multiple kicks before they part company and their feet drag across the cobblestone bridge, both immediately in a defensive pose.

"You really had to wake me up from my nap in that manner, Sekai?" Meiling chastised the elf.

"Well... what if it was Marisa instead of me, huh? Luckily, from what I've been hearing, an incident was recently solved so she's getting drunk off the free sake at Reimu's residence."

And just like that, the two fighters charged forward with impressive leaps, Sekai unleashing a few danmaku ripples, all which Meiling dodges through holes that open up, and unleashes her own colorful rainbow bullets in retaliation. Sekai cheaply shadows through, only to nearly get a fist through his face by Meiling, and he blocks the next swinging fist, deflects down and swings upward with his foot aiming for her head. An arm shoots up immediately to block the hard attack, and a foot swings low. This is blocked and a counterattack is dealt out, but that was then countered by Meiling. Their punches and kicks try to strike the other, but each fighter was adamant on deflection, countering, and aiming for one solid strike against his/her foe.

When each lash out with a high kick, which lock in a stalemate, suddenly multiple knives materialized around them, like the blink of an eye and they were suddenly there. And like time itself had just unfrozen, the knives all shoot towards the fighting duo like bullets. The two parted and easily slide through the openings of the blade rain, and kept dodging until they stood on the opposite end of the bridge together. There, standing poised with another knife in her hand was Sakuya, at the open gates. All the dodged knives then vanished again in the blink of an eye, Sakuya seen sheathing her dagger into the holster strapped to her leg under her dress.

"Welcome back home, Sekai," she greeted the elf yōkai.

Sekai smiles hearing that lovely voice of the girl whom he nicknamed one time The Bloody Maid.

"Hi, Sakuya-chan. Mei and I were just sparring. That's all."

"I can see that... considering we ALL heard you shout at the top of your lungs. And Meiling..."

Meiling bowed in apology. "Sorry Sakuya. It was just a power nap. Honest."

Sakuya merely waves a hand towards the manor. "Come inside, Sekai. I figure you have a story to tell regarding your early return home. You were busy in the Outside, were you not?"

Sekai knocks a fist against Meiling's own outstretched fist as the butler joins the maid one quick sprint across the bridge.

"Yeah... it is quite an interesting tale to speak of, dear," he responds, offering Sakuya a warm and loving smile.

And Sakuya would return the gesture with a kind smile of her own.

Soon, Sekai wanders into the tea room, where he is glomped by Flandre who is happy to see he has returned home.

"Welcome back, Sekai," Remilia greeted the elf, as Sakuya disappeared.

"Hello, Remilia-sama," he greets back, as Flandre pulls him to the table and he takes a seat next to Patchouli.

"So... you've come back."

"Did you have fun, Sekai?" asks Koakuma, sitting on Patchouli's opposite side to Sekai's position.

"Kinda, Koakuma. It is an interesting tale of how my day went in the Outside, one filled with an eventual death and derailing of a company that offers entertainment in the form and sport of professional wrestling. It is a shame that I'll miss the friendships that I had made while working for the business for the past two months."

"What happened, Sekai?" asked Patchouli, interested in hearing the story.

Sakuya returned with a dressing blind, and Sekai's butler uniform. Standing up, he accepts the clothes from Sakuya and moves behind the changing blind.

"Well, last week, I have gone heel, which is a wrestling term for a character that was once seen as the good guy becomes the bad guy."

Clothes are taken off and thrown over the top, the pants and shirt.

"As the heel, I bashed the name of a former wrestler that was no longer on speaking terms with the company I now once worked for. Apparently, there was an overzealous wrestling fan that apparently took it too seriously and sent me death threats through social media."

Boots are set aside before the fumbling of cloth is heard; indicating Sekai was re-dressing himself with his uniform.

"I ignored them, obviously. Sometimes there are people who will take things seriously and would lash out violently if you were told otherwise. Honestly, I didn't except the death threats to be truly serious. Luckily, I always keep an aura of magic to protect myself, and it did help in the end."

Sekai steps out from behind the changing blinds. From the clothes he had worn when in the Outside World, he is now wearing black trousers, a six button double-breasted tailcoat, white blouse, a grey vest, polished black oxfords, and white silk gloves for his hands. He sports the crest of Remilia's necklace design on his shirt cuffs and red tie. He dissolved the illusion that hid the true shape of his ears, now sporting long pointed elf ears.

"During a house show in New York City, in the United States, the person who sent me death threats stated I will die. Again I ignored it. But I reported it to the proper authorities. So, later on I'm wrestling against Seth Rollins, when all of a sudden someone jumped the barricades, pulls out a gun, and fires on me, hitting me in the chest. Pure chaos erupted with security tackling the gunman and beating the crap out of him, the audience running for their lives, and Seth trying to save my life breaking kayfabe along with EMTs and the company's doctors and trained medical staff."

Remilia looks him over. "And you're fine now?" she questions her butler.

"Well, I bloody almost died, Mistress Remilia! But like I stated before, I shielded myself with magic. But I honestly did got bored of living my alias of Daisuke so while the human who tried to kill me is now likely rotting away in a U.S. Prison for murder, I faked my death, switched my body for a false one, and made sure my quote/unquote body," and he used quotation fingers there, "was cremated and ashes scattered across the Midwest plains of Iowa. I immediately changed my looks and vanished like a shadow..."

"You faked your own death?" Koakuma commented.

"If that human who tried to kill me was ready to turn his life into a world of misery, who am I to prove survival? Besides, the bullet nicked my heart. Hurt like hell, it did. I'm sure to be honored, as news of my death spreads across the media in the Outside World like wildfire." He sighed in the end. "Humans... always thirsty for blood... so chaotic, they are."

He stands to Remilia's left side, as Sakuya returned and took her stance on the right.

"Well, that certainly was an interesting tale to be told, Sekai," the lord of the manor stated.

"I'll be around more often now, or until my colleges I know in the Outside desire my investigative skills that I go out gallivanting amongst the humans again, or Yukari pulls off a prank."

Remilia snorts in humor hearing the last part of Sekai's sentence.

"Oh, speaking of the Gap Yōkai, mistress, did you know Naruto's currently not here in Gensōkyō right now?"

"Really? Where is he?"

"Well, when I arrived at Yukari's home after traveling across the globe to get back to Japan, she had a gap open that monitored Naruto's every movement. Our lovable blond kitsune boy is apparently back in that other world Alice once told us she ended up in, likely by Yukari's unseen hands. Sakura and Hokage are with the fox boy as well. No Kurama. I sensed his aura briefly at Reimu's shrine when I entered Gensōkyō and flew past to return home."

Remilia muses on this information.

"Sounds like Naruto-kun is on an adventure of his own," she says, finishing her tea. Sakuya refills her cup at her silent gesture.

"My gut tells me that Naruto is likely seeking out something. He once told me he's been having annoying thoughts in his head about six months ago when he last visited us, regarding his origins, and the place that forgot his existence, this Hidden Leaf Village."

Remilia sets her cup down and gazes across the table, to everyone here in the tea room at this hour.

"I wonder if she's willing to let us see this show..."

EXTRA STAGE: CLEAR

Considering that it is once stated Yukari holds knowledge of what a Nintendo Gameboy and a Nintendo DS is, I can get away with what I had mentioned in the Extra Stage (i.e. WWE and Seth Rollins).

Happy Fourth of July, those who celebrate it. Use the fireworks properly. Don't blow up (bleep).