Journey of the Maelstrom Rider

Prologue: Getting into Gear

As the sun slowly sets on the Hidden Leaf village, Naruto was currently situated at the Hokage Mountain, sitting atop of the head of the Fourth Hokage or to be more specific…his father Minato Namikaze. He has been through a lot today, returning from Sage training over at Mt Myoboku only to come upon a majority of the village having been demolished by Pein who was the leader of the Akatsuki. Naruto angrily took him on and was able to destroy most of the Paths but the tides of the battle went in favor of the enemy and he was literally pinned down.

He was about to be taken away when an interruption in the form of Hinata Hyuuga appeared to fight Pein. Naruto pleaded with the girl to run away otherwise she would be killed, Hinata refused to do so and remained determined to save him…to the point that she even confessed her love for him. Naruto couldn't believe what he heard and watched as she valiantly fought Pein with everything she had but was beaten to the ground and stabbed before his very eyes. Before him laid the girl who he thought of as strange since their younger days, this girl never once said anything bad about him and actually admired him despite his shortcomings. The things which his friends had told him about how hard she trained to attain his attention and even shared his ninja way hit him very hard, for once his thick-headedness has cleared enough for him to realize that Hinata wasn't being weird but rather shy especially when around him.

It was this epiphany which lead to one of the rare times that Naruto actually hated somebody with all his being and the target of that hatred was none other than Pein himself, however this also led to him being possessed by the Kyuubi and went on a rampage. He was about to release the Bijuu when he was stopped by someone no one would have expected…the Fourth Hokage himself or rather a chakra avatar of him. Naruto was shocked upon learning that he was his father, angry at him for sealing the Kyuubi into him, and happy that his father was proud and loved him all the same.

After Minato helped repair the seal along with transferring memories for him to recall later, Naruto went to battle Pein once more and this time emerged victorious. He went on to locate the one who had been controlling the Six Paths with use of the Sage Mode and met two of the members, namely Nagato and Konan who were once students of Jiraiya. They had a talk over their ideals and Naruto was able to convince Nagato to the point that he used a forbidden jutsu to resurrect the ones killed at the cost of his life. Nagato entrusted his faith to Naruto before dying and Konan took him away along with the body of the first Path to be buried, but not before giving the blond ninja a bouquet of flowers.

Naruto tiredly made his way back to the village and was met halfway by a revived Kakashi who carried back, there he was actually welcomed by villagers much to his shock. Apparently they had been waiting for him, Naruto didn't know how to react to this…he had always wanted the villagers to look at him with respect and now he has achieved it even before becoming Hokage, he also saw that Hinata was alive and well much to his joy. Naruto recalled when Iruka was treating him to Ichiraku ramen, that he had been changing the village's view of him ever since he became a Genin and now the eyes of loathing are no longer aimed towards him.

Naruto let out a sigh as he looked down at the village with a soft smile "I'm glad that all this turned out okay in the end, if only Baa-chan would wake up from her coma," he recalled with concern when he heard that Tsunade had gone into a coma due to straining herself to healing the injured during the attack "Even with Sage mode, I still struggled to win and many lives were almost lost," he then recalled the horrifying image of how Hinata had almost died in front of him, he could now see why Kakashi would go to stand before the Memorial Stone for hours to reminisce the past, he doesn't want to go through something like that again "I wish there's another way to become stronger than I am now, how can I be able to adhere to what Haku told me with this level of strength? I've already lost many like Hokage-jiji, Ero-sennin and many others. I don't want to lose anymore,"

"Is that so?" a voice suddenly spoke up from behind Naruto, surprising the blond ninja as he quickly shot to his feet and armed himself with a kunai to face the source of the voice.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Naruto yelled out while in full alert.

Someone walked out from behind a boulder, wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, black trousers and shoes, a long unbuttoned khaki overcoat, a pair of eyeglasses, and a khaki fisher's hat.

"Who are you?" asked Naruto cautiously.

"I am Narutaki, a prophet and traveler of worlds," said the man.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at the man's introductions "Traveler of worlds? How can that be?" the only worlds he can think of would be the summoning realms and nothing more than that.

Narutaki chuckled in amusement "I can understand your skepticism, after it's to be expected that a denizen of his own world would be unaware that there are others besides his own,"

"You're not making any sense right now, and what are you doing here anyway?"

"I was merely passing through…*Heh* to think that I would be using his line, when I overheard of your plight and it had me a bit curious,"

"Curious how?" asked Naruto confusedly.

"Curious to ask you a question,"

"What would that question be?"

"If you possess a power so great that it would turn the world against you, will you become a savior or a destroyer?" asked Narutaki.

Naruto placed a hand on his stomach where the seal containing the Kyuubi is, remembering how that power helped him in dire situations, but he also recalled how he tended to lose control over the destructive power and hurt one of his loved ones. It was what further pushed to becoming stronger on his own terms.

And so he responded to the mysterious man "I would rather be a savior but I wouldn't rely on such a power if I don't know how to control it. I want to protect my loved ones with my own strength,"

Narutaki smiled upon hearing this "Seeking strength to protect…different yet similar to him. He could be the one which the prophecy spoke about,"

"Uh, what are you talking about over there?"

"What if I told you that there was a way for you to gain strength on your own terms?"

"I would be suspicious since I just met you today," said Naruto with a small frown.

"Again understandable as to be expected of a ninja, your response reminded me of a certain man whom I hated a long time ago as I had believed him to be a destroyer. In a way I was both right and wrong as he had destroyed worlds but then they were recreated in his journey. Time and again he had proved to be more of a savior than a destroyer, I had to admit that he among many others were amazing,"

"Who is he and what do you mean by they?" asked Naruto curiously, getting quite interested in the story.

"I speak of Tsukasa Kadoya who is a Kamen Rider, There are many ways to describe a Kamen Rider. One of them would be that they are legendary masked heroes who protect freedom of humanity and always come when somebody calls for help,"

"That sounds amazing and all…but what does this have to do with me?" asked Naruto confusedly.

"From just your response, you possess a great potential of becoming a Kamen rider. Plus I looked back a bit of your timeline to take a look at your past actions which further convinces me of that,"

"But even if you say that, I can't become a Kamen Rider! Not when I'm planning to become Hokage!" Naruto protested.

"Both share one thing in common, they protect humanity though a Kamen Rider is much broader than that and there's no actual harm in doing both anyways,"

"I guess, but is there something I need to know though?"

"Yes, once you become a Kamen Rider, you are to go on a journey through many worlds and gradually awaken the hero within you while helping others resolve situations beyond their control. And before you protest, you can always return here as I've noticed that time here goes much slower than other worlds," said Narutaki upon seeing Naruto open his mouth to protest, effectively silencing him.

Naruto was torn, he remembered Jiraiya telling him how going on a journey can be a great teacher about many things which was partially true despite the pervert not having taught him enough now that he thought of it compared to Sasuke, but he doesn't want to leave his village in case it gets attacked again. Come to think of it, there might be something in those worlds that could help Konoha, maybe even help Tsunade wake up from her coma.

"…can I get some time before making my decision?"

Narutaki nodded in understanding "I see, then I would like to give you this…have a taste of what it means to be a Kamen Rider," he reached into his overcoat and brought out what appears to be a large white buckle with symbols encircling a red circular screen, and with it appears to be a black and white book with plastic like casing.

"What are they?" asked Naruto curiously.

"This is a copy of the Decadriver belt and Ride Booker, these are what will help you transform into the Next Kamen Rider Decade," Narutaki explained.

"But I haven't decided yet," said Naruto.

"I know, I'm giving it to you to use for now. It should help when making your decision,"

"…I guess you have a point there, I'll give it a try then,"

"We will meet again, Naruto Uzumaki," Narutaki walked backwards into some sort of hazy veil and disappeared much to the blonde's shock.

"Whoa, that's kinda creepy and cool at the same time. I better get back home for some ramen and sleep to think about this more,"

Naruto made his way down from the Hokage mountain and was currently walking along the streets whilst waving at the people who would stop to greet him amiably, this was still a strange feeling for the blonde and he was still trying to get used to it. Naruto walked around a corner and suddenly bumped into someone who let out a yelp, he was about to apologize but then froze upon seeing who it was.

"H-Hinata?" Naruto stammered out, the mentioned person let out a gasp upon seeing him.

"N-Naruto-kun?" said Hinata.

Both looked at each other in silence with neither side being able to bring themselves to uttering a word, they recalled what happened during the battle with Pein. Eventually Naruto was the one to speak up.

"So…how are you doing?" asked Naruto nervously.

"I-I-I'm doing okay," Hinata stuttered in response.

"That's great to hear…ummm…how is Neji and the others?"

"T-They're fine as well, there were a few injured but everything is okay,"

"That's also great," said Naruto "Come on Naruto, pull yourself together!"

"Ummm…," Naruto snapped back into focus when he heard Hinata speak up "Are you okay too?"

"Y-yeah, I'm totally okay now!" said Naruto with a foxy grin then he became nervous "Um Hinata, about what you said back then…did you really mean that?"

Hinata took a step back, she wasn't expecting him to ask about it yet. Now she has to give him an answer or forever regret it "He wants to know how I feel, I need to tell him!" the shy Hyuuga steeled her nerves before speaking "Yes…I really meant what I said then. I had always admired the fact that you would always do your best and would get up to try again every time you failed…that you would believe in yourself despite everyone else thinking otherwise until you had proven them wrong. Your actions made me believe that I can also do my best too, I really wanted to be your friend too…but I would always hesitate most of those times which I really hated myself for,"

Naruto remained silent the whole time listening to her, he just couldn't believe that there was someone who truly admired him since the academy days. Come to think of, he never once saw her hanging out with any of Sasuke's fangirls which he had found odd until now.

"…at first, I wanted to follow you but when you had left…I decided to change and become strong enough so I can walk next to you, which was why I stepped in to help because I didn't want you to disappear forever. So I will say it again…," Hinata looked up to stared into Naruto's eyes "I love you, Naruto Uzumaki,"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock once more, he may have heard it before but the sincerity in which she spoke still knocked him for a loop. He realized that he had to say something which he did.

"Hinata, do you know…that you are the first person to ever tell me that you loved me?"

"Eh?" Hinata was surprised to hear that.

"Many others have made it known that they cared about me, but they never mentioned that they loved me. I never thought that I would had had such an impact on you. Then again, you showed me how strong you were so many times before. Like when you saved your teammates and I from those ninjas during our hunt for the Bikochu beetle or when you saved me again from one of the three brothers during that mission at the Land of Flowers, someone whom I couldn't beat back then. And you were far more than willing to save me when Pein had me pinned down," Naruto looked to see Hinata looked down at the ground and shyly poking her index fingers together, something which he began to admit is cute "You know, I've come to notice something,"

"W-what is it?" asked Hinata curiously.

"You seem to know a lot about me but I don't know that much about you, what say we get to know each other the right way. Like say over a bowl of ramen, then we can see where to go from there," said Naruto like a sheepish look on his face.

Hinata couldn't believe her ears, Naruto was actually willing to spend time with her! Sure he didn't say that he loved her back but he showed that he is coming to like her a lot and willing to get her a chance, she can't afford to ruin this!

"O-okay, I would like too as well!"

Naruto responded with his trademark grin "Great! Ichiraku's still open so we can head over there now," he turned round and began to walk towards their next destination but slowed down to look behind to see Hinata walking next to him and blushing "She's kinda cute that way,"

Later on, Naruto came to know a bit more about Hinata than before which included her hobbies, favorite food amongst other things and he got to reveal others things to her. Soon enough it was late and they bid each other farewell with Naruto returning to his temporary quarters for the meantime to rest. He was still a bit restless and so decided to examine the Decadriver and the Ride Booker, Naruto opened the latter and saw that it contained cards before taking them out to take a better look.

"Hmmm, these cards seem to show images of guys donning some sort of armor. Could these be the Kamen Riders that Narutaki guy was talking about?" said Naruto as he shuffled through them like how Tsunade taught him one time when she was having a poker game which he came back, since then she never let him play against her much to his confusion. Naruto couldn't help but feel like these cards were alive somehow due to a small amount of energy he was sensing from them "And he didn't even tell me how to use it even…just I'll ponder on that tomorrow," Naruto put the cards back into the Rider Booker and went to sleep, he didn't notice that the Decadriver was glowing as if waiting in anticipation for something.

As Naruto sleep, he dreamt that he was standing in some sort of battlefield where he saw the armored warriors fighting against an army of strange creatures and were actually winning but then a giant from the creatures side appeared to attack but apparently the warriors had a giant of their own to even the odds. Naruto saw a blue armored warrior transform a magenta colored one in a giant version of the Decadriver which attached to the armored giant and transformed him into a different but stronger form. Next he saw the giant leap high into the air with the other warriors transforming into cards and lined up before the opposing giant as the armored giant went each through each of the cards and struck the giant with a flying kick which resulted in an explosion, destroying it.

Naruto saw the smoke clear to reveal the riders standing at the edge of a Cliffside, but he noticed that the magenta colored warrior had turned to look at him and noted that he was wearing the Decadriver and the Ride Booker around his waist.

Then he heard a voice "Are you ready for the journey ahead of you?" Naruto was confused at first and was about to answer when the warriors got about some strange vehicles with two wheels and rode away.

Naruto was suddenly roused from his sleep and looked around in confusion, then he noticed that someone was knocking on his door. The blonde drowsily got up from bed and went to open it to see Yamato standing before.

"Oh Captain Yamato, what's up?" asked Naruto.

"There's something Kakashi wants to talk to you about, meet up with us at the regular training ground," said Yamato.

"Okay, I'll be there," said Naruto.

Naruto closed the door and went to get himself ready and meet up with the two Jounin and find out what they want to talk about then he can get back into training in order to get stronger…not forget that he has yet to make a decision on whether to be a Kamen Rider or not.

This is Hussbek online with the first chapter of a new story, this has been on my mind for a while now and I got some guys pushing me for this story crossover. So here it is, a Naruto/Kamen Rider crossover story. It was a tough decision but in the end I made the choice for Naruto to become the next Kamen Rider Decade which is a good choice as he can transform into other Kamen Riders. I've decided that Naruto will be traveling to other worlds as a way of training but would return to the Elemental Nations every now and then. Here is the starting list of worlds which he would be going to:

TMNT: Turtles in Manhattan
Marvel vs. Capcom
Devil May Cry 4
Bayonetta
Red Earth
Buso Renkin
Freezing
Generator Rex

Like always, there will be a harem with Hinata confirmed to be in it. I'm willing to take in suggestions in terms of worlds, girls and reasons (Good Ones) for them to be added.