Okay, now, just so you all know, this is the second fic I'm putting up here. This is also my secondary fic, meaning my first fic comes, well… first. Also, this is the first fic I'm putting up in which I intend to use no OCs, as well as one of the first fics I've ever written on my own; without my co-author. (The first fic to meet any of these categories was, sadly, too 'adult' to put on this site, and I couldn't get it to upload onto other sites. I think I might as well finish it though, in my spare time…)

ANYWAY; my classic disclaimer: No one owns what they write on this site, I am no exception. I have no idea why we have to write disclaimers as this is the case, but I do anyway. This goes for all the chapters in this fic; I don't own Naruto.

On that note, I'd like to say that, I DO accept flames, but if it's not for a damn good reason, I'm going to repost it here, counter your statement, and have everyone laugh at you. I, unlike most people on this site, use a spell-check before posting anything. (I'm writing this fic on my new laptop, which auto-spell-checks as I write) So I'm just telling you now, don't flame me for spelling errors I'm not making. That's one of the things I post in forums to make fun of you with. I had this happen in one of the fics under my co-author's account, where people made fun of our spelling despite the fact that there weren't any errors whatsoever. (Except for a few names, which we apologized for misspelling later)

I don't like people who make up shit just so they can flame stories that make them feel incompetent. If I write better than you, it's because I study renowned authors to eventually be one myself. Don't feel bad. I have a horrible time coming up with ideas… (This is, if I remember correctly, the first fic idea I ever came up with myself…) Also, I'm just warning you now, but I have a bad habit of capitalizing random words throughout a sentence, as if they were proper nouns. (Names, places, etc) Please don't hold that against me either. I didn't spend half my life in Special Ed. classes for nothing. (People thought I was autistic, and as far as I know, I am. I don't know. Maybe I'm just one of those 'special' idiots that are geniuses in one thing, mine being writing…)

Anyway, enough of my bullshit, on with the story…


No one knew exactly why the Kyuubi attacked that night, and none of them had time to care. Everyone simply knew they had to keep their families safe. That was, except for one man…

"Tch… so Yondaime… you do my work for me?" The pale man said, standing over the Hokage's corpse, a crying child in his arms. "You were always a false Hokage, anyway…"

"YOU!!!" An aged voice cried out from behind him. "What did you do to Arashi!? What are you doing with his son!?"

"Ohhhhohoho, Sarutobi-sensei… don't you know? The boy's name is little Naruto…" The man nearly hissed. "He said so with his dying breath…"

"Orochimaru!!!" The Sandaime roared.

"To think what could possibly be the most powerful being in existence… is small enough to hold in my arms…" The snake said, as if speaking to the child, and not his old master.

"Orochi...Arashi!!!" A third man yelled, dashing to the side of his fallen student as the snake Sannin began to walk away.

"I have to thank you, Jiraiya… If you hadn't taught Kazama to be such a master of seals, I wouldn't have this prize…" He said, rubbing the small boy's chin with his finger, smiling maliciously as the boy caught the appendage in his mouth and bit down with tremendous strength for a newborn. "Say hello to Tsunade for me…"

Before the two men could react, the snake Sannin was gone, along with young Kazama Naruto. The only trace of his presence there the puddle of mud he'd melted into.

---

Twelve years later, three Genin stood on Konoha's north wall, staring down into the city.

"You really want to be here? I mean, we can still go get Kin if-" Dosu started, only to be cut off by his teammate.

"Keh… you know damn well he wouldn't let his little Kinny-poo into any sort of danger." Zaku scoffed. "He's just too damn noble…"

Dosu looked at Zaku as he would a plagued corpse as their third teammate, who was standing between them, spoke up. "Tch… you know damn well I don't call her that. She'd probably try to skin me if I did." He chuckled. Nearly matching both his teammate's heights at 152cm despite being two years their junior, he held his arms crossed over his chest. Wearing a tight black shirt extending down under each of his steel bracers, and baggy black cargo pants held in place by a tightly fastened black snakeskin belt, he looked to be a truly formidable opponent. His bright blue eyes scoured the village for some semblance of a memory as he smiled just enough to wrinkle the whisker-marks on his defined cheeks, his spiky blond hair slicked back, save the few strands hanging over his forehead protector, which bore a distinctive musical note at its center. The boy of only twelve years old truly looked at least fifteen.

"Well what about Tayuya? Juggling women is bad for your health y'know…" Zaku asked smugly.

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm hot." Naruto replied; lacing his fingers behind his neck as he smiled broadly, revealing pronounced canine teeth, while simultaneously showing off his muscular frame.

"Lucky bastard…" Zaku muttered in response.

"Zaku, enough!" Dosu said, his voice frigid as if he feared retribution from the blonde. "We should go, taicho… Signups for the exam start soon."

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, yeah… I know Dosu…" Glancing down sadly at the village hidden in the leaves, he began to regret not returning before now…


Prologue complete…

If you're wondering why Naruto looks different, it's because Orochimaru kept him quite a bit healthier, and trained him almost constantly. That does a lot for a boy's physique.

As for his outfit, I've been wanting to use it somewhere for a while now… no idea why. (All except for his belt, which has symbolic meaning) As for the fact that that he doesn't have a jacket… well, honestly I think he'd look good without one.

Anyway, I should have a second chapter done pretty soon. I'm a little sad that most of my stuff never gets many reviews, so it'd be nice if people could do that… Actually having more than two replies a chapter might boost morale a bit. (The most I've gotten with my other story is two replies in one chapter. Which is a little disappointing…)

Taicho – Commanding Officer (often used to mean 'captain')