Summary:

'"What human would leave a cutie like you all alone this far into the forest?" she asked the very happy baby. She should be wondering why the babe was out here without an adult, but all she could think was how precious the little one was. She moved the blanket out of the way and touched her wet nose to the pudgy belly she found, making the little one squeal in delight.' Rewriting and still in progress! Sasu/Naru main pairing.

Characters/Pairings:

The main pairing is going to be Sasu/Naru. There will be many other side characters and side pairings as the story progresses.

Disclaimer

Firstly, I do not own anything pertaining to the storyline of Naruto or Naruto Shippuden, nor do I own any recognizable characters from the shows. I only own this story and any characters I have made up for it.

Secondly, if you do not like male/male pairings or any of the pairings in specific, I respect that but please don't read this fanfic and say mean things about it. As it is fanfiction, it is my personal opinions and likes and I would ask that you respect that.

Thirdly, if you like this sort of thingˌ please do read and review if you wish.

Enjoy! Or not. It's entirely up to you.

Chapter 1

It was a crisp, clear morning. The sun was shining bright, melting the last remaining snow of winter. The air was still cool from the cold season, but the cloudless sky let the rays of soothing warmth come through the branches of the trees.

Shadow always enjoyed this time of year. It was still cool so her fur wouldn't feel uncomfortable as it shed for the warmer months, yet it was warm enough to enjoy a walk without freezing her paws. Though she must admit, winter in the forest was much better than in the mountains. Being a wolf, she has traveled great distances and walked many a weary mile before she finally found her current home.

It is in the opening of her den that she is enjoying the change of season now. Breathing deep as she surveyed the surrounding forest. She was lucky to have found her den, a cave halfway hidden by fallen trees and wild bushes, before the coming of her pups. She was sitting upon a log on the ground, fallen across the foot of the opening and covered in moss.

She turned her head back and smiled as she watched her little ones move in their sleep. The spirits had blessed her with two beautiful pups only a few months ago.

Her first was a little female of golden fur that shined in the sun. Along her back was a column of black fur starting from the tip of her nose and ending at the tip of her tail. Her belly, neck, under-tail, and the backs of her legs are covered in a very light, almost white, tan fur. The tips of her ears are black and her eyes are deeper golden than her fur and changed shade so much that they seemed to dance. The name she decided on for the little girl, was Sun-Dance.

Her second was a slightly bigger male of deep gray. White covered the end of his tail, his belly, half way up his legs, and on the end of his snout to just below his eyes. His inner ears are of a lighter gray and his eyes are a dull pine green. Curiously, his claws are as white as his fur; it was quite uncommon for them not to be the usual black. He looked quite a bit like his father, actually, so the name she gave him was Moon-Fang.

Most people just assumed that all wolves and dogs were color-blind, but that's not the case for most of them. Personally, Shadow was very much able to see color and was certain both of her pups could as well.

Shadow smiled in amusement as Moon began to howl softly in his sleep. She shook her head lovingly and turned her head back around to stare at the surrounding trees. She was about to lay her head across her front paws, most likely to take a quick nap herself, when she heard the snapping of a twig. Her head whipped to the left.

She stared.

And stared.

Nothing moved; even the wind died down as she stared at a bush. Her eyes narrowed as she watched the dirt at its base. She didn't know what she expected to see, but was hoping it wasn't humans. It wasn't that she had bad experiences with the two legged beings, she had run with them on many occasions and even recently helped one while they were searching for something within the forest. She was, actually, grateful to the humans for providing all the soft material she uses to make her sleeping area so comfortable.

It was more that, she lived near a ninja village, so she makes it her business to know if there were any missions that would be taking place in the areas around her home. And she knows for a fact that no human should be anywhere near the forest today. So that leaves two explanations. One: it was just a small animal running around after months of hibernation. Or two: it was a rogue ninja(s) trying to make their way to the village. Usually she doesn't care, but now that she has two little ones to look after, the snap of a twig could be cause for concern.

She glanced back at her pups, then jumped down from the log. She turned and pulled a bush closer to the opening with her teeth. Satisfied that it was mostly hidden, Shadow turned and cautiously walked to the left. Each step she made was precise, her own "ninja" training coming to the surface; that was another thing she was grateful to the two legs for. She kept her body close to the ground, ears frantically moving about, nose to the air. She paused when she heard a small noise ahead of her.

A brow lifted when she caught numerous scents that associated with human babes. The strange powder, cottoned blankets, wicker from what was most likely a basket. When she caught a faint scent of blood mingled in, she took off at a hurried pace. Her pace increasing when she heard the infant's cries.

She stopped when she came to the edge of a clearing. For all she knew, it could be a trap, so she ignored the, now softer, crying in favor of carefully observing the surrounding area. She used the little bit of chakra she possesses to see if she can detect any foreign to her. She was slightly amazed to find the only other chakra anywhere close was coming from the little bundle of moving limbs. She huffed in amusement and, still cautiously, walked out of the safety of the trees to approach the babe still crying away.

The little one was wrapped in a blue blanket and as it moved around, the material fell from a small head to reveal bright yellow/golden locks. She walked around until she could peer at the chubby little face; most human babes she had seen from afar had been cute, but this one was just so pup like that it had to be the cutest she had ever seen.

The crying immediately stopped when bright blue eyes, red and puffy from tears, found her own charcoal grey. She smiled down at it and it stared a moment before it broke out in happy squeals and little chubby arms reached out for her. She moved her snout closer and nudged a, amusedly, whisker-marked cheek earning her a cheerful giggle.

She should be wondering why the babe was out here without an adult, but all she could think was how precious the little one was. She moved the blanket out of the way and touched her wet nose to the pudgy belly she found, making the little one squeal in delight.

"What human would leave a cutie like you all alone this far into the forest?" she asked the very happy baby.

"Ma-Ma!" Shadow startled. She really wasn't expecting an answer, least of all that one, especially since she knew human babes younger than at least two shouldn't be able to talk; and here was a very young babe talking. She tilted her head to the side.

"I can't tell if you're calling me Ma-Ma or if you're actually answering my question."

"Ma-Ma!" he said again, reaching towards her and smiling wide. She figured the babe was a boy because his scent somewhat matches that of a male fox's, which she found strange. She could have just uncovered him completely from the blanket, but it was still rather cold out and she didn't want to make him any more freezing than he most likely is.

She wrapped the blanket back around his form as best she could before she grabbed both sides of the basket within her teeth. He was still giggling away happily as she walked back toward her den. And because she was so preoccupied with the little bundle, she didn't notice the figure watching her retreating form from the branch of a tree.

Author's Note

So there you have it! The first rewritten chapter for this story.

I want to start by saying, I am so sorry for leaving this story alone for so long without doing anything with it, even working on and posting a different story instead. It really wasn't my intention, but my life got rather hectic and I somehow lost track of the original docs for this story. I like the concept of the original, really, but now that I've had greater experience in writing, I felt like A World Beyond Ours needed to be improved upon before I added any new chapters. So, I waited until the original 5 were rewritten before I decided to post again.

Now there actually more chapters than I started with. For those of you who have read the originals, if you have any questions or want to know why something was changed or added, let me know and I'll be happy to explain. As well, the disclaimer at the top will only be there for the first ten chapters. After that, the chapters will just dive right in.

There is something I want to mention: did you know there were scientists who researched and had experiments conducted on whether dogs could see color or not? They actually can see color, but not as many as humans can. Dogs can't see colors that contain red or green, but can see those containing blue and yellow. For my purposes, Shadow and her pups can see color just like humans can; all three are already abnormal so why not let them see every color?

Also, I don't think I ever really explain later on why Shadow caught the scent of blood mingled with Naruto's scent. Do not worry, Naruto wasn't hurt and the blood she smelt was from the mysterious figure at the end of the chapter. I will explain who that is later, but for now, the figure's blood was on the basket because of a paper-cut, nothing more. Shadow wouldn't have known, so she was concerned.

That's about it. Thank you to all those who left reviews for the original and I hope to see what you think about the rewrite! I would love some feedback, but reviews are absolutely not required. I'm done talking now and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

TTFN

Taric