Okay so this is my new Naruto story, I'm a huge fan of Naruto and have been for a while, let me know what you think, as I stated in the Summary, this will be a very dark Naruto story, with a very dark Naruto past. This story starts at the end of The Sasuke Retrieval Ark, right at the end of the battle of the valley. Main pairings include NarutoxOC SasukexSakura, ShikamaruxTemari InoxSai as well as others that I like. Please feel free to ask questions and drill me for info... cuz I love the Narutoverse so much! Anyway let's begin!

Demon Talking

Demon Thinking

Naruto internal speech

Naruto: The Runaway Chronicles

Chapter 1

"Well... that Uchiha brat really fucked you up." A deep menacing voice chided, to the young blonde boy who lay unconscious in the valley of the end.

The Kyuubi glanced around it's empty cage, Naruto subconscious didn't say anything in reply. The great demon let out a huff before reaching his chakra out, he felt it pass through Naruto's body and fill him up, it was right about now that the demon came to understand just how grave Naruto's injuries were, he wasn't just unconscious, he was comatose.

"Damn brat. Well I can't just leave you to die in this wretched valley." The fox stated, more to himself, then his host, whom was well beyond hearing him at this point. The Nine Tails quickly flooded an immense amount of chakra into Naruto's body, forcing his wounds to begin healing, while at the same time, because of Naruto's condition (coma) allowing him to take control.

Suddenly Naruto's eyes opened and for the first time, in twelve years, The Nine Tails was able to look upon the outside world.

Using his chakra to work Naruto like a puppet the demon forced him to sit up, as he did, he felt an immense amount of chakra rush to Naruto's head, The Kyuubi could tell that Naruto had suffered an immense head wound from the fall he took after he and Sasuke collided. The Demon also felt Naruto's ribs pop back into place from where Sasuke had punched him in the chest when they collided. Moving Naruto's body was difficult but not impossible, the great beast quickly figured out how to effectively pilot the idiots body and got him to his feet. He glanced around and noticed Sasuke laying on his back a few feet away. His eyes were closed but his chest was raising and lowering, so he was alive.

"Brat!" The Demon spat, as he looked at Sasuke, "All you managed to do was scratch his headband you runt!" The demon once again chided Naruto, even though he couldn't hear him.

The Nine Tails felt a pressure release from Naruto's head as his chakra finished healing it, Naruto had landed directly on his head after he and Sasuke collided and the fall had cracked his skull open. As his head finished healing the beast did a quick check of all of Naruto's limbs and the rest of his body, making sure there were no injuries that he missed. He stopped as he was scanning Naruto's head, out of habit he replayed all of Naruto's memories which to the great beast could be processed in a second or two.

He paused... something was wrong. He replayed Naruto's memories and it happened again. The memories just stopped a few weeks before Naruto graduated from the academy. The Demon grinned wickedly. "Oh my... it's all gone! Your clone jutsu, your rasengan, your friends, your sensei, that perverted old sage... all of it's GONE!" The Demon cheered almost triumphantly, "Oh... I have just been granted a chance to rewrite things... oh... I do believe a change of scenery is in order."

The Nine Tails took one last look around the valley through Naruto's eyes, the demon grimaced as the memories of his last battle in this valley, returned to him. After a moment the memories faded and the demon refocused, he knew now that Naruto was healed, it would only be a matter of time until he woke up, so if he wanted to leave, he would have to go now.

The tailed beast, sent more of his chakra into Naruto, enveloping him in the one-tailed cloak. And like that with a single mighty leap, the demon, piloting Naruto's body, went hurtling out of the valley at top speed. Direction didn't matter, nor did destination... the beast knew that the only things that kept Naruto anchored to the leaf were his friends and bonds he had formed... but now... those were gone.

The smile on the demons face never vanished as he put as much distance between the leaf and Naruto as he could.

-Meanwhile-

"We couldn't find him." Pakkun muttered as he and a few other members of Kakashi's pack returned to their masters side.

Kakashi let out a tired sigh as he looked down at Sasuke, who was unconscious on the valley floor. He and his pack had been there for twenty minutes looking for Naruto but they couldn't find him anywhere.

"Look Kakashi... we can stay here... the kid needs a doctor." Pakkun told him as the little dog stood over Sasuke.

"I know Pakkun... I'll take Sasuke back to the village, and I'll gather some of the trackers, do your best to try and find Naruto's scent while I'm gone." Kakashi's ordered as he knelt down and picked up his student. He positioned Sasuke on his back, and gave another sigh before jumping onto the valley wall and then once more to leave it.

-Back at the village-

"My lady... Kakashi Hatake has returned." an ANBU informed the slug princess.

"That's good, tell him to come see me." Tsunade ordered.

"Yes mam!" The ANBU replied before vanishing from the room.

"I wonder how it went." Jiraiya stated, he was leaning against the wall in Tsunade's office, waiting along with her for Kakashi and Naruto to return.

"We'll know soon enough." Tsunade replied.

A few moments went by before Kakashi appeared in front of them, as always his face was indistinguishable.

"Report." Tsunade ordered, when he appeared.

"Mission was a success, Sasuke has been retrieved. Though... Naruto is missing." Kakashi added after a quick moment of thought.

"What?" Both Tsunade and Jiraiya said in unison.

"I have my pack scouring the valley of the end, but they can't seem to locate him. With you permission my lady I would like to take some of the trackers back out with me, and see if we can't find him." Kakashi explained.

Tsunade stared at him for a few seconds before nodding. "I'll go with you." Jiraiya offered, as Tsunade nodded.

"I would appreciate the help. Sasuke is at the hospital, I asked the ANBU to keep an eye on him while he's there." Kakashi told them as he turned to leave.

"I'll go see the boy myself." Tsunade said after a moment. "Find him." She ordered the two of them as she walked towards her office door.

Both quickly nodded and vanished.

Tsunade let out an audible sigh as she marched out of her office, and made her way to the hospital.

A few minutes went by before she finally reached it, once there she quickly made her way to Sasuke's room, there were two ANBU standing outside the door, along with a familiar pink haired girl leaning against the wall, opposite the door.

"My lady!" Sakura stated happily when she saw her.

"Sakura. Have you heard?" Tsunade asked as she reached the door.

"I heard some of the villagers saying the Kakashi sensei brought Sasuke back, but nothing else." Sakura replied.

"Naruto is missing." Tsunade flat out told her as she opened the door and stepped into the room, leaving Sakura dumb struck.

-Later-

"This is bad Kakashi. Orochimaru and the Nine Tails chakra is all over this valley, it's impossible to separate the two." A sensory tracker told him.

"I know." Kakashi agreed, staring out across the valley.

"Naruto isn't skilled enough to move without leaving a trail, but the rain is making it hard to follow sent, so he has that advantage. The only two plausible scenarios is that he showed up to face Sasuke, beat him, and was taken by a third party." Jiraiya began to explain to the others.

"Or?" Kakashi asked, eying him intently.

"Or he beat Sasuke and then ran." an ANBU interjected.

"Is it possible he was killed and his body is just floating down stream?" One of the ANBU asked.

"No... my hounds have been scouring up and down the valley, they can't find him. He's just not here." Kakashi replied, with a sigh.

"We have to keep looking, even if he is dead, his body contains secrets, secrets that we must retrieve." The ANBU stated after a moment.

"Naruto... where are you?" Kakashi said to himself as he let out a sigh and moved to continue the search.

-Two day later-

Far off in the land of lightning, in some no name little village, Naruto sat alone in a back alley, the great beast still very much in control of his body.

The demon was holding Naruto's headband in his hand, he stared at it for a few moments before snapping it in half, and tossing it into a nearby garbage can.

"That settles that." The Demon said to himself. The Nine Tails was so happy to be away from those lands, to finally be free of the wretched stench of the leaf village. He could slowly feel Naruto's subconscious gaining ground, he was starting to wake up, it would be another day or two, but he would be fine. All except for the missing memories of the past few months. The farthest Naruto's memory now went, was a week or so before the academy graduation exams. "Okay..." the beast sighed as it began to try and recreate memories of Naruto's jutsu. Luckily the demon was able to use it's own memory to create the memories for Naruto, which meant it could twist them however it liked.

He made sure to give Naruto memories of his two signature techniques the Shadow clone jutsu, and the Rasengan. In the end he didn't give Naruto any new memories, just added in a few things so that Naruto would remember how to do the techniques when he woke up.

"You'll thank me for this kid... that village treated you like garbage... and all you ever did was love them. Now you're free, and I intend to make you, make the best of it... … …" The demon paused in his cage and looked around and the empty blackness. Suddenly a feeling rose up in him and he suddenly shouted, "Do you see this Minato? I've taken your boy away from your precious village, and now he'll walk a path that I've set for him! I'VE WON!" The great beast declared triumphantly.

After a few moments of nothing but silence, the demon settled down and mused over how easy it was to control Naruto's body. He guessed that because Naruto was comatose and his consciousness was currently checked out, attributed to his easy control over the body. The demon was sure that when Naruto began to wake up, that it would become incredibly difficult to maintain control.

The Demon smiled wickedly... this was too good. He decided to get some food into Naruto's body, he pulled back most of his cloak and decided to ditch Naruto's orange jacket, once that was in the garbage the beast made it's way to the market, he kept his head low, and avoided eye contact, the dark marks on Naruto's face, did draw a few gazes, but no one recognized him so they chose to ignore it.

Using what little money Naruto had on him, the beast bought him food and water, the merchant didn't seem to care that all Naruto did was walk up point to what he wanted and then handed over the money. The demon quickly fed Naruto, and then found another comfy alley to sleep in.

As he settled Naruto's body down, the demon began to feel another force begin to take over Naruto's body, it was slow, but strong. Naruto must have been regaining his senses, it would be a few hours still, but he would be awake soon.

"Now... what am I going to tell you?" The Demon thought. A few seconds went by before a plan formed in the might beasts brain. He began to plant fragmented memories in Naruto's brain, bits and pieces of his battle at the Valley of the End... though he made sure to change a few things around... like the conversations, that he and Sasuke had.

The Nine Tails smiled as he finished implanting the fake memories, he then continued to think up the lie he would tell Naruto, and slowly but surely it all took shape.

-Later-

"Where am I?" Naruto asked, as he lay in a dark room, in a pool of water.

"Hello Naruto." Came a deep and menacing voice.

Naruto immediately shot up and was greeted to the massive sight of the nine tails sitting beyond a cage.

Naruto let out a loud scream and shot to his feet, ready to run.

"Calm down brat... I can't hurt you from in here." The Beast told him, slightly annoyed.

"Wha... what are you? Where am I?" Naruto asked, as he slightly cowered from the beast.

"I am the Nine tailed fox, and this is your body." The beast answered truthfully.

"The... Nine tails..." Naruto stared in horror for a second before letting out another wail of terror.

"Shut up!" The Demon roared at him.

Naruto's head immediately dropped, and he stared at the floor.

"We're inside your subconscious having a little chat, because I just got finished searching through you memories and I have found that you are suffering from amnesia." The Demon explained.

Naruto looked back up at him, though didn't look him in the eyes, suddenly a confused look took up residence on his face, "What's amnesia?"

"It's..." The demon began, and then stopped and growled at the boys ignorance before continuing. "You hit your head and lost some of you memories."

"What? How did that happen?" Naruto asked, still confused.

"Look... what's the last thing you remember?" The beast asked.

Naruto stared at him for a second before thinking back, the last clear memory he had was his classmates laughing at him, after Iruka dragged him into school. But there was something else, another memory, bits and flashes of a fight, between him and Sasuke.

"I was fighting Sasuke. What was I doing fighting Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"He was trying to kill you." The Demon told him, at the sound of that Naruto kind of cringed.

"Why... would Sasuke wanna kill me?" Naruto finally got the courage to ask.

"You pulled a prank on him, and embarrassed him in front of many villagers. So in turn... he ran you outta the village... but that wasn't enough, no... he chased after you and tried to kill you... and do you know what... your people let him." The Fox told him. The demon inwardly grinned as a look of shock and horror appeared on Naruto's face.

"Do you understand why they hated you so much? It was because of me... they hated your very existence, simply because I was inside of you." The Fox explained to him.

"So it was your fault? You were the reason they hated me so much? Why? What did I ever do to deserve this?" Naruto asked as he held back tears.

The Fox narrowed his eyes at Naruto, everything had fallen into place, now it was time to make his move.

"I'm sorry." The Great Beast told him.

"You're... sorry?" Naruto repeated, not expecting that from the Nine tailed fox.

"I am sorry that you have to suffer because of me. Whenever I am released from the cage my own power overwhelms me, I lose control and go on a rampage. Though once I am sealed within a host, my mind becomes my own again... it is only when this happens am I able to think clearly... So for that, I am sorry." The Fox told him.

"You lose control?" Naruto stated taking a step towards the great fox.

"Yes... I have too much power, and it drives me insane. Only inside of a persons body, can I finally think clearly. I have watched you suffer for years at the hands of those abusive villagers... I have so longed to be able to help you." The beast was laying it on thick, knowing full well that Naruto would easily fall for it as long as the Fox showed him some compassion.

"So... when you attacked the leaf, all those years ago?" Naruto began to ask. The Fox, thought for a second, he hadn't thought about what to say if Naruto asked about that, after a quick moment a good lie came to mind.

"Your mother was my previous host... when she gave birth to you a man with an orange mask attacked her, and tried to release me from her body. He succeeded and I was let lose. Upon being freed my power consumed me and I went on a rampage... your father was the one who stopped me. He sealed me inside of you in the hopes that you would one day bond with me, as your mother had before." The Beast partially lied to him.

"You knew my mother? … Wait! You said that my father sealed you inside of me... but the fourth Hokage was the guy who... … …" Naruto began to voice his confusion but then stopped as realization struck him.

"Yes Naruto... the fourth Hokage was your father. He sealed me inside of you, in the hopes that we could maintain the fragile balance that he and your mother, tried so hard to maintain." The Beast continued.

"What balance are you talking about?" Naruto asked, through tears, as he wiped his eyes.

"You are one of the nine Jinjuriki. Each sealed with a tailed beast. The villages use you as weapons, in order to maintain the balance of power between the villages. Your mother and father were two people that didn't follow that same doctrine. Your mother was brought to your village to serve as a defender of the village. Because she was a Jinchuriki, the people of your village decided to wed her to the man who would one day be Hokage, your father Minato Namikaze. That way, he could keep a close eye on her and use her power more accordingly. Luckily for your mother, your father fancied her, and fell deeply in love with her, and over time she began to feel the same. Your mother and father never agreed with the villages stance on Jinchuriki, they both believed that if a person could somehow bond with the tailed beast within them, then they could use that power for good. Your mother was my friend... she was kind to me... and it saddens me greatly to know that she is gone. Your father put me inside of you in the hopes that the third Hokage and the rest of the village would follow through with his beliefs and search for a way to allow a Jinchuriki and it's Bijuu to live in peace, with one another, and not be used as weapons." The Fox was laying it on as thick as he could, and Naruto was balling his eyes out.

"Sadly... the villagers did not respect the wishes of the fourth. They shunned you like they had to every other Jinchuriki. They abused, neglected, and tortured you, for things that you had no control over. I'm sorry to say that most of the people that showed you any kindness, were only doing so because you were a Jinchuriki... a weapon." The Fox continued, by now Naruto was trembling with anger as memories of the abuse he had suffered all his life came flooding to mind.

"There was only one... who truly cared for you... Iruka Umino." The Fox told him. At that Naruto stopped trembling and looked up at the Fox.

"Iruka sensei?" Naruto asked, tears still hot on his face.

"Iruka lost his parents when I went on a rampage, and yet... he could never bring himself to hate you. You were like his little brother... and because of the way that he treated you, because of how nice he was to you, he often caught flak for it, from his superiors. He was the only one who cared about you Naruto..." The great beast said, it sounded almost sad, well as sad as it could sound.

"I have longed for this meeting since your birth Naruto. Your father was afraid that my power would corrupt your mind so, he set the seal to only weaken when you were old enough. If he had known how the village was going to treat you, I'm sure he would have weakened it, so that we could have met earlier. I have watched your horrible life and yearned for the chance to meet with you, to tell you why the village treated you so badly. I'm sorry that it took me so long." The Beast apologized, this time actually sounding sincere.

"No... I'm sorry. If I knew that you were trapped in here, alone, I would have made the attempt sooner to meet you." Naruto stated, as he wiped tears from his eyes and looked at the fox gratefully.

The Nine Tails, was absolutely jumping for joy on the inside, he was very close to having Naruto wrapped around his large furry finger.

"Thank you... Naruto." The beast thanked him, even offering a polite bow just to emphasize his 'gratitude'.

"So... how did I get away from Sasuke?" Naruto asked after a moment.

"He was kicking your ass, when suddenly the seal weakened enough for me to give some of my power to you. That was enough to turn the tide, and you managed to beat him, though you lost consciousness and fell over thirty-five feet and landed on your head. Cracking your skull open on the hard rock of the valley floor. I was able to take control of your body and heal your wounds, while at the same time getting you the hell outta there." The Fox told him.

"Wow... you can do that?" Naruto asked, with a little amazement.

"Heal your body, yes. Posses you, only when you're comatose." The Fox answered.

"Wow... so where are we now?" Naruto asked.

"The land of lightning." The demon answered.

"That far..." Naruto muttered, his thoughts slowly crawled towards his home. The fox sensed it, and made a quick move to quash all of Naruto's thoughts of home... forever.

"Naruto... the only thing left in the leaf is Iruka... and I'm sure if he could talk to you now he would tell you to stay away. Stay away from all of the hatred and abuse. Stay away from all of the people that would use you as a weapon. Think about it Naruto... outside of the leaf... no one knows that you are my Jinchuriki. No one will look at you and just see the Nine Tails... you can be whomever you want to be out here. You can be free. Free of persecution, and of disrespect. You can live a normal life, or join up as a Lightning ninja. I can help train you how to use Ninjutsu, if you want... think about it. You can do and be whatever you want." The Nine tails told him, and he knew as a sad grin appeared on Naruto's face that he had won him over.

"You're right... Iruka sensei would want me to be happy. I can be whatever I want out here." Naruto agreed.

"I specifically chose the land of Lightning because it has no diplomatic relations with the Leaf... you don't have to worry about the Leaf finding you here, and even if they do, they would have to take the risk of running foul of the Raikage, so I think your good." The Fox informed him.

"Okay... can I still talk to you if I leave here?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. Just will yourself out, and you should wake up where I left you. I'm connected to your brain, just think a question and you'll hear my reply." The Nine Tails explained.

"Cool." Naruto stated, as he suddenly woke up.

Naruto looked around to see he was laying, uncomfortable in an alley. "an alley, you couldn't have found me an inn to sleep at?" Naruto thought to the beast.

"Hey... with the money you had on you, you should be glad I was able to keep you fed." It shot back.

"Well... I guess it's time to start a new life." Naruto stated as he took a few steps outta the alley and looked around. He let out a sad sigh and began to walk.

There were people walking around him, and some went out of their way to avoid him. Naruto was about to worry, when the Fox chimed in. "You look like shit, and smell like ass."

Naruto looked down at himself he was just wearing his t-shirt and his pants were torn and dirty. He smiled as he realized why these people were avoiding him. He smiled because he knew that with a bath and some new clothes, he would immediately become just another face to them. A face that with time... could become anything.

-Time elapse, three and a half years later-

"Yo. Yo. Yo. Bro, what I gotta be here Fo?" Killer Bee whined to his brother as they took a seat, in a small stadium, that overlooked a small arena.

"That was weak, Bee." The Ox commented from inside of him.

"You keep that rapping up for even one second longer and I'm gonna beat your ass into the ground, now sit down and shut up!" Ay told him with authority.

"Come on Bro, don't beat up on me for being free." Bee chimed back but a glare from Ay, caused him to immediately shut up.

"Lord Ay! It's so good to see you again!" A large strong man stated merrily to Ay as he joined them in the single high class booth that overlooked the Arena. He was white skinned and large just like Ay, obviously in his late forties or early fifties. He had brownish hair that was starting to gray, and a medium length beard. He had a somewhat jolly look about him, which was interesting, considering the many scars on his face told of a very dark past Lord Hiyoto was the feudal lord of the southern most provinces of the land of lightning, and served as their buffer with the mainland.

Ay stood from his seat and immediately greeted the man with a warm hand shake. "Lord Hiyoto it's good to see you again."

"As it is to see you. I see you've brought your brother along with you. It's good to see you again Lord Bee." The big man greeted them.

"Though my brother brought me here outta spite, I am eager to see a good fight." Bee replied, motioning toward the arena, which earned a laugh from Hiyoto.

"So lord Hiyoto, what exactly is this fight for?" One of Ay's bodyguards asked. He was black of skin with white hair, which covered one of his eyes.

"Ah... Darui it's good to see you again... and you too Cee." Hiyoto replied looking at Ay's two bodyguards. The other being a white, blonde haired man, both offered him quick bows before looking to him for an answer.

"Well you see... I'm getting on in years, and I need to ensure the my line remains strong. My daughter has already informed me that she would take no man as a husband who couldn't best her in battle. So I secretly set up this dual to test her against a couple of my finest warriors. If she beats all of them then I can offer her some sort of prize, but if one of them manages to beat her, then I will have the two wed." Hiyoto explained.

"I'm going to assume she doesn't know what this competition is really for?" Ay asked, giving his old friend a knowing smirk.

"Nope... and neither do the men participating." Hiyoto added.

"Did you at least make sure that none of them were married?" Darui asked, giving the old lord a bemused look.

"Of course! The bonds of marriage are a sacred thing, and those bonds have to be tempered with love, trust, and respect. I would never force a man out of wedlock" Hiyoto added.

"So, just so we're clear, you're going to have a bunch of guys fight your daughter and if one of the guys wins he gets to plow her?" Darui asked, his look hadn't changed. Both Cee and Bee smirked and started to giggle at that.

"Well when you say it like that, it sounds like a stupid idea." Hiyoto pouted.

"So... why did you ask me here?" Ay finally asked.

"Well... first we have a few very important missions we need to talk about, but the second reason was so that not only could you enjoy this fight, but I would like to ask you to offer your blessing to the man whom is to be my son in law, and who is to rule by my daughters side one day." Hiyoto stated.

Ay simply nodded, this kind of thing was common, He would often be called on to offer his blessing to young couples of noble families, as a show of good faith and a great relationship between the hidden cloud village and the feudal lords.

"Very well... I will offer my blessing to the victor... though it will be interesting to see is there will even be one. Last time I saw her, your daughter was quite the viscous little fire bolt." Ay commented

"Indeed she was, and she's only become more like her mother over the years." Hiyoto laughed.

"Are you speaking of me behind my back, Daso?" Came a woman's voice. They all turned and looked as a very beautiful woman in her mid to late thirties entered into the booth. She looked pumped, as if she had just come from a work out. She was dressed in long blue pants, and she wore a short elegant kimono on top.

"Hello dearest wife! I was only telling Lord Ay here about Nayumi and how much she takes after you." Daso Hiyoto replied, with a grin.

"Greetings Lord Ay, Lord Bee, Cee, Darui." The woman stated with a smile, she looked much younger then she really was. She had dark brown, almost black hair that reached the middle of her back, she also had dark wide eyes. The four cloud ninja offered their greetings to the woman.

"Did you just come back from the training yard, Ayane?" Daso Hiyoto asked, as his wife sat next to him.

"Yes... I was training with Nayumi. She's eager to prove herself in this little competition of yours." Ayane replied, with a smirk.

"Did you end up making your choice on who you wish to participate?" Daso asked his wife.

"Yes." Ayane replied with a smirk.

"Oh good." Daso stated, then glanced over at Ay, who made a face.

"When I told her my idea to wed Nayumi, she said she would only agree to it if I allowed her to choose a fighter to participate." Daso explained.

"Who did you end up choosing my lady... if you don't mind me asking?" Cee asked, politely.

"The Kitsune." Ayane replied with a grin.

"The Kitsune... wow... this should be interesting." Daso stated, with wide eyes.

"Who is the Kitsune if you don't mind me asking?" Cee asked. Darui, Bee and Ay listened intently as suddenly a gate opened down in the arena and warriors began to spill out of it.

"The Kitsune is a young mercenary that showed up in these parts about two years ago. He's kind of a local legend. He has shinobi skills but no allegiance." Daso explained.

"Is he a rogue?" Ay asked, eying his old friend intently.

"No I don't think so... he's young, about my daughters age, and his form is very sloppy, plus he doesn't fight like any Cloud ninja I ever seen. So unless he ran here from another country, I think he is just self taught." Daso explained.

"If he's not that good, then why is he a local legend?" Darui asked.

"I didn't say he wasn't good, I said he was sloppy. The kid lacks finesse, but he's good. Plus he possesses a few incredibly rare high level jutsu. I have personally seen him use the shadow clone jutsu on more then one occasion, and I have heard stories that he is capable of using a technique that from what has been described to me, sounds very much like the fourth Hokage's Rasengan." Daso told them.

"Really... well then this should be interesting." Ay commented as he focused on the men and one woman that had spilled out into the arena. His eyes drifted over them, there were twenty-four warriors. Most were Shinobi. Two were even Cloud ninja, he kept scanning them and came across a young girl, probably sixteen, she had short, shoulder length brown hair, one of her eyes was slightly covered by her bangs. She was white of skin with dark eyes just like her mother. The young girl was average height, with a petite build, but not grotesque. She was slightly muscular from what Ay could see at this distance, though once again she wasn't so muscular that she was grotesque. The young girl had a fair beauty to her, though to anyone who knew her, they would know that the beauty was not part of her personality at all. The girl was stubborn, self righteous, and prideful. Ay had remembered the last time he had met the girl, she told him he looked like a shaved ape and that he should go back to the zoo. He ended up making her eat dirt, and busting Bee's nose, who had overheard her remark and started laughing.

This girl though... had a reason to be prideful. Her father was an amazing shinobi by any right, and had fought in the last two great wars, While her mother was a tiajutsu prodigy whom often dreamed of traveling to the Leaf village to face their own Green Beast. By all accounts Nayumi Hiyoto was a prodigy, Ay had to smirk at the thought, a prodigy and yet a stubborn runt without an ounce of humility.

He decided to continue his search of the contenders, and his eyes came to rest on a peculiar sight. A blonde haired boy, about Nayumi's age whom Ay recognized almost immediately.

"Well.. isn't this interesting." They all heard Bee mutter to himself.

Ay was about to say something when suddenly Daso stood and addressed the small crowd that had gathered to watch the fight, as well as the fighters themselves.

"Greetings one and all. We are gathered here today before the Raikage himself to enjoy a spectacle of combat. These brave warriors have offered themselves up, as contestants in a free for all, brawl, that will end only with one winner. The winner will receive a prize befitting their skills. Now... let's get this fight going! Begin!" Daso shouted to all the warriors that had gathered around the edges of the arena, spaced evenly apart.

Suddenly a few men charged either into the center of the arena or simply along the edge towards each other. The fighting quickly erupted as a handful of jutsu were unleashed, most were lightning.

Nayumi rushed forward and picked a target, a man that had his back to her she brought her hands up a weaved together a few hand signs, suddenly she was at his back. "Lightning Style: Channeled Burst Strike." She muttered as suddenly her arm lit up with lightning. Before the man could turn to investigate, she slammed her fist into his back, allowing the lightning to release from her hand as she punched. The result was a loud, bright burst of lightning and suddenly the man went rushing forward. He slammed into the wall of the Arena, leaving a large crack in it as he fell to the floor, obviously unconscious.

"And the first KO goes to Nayumi! That's my girl!" Daso cheered for his daughter. His wife simply rolled her eyes and smiled, while Darui and Cee both nodded, she was indeed an impressive young girl.

Ay and Bee however weren't watching her... they were watching someone else, the blonde boy who still stood at the edge of the arena watching the fight... they both knew whom he resembled and if their combined gut feeling was correct, then they knew who he was.

-Down in the Arena-

"So.. how do you think I should do this? Quick and quite, showing off my finesse. Or... flashy?" Naruto asked the Fox.

"Well seeing as how I prefer flashy, and you lack finesse, I think we should just dive in and have some fun." The Fox replied.

Naruto thought about that for a second before smiling and saying aloud, "Agreed."

And with that Naruto created a few shadow clones and charged into the fray, unaware of the eyes locked on him. Unaware that his life was about to change once again...

Okay that's it... let me know what you think and I hope you enjoy. I'm aiming for a much darker story, but even in dark stories there can be laughs and light moments. Also I enjoy creating my own jutsu so if along the lines of the story, you feel like offering up your own made up techniques, I always open to hear about it. The speed at which I update will depend on whether people like it or not. I hope you enjoy, and feel free to offer suggestions or advice, I'm always open criticism. So until next time!