As you may have noticed from reading my profile, I listed Mcrabbidrabbit of FFN as the one who had upheld my six-part challenge about Naruto becoming a ninja in either the Sound, Rain, Mist, Stone, Sand, or Cloud Villages instead of the Leaf similar to AlphaMike369's Runaways stories, but centered on Naruto instead of both him and Hinata. While I was intrigued that they decided to do all six villages in one story, Ash and dust, they haven't continued it lately, and considering the two Naruto stories that got my attention of them were deleted by themselves, I can't help but worry. Therefore, after thinking it over recently, I decided to share my ideas for what I figured each plotline could entail and see how many and which writers would be interested. It works on occasion for mellra, after all.

For the sake of simplicity, I'll be using English TV names for places, Jutsus, and the like, as well as make one chapter for each village during Part 1 before calling them all up for grabs. I wouldn't mind making my own full Naruto stories, but I'm quite busy as is, and I want to see how others do their best. Now, before we begin, I'd like to share some guidelines for those who would like to write about these concepts which, while not entirely necessary, would be appreciated if they were at least considered. Oh, and I a disclaimer as well.

No unnecessary bashing: seeing characters grow up and show hidden strengths is all good until it looks like the writer is purposefully making the character in question look like an unlikable nuisance at best and a complete villain at worst. Trust me, it's best to show both the positives and negatives of those in a story. I know it might not be easy for those that didn't get along with the protagonist much (Sakura), took a bad turn and had a long time becoming redeemable (Sasuke), or just didn't have enough character building moments to make a plausible relationship (Hinata), but giving them the benefit of the doubt would be a fair sign.

No slash: I try not to judge people who have different "bonding" preferences compared to mine, but I really don't think that characters that weren't listed as canonically yaoi in nature should be depicted as such. Not that I like gender bending much either. Therefore, assuming there will be pairings for Naruto, make them female and, even if not, prevent that accursed scene from episode 3 of the original anime!

Keep the Gender Bending Jutsu of Naruto's at the down low: as I said before, it's not my thing. If you want to use it to distract people, that's fine, just as long as you don't make a big deal about it or have Naruto in the above position.

Keep the content at a controlled level: meaning that it's probably best to be mindful of which direction the story/stories will go. I like straight lemons as much as the next fellow, but given how things all are iffy on certain websites like FFN, it would probably be wise to just walk first before jumping.

Try to be flexible with the story: for reasons I'm sure you all could understand, I'm strongly in favor of Naruto and those around his age from Sakura to Gaara being aged up from the start of Part 1, not necessarily to adult levels, like twenty and over, but mid to late teens. It's kind of hard to imagine that a bunch of preteens, fictional though they maybe, would have some inclinations for relationships, perversions, and all that kind of stuff before puberty, if you know what I mean. Granted, I have autism, but other than a few stupid crushes I made up for boredom's sake, I don't remember getting super interested in kissing and above until after elementary. Also, while I am a huge harem fan, please keep whatever pairing(s) you do at a nice and realistic pace, especially if Naruto somehow scores Mei Terumi for example.

Maybe make some cover identities for Naruto in each village: AlphaMike369's names aren't bad and it does make sense for him to do that, especially if they fit his setting in each variation. I'll do some of my own here as a start, but it will be up to you rather you want it or not.

Don't shy away from asking me for advice or beta reading: however, I won't dictate your execution as it should ultimately be your decision. I'm doing fine with it so far with digemsmack over his Fairy Tail story which I gave my patronage for, Ascension of the Second Apocalypse.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto franchise or it's related concepts and characters, but Masashi Kishimoto and his affiliates do.

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Hopeful Alternatives

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Kōfun Uzumaki of the Hidden Cloud Village

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'I guess I shouldn't fault the Raikage for sending me back here after all.' The young Cloud genin, Kōfun Uzumaki, thought with eagerness as he saw the crowd forming into the Leaf Village's arena.

It was the Chūnin Exams' finals, which meant he and the other finalists would have to participate in a tournament of one-on-one battles to prove themselves to attending Feudal Lords among other observers that they were prepared for the trials of having the chūnin ninja rank. However, as excited as he was to potentially be promoted, Kōfun was not blind to the danger of being discovered as the Leaf Village's former jinchūriki for the Nine-Tails. He had to be cautious, or things would go downhill from there. As the matches had yet to start, the Raikage called for Kōfun and the other Cloud jinchūriki for a private meeting.

Upon making sure the nearby room they requested was protected from spies and the like, the Fourth Raikage of the Cloud Village, a serious man referred to as A like his predecessors before him, turned to his adopted brother, Killer Bee, the jōnin, Yugito Nii, and Kōfun, with a look of anxiety, but was apologetic all the same.

"Yugito, Kōfun." He began with acknowledging their arrival. "I apologize for how abrupt this is, but Bee and the Eight-Tails had a certain discovery that they felt had to be shared with us."

"Uh, what kind of discovery, Lord Raikage?" Kōfun asked uncertainly.

"It must be pretty important, right?" Inquired Yugito with an eyebrow raised.

When A nodded his head as a sign of confirmation, Bee began. "It's bit hard to explain, but I must tell you that what Lord Eight-Tails saw was not of this mortal plane."

The other three Cloud shinobi couldn't help but groan at Bee's infamous form of rap, but allowed him to carry on.

"When Lord Eight-Tails, through my eyes, saw the Kazekage arriving here like the stuff of old stories, it struck a few of his memories."

"What sort of memories, Bee?" Yugito asked.

Bee's look turned serious. "What is here on the rise I fear has to do with Blue B's demise."

That sentence captured Kōfun's attention as much as the rest. Blue B was A's cousin and Bee's predecessor as the jinchūriki of the Eight-Tails who was tragically killed alongside eight other Cloud ninja decades in the past when he lost control of his power.

"Rasa had something to do with my cousin's downfall?" A asked through clenched teeth in barely restrained anger.

Bee shook his head. "Rasa isn't at fault for it is Orochimaru who planned the result."

"Orochimaru?" Kōfun said at last in shock, Yugito and A not faring any better either.

"That madman of a snake disguised himself as the Kazekage?" Yugito wondered to her three fellows.

"But what is he doing here?" Asked Kōfun in confusion.

"Never mind that." A said at last. "What did Orochimaru do to Blue B that made him lose control?"

"The snake gave Blue B genjutsu pills as his doctor which led to the poor guy becoming a destructor." Explained Bee.

"And I take it the genjutsu was strong enough to block the Eight-Tails memories of what happened?" Yugito guessed which Bee nodded at.

"But why did he do it?" Kōfun asked.

"Probably one of his twisted experiments." Replied A. "What matters now is what do we do with him."

Kōfun looked at him unsure. "Can we do something at all without causing an international incident?"

"He's got a point, Lord Raikage." Said Yugito.

"Perhaps it's best that we don't treat the old man Hokage like a pest." Suggested Bee. "An alliance to manufacture could lead to Orochimaru's capture."

"And then we execute him together?" A asked for confirmation which Bee confirmed with a nod before noticing Kōfun wanting to add his own idea.

"Uh, actually, Lord Raikage, as much as it pains me to say it, I'm leaning towards keeping the snake guy in our custody."

"For what purpose?" A inquired seriously.

Kōfun gestured for understanding. "Not to torture him to death, or make him one of us. But I believe we can make use of his scientific and espionage knowledge for the good of the Cloud Village as well as the Land of Lightning so long as he's under our own tight guards. As the economically strongest nation with one of the strongest militaries, Orochimaru would be an extremely useful asset to us."

Before Bee could protest, A held up his hand for quiet and turned to Yugito.

"I see both points of view, but it's ultimately your decision, Lord Raikage." She said calmly.

A nodded in thanks before his look turned serious once more. "We have some time before the matches. I'll give you all my answer before then. Nonetheless, be prepared for anything that comes your way."

"You got it, Lord Raikage." Said Kōfun as the other two Cloud ninja bowed their heads loyally.

"And Kōfun?" A called out just before he left with his fellow jinchūriki. "While I haven't exactly been swayed to your line of thought yet, I do approve that being pragmatic in your thinking." He turned to the young genin with a small, yet recognizable, smile. "A fine Raikage, you may yet be."

Kōfun beamed at the praise and bowed. "Thanks, Lord Raikage. If I'm going to be your successor, it makes sense that I do some accomplishments to be remembered for. And I've chosen that invention and innovation will be the key to getting us up top over the other nations." He then turned to the exit. "I'll be sure to make the Cloud, Lord Raikage. Just wait and see."

A kept his smiled then exhaled in relief, grateful that the fools of the Leaf didn't recognize his secret trump card was meant to be one of their own.

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A bit short, I know, but it's about as good as I could think of, and I wanted to leave some things to the imagination of any takers, so long as it's not too gruesome. There will be five more parts to come, as I'm sure you already know. Each part will be at a certain point of Part 1 from before the Sound-Sand Invasion of the Leaf Village. Just let me know if anyone is interested.

For these different village ideas, I wanted Naruto to have a different goal in each village when he becomes that village's Kage. And for Cloud, I would like to see him have a desire to make a technological revolution in the Naruto World for the Land of Lightning's benefit. We've seen as early as Part 1 that there is a movie industry followed by an Orochimaru-built robot version of Naruto in Part 2 and video games in the New Era of Boruto. And yes, for Naruto and Dragon Ball, I include the anime filler stuff in that universes as well, but not in One Piece and Fairy Tail.

Anyway, I hope you all will find these interesting, inspiring, and give me a personal message should any of you would like to write about it. Thanks.