Looking for Home

Chapter 1: It Could Always Be Worse...

Hinata breathed in deeply, a shudder passing through her frame as her lungs struggled to take in enough air to supply her damaged body. The Hyuga heiress spared a glance to her left, seeing Naruto pinned to the ground by those terrible black rods stabbed through his body. Her Naruto, the light in the darkness that had been her young life before she had matured enough to begin standing up for herself. His enthusiasm and encouragement had not only given her the courage to stand up to her father and the elders, but had also returned her cousin Neji back to her from his own mental purgatory he had been trapped in after his father had died. And now her blonde savior was helpless before the monster that had single handedly destroyed Konoha, the rinnegan wielding self proclaimed god known as Pain.

She had used her first few attacks to break two of the eight black rods stabbing Naruto into the ground. Common sense told her that the best chance for everyone's survival would be releasing Konoha's jinchuriki from his imprisonment instead of engaging the 'god' on her own. Pain had seen through this strategy early on though, using his power over gravity to violently repel her anytime she was able to draw close to Naruto. Drawing herself up from the ground again, she dropped into her personal version of the gentle fist. She poured her chakra into the tenketsu on her fists, twin lion heads forming as she felt her energy reserves begin to drop already. She disregarded the danger, committing everything she had to the attack knowing there would be no second chances.

Pain stood back, allowing her the moment needed to form the attack as he observed it with curiosity. His eyes allowed him to see the chakra form around her body, twisting in ways that had never been observed before by the god. He raised an eyebrow in as she charged at him in a straight line with her fist cocked back. 'Really?' he thought with amusement as he leaned to the side to dodge the attack, 'The most refined form of taijutsu in the elemental nations and you're acting like you're in a bar fight?' He stayed just a step out of her range as the attack chain continued, leaping over a sweeping kick from the young woman before giving himself a little distance to prepare a suitable counter attack for the poor showing she had just done. He paused as a grin appeared on her face before she changed direction mid step, flying to her left and bringing down her fists over the Kyuubi container. Two more of the precious chakra control rods broke apart, leaving four remaining. It was becoming dangerously close to the point where he would no longer be able to suppress the blonde's chakra. Pain was no longer amused. The gravity attack he used this time was three times more powerful, sending the poor woman flying through the air like a rag doll only to land in a heap.

Naruto flinched as he watched the dust cloud slowly raise up from where Hinata landed. She had already done more than enough, fighting against such losing odds. His pleas for her to run had all been ignored. The bluette had gone about her task of freeing him with a single mindedness that eerily reminded him of his own actions in the past. He couldn't fathom what could possibly motivate her to go so far from him. Pain apparently shared the confusion as they watched the girl slowly pull herself to her feet again. She began to limp forward, favoring her right leg as her left arm dangled uselessly at her side. "Why?" the god asked as he watched her slow progression. "I don't understand why someone weak like you would try to resist. Why fight me… knowing that you'll die?"

Hinata fell to her knees, crawling the last few feet before grasping the rod sticking out of Naruto's shoulder. "I stand by what I say…" she whispered as she worked to pull it out. Naruto raised his head, straining to hear her voice as the blood pumping through his ears threatened to drown out everything else with it's loud pulse. "I do it because that's my ninja way" she finished, quoting one of the first things the blonde had said in front of her years ago. "I love you Naruto" she whispered, leaning in to kiss his forehead.

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He groaned to himself as feeling slowly returned to his body, pain being the primary thing on his mind. Kakashi had woken up in darkness, panicking for a moment before the scent of dust and smoke had him realize that he wasn't simply buried alive. Taking stock of his injuries, he realized that he had no feeling below his waist and his chakra was barely a trickle in his coils. Flaring his pitiful reserves, he pushed upwards with his arms against the rubble above him. His efforts were rewarded a short moment later as a sliver of daylight shown through into the darkness. He redoubled his efforts, widening the hole enough to pull himself up and out. The ninja was rewarded with his first view of the devastation that had once been Konoha. The sprawling city that he had worked so hard to save had been reduced to a crater that he had apparently been buried in the side of. His heart sank at the view, before going even lower as he noticed no other survivors in sight.

A commotion at the center of the crater drew his attention, prompting the broken man to pull himself to the top of the rubble pile. He watched as Hinata confronted the bastard that had caused all of the pain and suffering while Naruto lay helpless to the side. Channeling chakra to his ears, he was barely able to make out the conversation between the enemy and the kunoichi as they fought. He cringed at the last hit Hinata took, silently willing her to flee before it was too late. It was not to be though as she drug herself back to her not-so-secret crush using everything she had left in her. He couldn't help growing emotional as she finally admitted her true feelings to Naruto as they both lay there.

The moment was not meant to last though, as Pain fired one final gravity blast at the helpless woman. She was pushed into the air before driven into the ground at dizzying speeds at his feet. Wasting no time, the false god produced another chakra rod before driving it into the unconscious kunoichi. The world seemed to pause as if nature itself was too horrified at the brutality it had just witnessed. Then a pulse of chakra flew through the crater; Kakashi quickly identifying it as Naruto's before it warped into something familiarly dark that could only have been the Kyuubi coming to life.

Two of the rods in the blonde's back shattered as the chakra in the air began to thicken. Naruto's eyes remained blank, staring straight ahead at Hinata's body. The shock of her murder mixed with the suddenness of her confession overloaded his mind, allowing the perfect opportunity for the Kyuubi to surge forward and take control. The jinchuriki's eyes flared red as his canines began to elongate. The whisker marks on his cheeks began to thicken as his hair spiked even more, giving him a feral appearance.

"This can't happen" Kakashi murmured in horror as he pulled himself the rest of the way to the lip of the crater, positioning his body to face the battle below. There was no one left who was capable of suppressing the Kyuubi's malicious chakra and if Naruto lost control than any survivors would meet a terrible fate. The only other hope would be for the so called Pain to be able to stop him, leaving the blonde at the mercy of the Akatsuki. "I'm sorry Naruto" the dying man said softly as he forced open his left eye, revealing a black pinwheel shaped pupil on a red iris. A single tear of blood ran from his eye, down his cheek as he pushed his remaining chakra into it. A small vortex slowly formed in front of it, reality warping as the space time jutsu took effect. A larger version of the vortex formed around Naruto just as his eyes became a burning red color, pulling the blonde into it before disappearing into nothingness. Pain simply stared at the now empty ground in disbelief. He had been so close to completing his dream.

Kakashi sighed in relief, the jutsu ending as the final wisps of his chakra were used up. It was funny, he reflected to himself as he lay on his back and stared up at the afternoon sun. The other times he had chakra exhaustion before, there had always been extreme pain accompanying it. Now, he felt nothing but peace. The corners of his vision began to blacken, barely allowing him to see a similar vortex as his own open up a few feet above him. A man stepped out of it clothed a black cloak with red clouds, his orange spiral mask focusing on nothing but the copycat ninja. "Do you realize what you've done?" the man screamed in rage as he lifted the dying ninja up by his collar. "You've ruined everything!"

Kakashi's head lolled his head to the left, staring off at something in the distance as his breathing began to grow shallow. The orange masked man followed his line of sight, finding a broken stone obelisk laying on it's side. Name's were carved into every surface of it, some very familiar to both men. "Those... who abandon their… friends…" was all the copycat ninja was able to wheeze before his eyes shut for the last time, his sharingan disappearing and the eye going a milky white.

"Are worse than trash…" the mysterious man finished for him as he slowly lowered the body to the ground. Maybe it was time for a new dream…

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Merel'dres was having a perfect week. He had been summoned into the Blasted Lands a month ago by a group of cultists who had professed to serve the Burning Legion. When he opened his eyes, he found himself pressed into a large summoning circle with ten of his brethren. The circle was bathed in the still wet blood of the corpses that lay in a circle around it, their throats each sliced neatly from ear to ear. "They did their job well" said the sole surviving cultist, an orc with sickly green skin who leaned heavily on a dark staff. "You have been called here to serve!" he shouted at the gathered demons, his voice barely carrying to them in his exhausted state. "We need to retake control of the land around the Dark Portal if we hope to ever begin the invasion again!" His body was wracked with a coughing fit, causing him to double over in pain.

The forcefield around the summoning circle flickered. Merel'dres pushed a talon against it, his eyebrows raising in glee as he was able to pass through it with minimal effort. His wings beat in a flurry as he flew forward with a roar. The orc didn't even have a moment to react before he was skewered on the felguard's sword, groaning as he slid down the blade towards his killer. "Fool!" the demon gloated as the life began to leave his victim's eyes. "Never call the legion if you have not the power to control it!" He sank his fangs into the corpse's shoulder, hungrily devouring the pitiful mana still remaining. His magic core expanded to fit the new power running through his body, the mana quickly being converted to the fel magic that was the demon's life force.

"Come brothers!" he roared as he hefted his sword in the air, the green blood coating it, glinting in the sunlight. "Let us make for the portal. I have no urge to return to the nether yet and we might just find something worth killing on the way!" His voice was soon joined by the others as they formed up behind him along with two felhounds that had gathered to watch the summoning and feed off the ambient magic in the air.

That had been three days ago and Merel'dres had vowed to never return to the twisting nether again. They had come across a party of Kirin Tor mages as the men were running a complicated test on the portal. Their attention drawn towards whatever readings flashed in front of their faces as their spell did it's work. The demons managed to sneak within a few dozen feet of the distracted wizards before they were even sensed. Loosing the felhounds to lead the charge, the demons hurtled forward en masse. Two of them were killed to lightning bolts and another fell under a hail of ice shards before the demons were among the humans and too close for any large spells to be used. Two of the human's fell under the combined weight of the remaining felguards, the demons fighting each other over the rights to drain their victims.

Merel'dres had the privilege as leader of the pack to not need to share. He slowly advanced on the leader of the mages, the man groaning in pain as he was held down by the two remaining felhounds. The felguard grunted in annoyance, kicking the beasts off of it's prey before grabbing the human by the neck and lifting it off the ground to hold at eye level. "What could possibly have had you so concerned that you never even noticed our approach?" he growled, squeezing softly when an answer wasn't immediately forthcoming.

The human gasped, frantically trying to draw in air as the felguard gripped it's windpipe. Letting up pressure, the human wheezed in a gulp of air, his eyes slowly opening to regard the demon in front of him with disgust. "We detected massive energy spikes coming through the portal demon filth…" he whispered, pain dancing across his face as he fought to remain conscious. "The fact that you were unaware removes our prime suspicion that it was legion activity…" He stared down at the swarmingf demons to his right, the only sign of his friends being a trail of blood that flowed away from the pile to pool in a dip in the ground. He glared at his captor, spitting in the demon's face with his last strength. "Hopefully whatever comes through will send you all back to the nether where your kind belong!"

Wasting no more time, Merel'dres pulled the wizard to him and bit down on his neck. He could practically feel the mana he consumed as it flowed through his veins, saturating every cell in his body with power as it became fel energy. A wave of pain brought him to his knees, causing him to involuntarily curl up as his muscles seized. He barely retained his grip on his sword, needing it incase his brothers fell upon him in his moment of weakness. His skin began to crack, splitting apart as green fel energy poured out and covering him in a cocoon of sickly green magic. It withdrew back into him a moment later leaving a hulking individual over three times the size of the felguards around it. It's build was massive, covered in dark green and black plate armor with an equally demonic battle axe that matched the new demon in height.

The new fel lord cackled in glee at his upgraded status, taking a moment to examine his appearance and equipment. He looked up to find his former brothers kneeling before him in a semicircle, their fists set in the ground and heads lowered. "What would you have us do?" one of them inquired, the rest tensing silently as they awaited their new orders.

Merel'dres turned away towards the portal in the distance, grinning evilly as watched a red bolt of lightning flash over the green energy field. "Let's get some distance and see what comes out of the portal that had those mages so spooked." Planting his axe in the sand, he chuckled to himself as he felt his new muscles flex under his armor. "I have a feeling that we have something big coming our way boys!" The other demons cheered as they stood up, forming ranks again as they awaited their new prize.

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Their patience was rewarded less than an hour later as they kept their watch. Red arcs of lighting had begun to arc across the gate at more and more frequent intervals, chaining together near the center of the portal until the gate appeared to almost be dyed red, the normal fel green nowhere in sight. The portal rippled, heralding the approach of the traveler. Silence stretched across the land as if every creature collectively held their breath for what was to come next.

A massive green body flew out of the portal, it's size putting the new fel lord to shame. Merel'dres immediately recognized it as an annihilan of the legion, pit lords to the lesser beings. But the god-like walking tanks that he had always known looked nothing like the pathetic creature that lay on the ground in front of him. The being pushed itself up onto its four legs, leaning to it's left as its front left one was clearly broken. It held it's torso upright, using it's upper arms to hold up it's war glaves as it roared in defiance at the Dark Gate. Cut's littered it's body, green blood flowing off of it like rain into the soil as it poisoned the land with it's very presence. The demon didn't have to wait long for it's opponent as a long red tail flew from the portal and speared it in the shoulder. It was followed by eight more, each wrapping around part of the pit lord and immobilizing it in place. A giant red fox appeared from the portal, it's malicious eyes locked on it's prey in contempt as it casually lifted the pit lord up before throwing it off into the distance. The fox was clearly demonic, it's power screaming alpha to all around it, yet contained none of the taint associated with the fel magic of the twisted nether.

Merel'dres observed all of this as the pit lord sailed over his head before crashing down in a tangled heap in the valley directly behind him. The gigantic green demon groaned pathetically as it desperately tried to leverage itself back up into a guard position, only to fall onto it's face again in pain. It was at that moment that the fel lord realized that he was now directly in the path between the two titans. A low humming sound prompted him to slowly turn back towards the fox in dread. The red beast shook itself before light and dark balls of energy poured from it into the surrounding air. 'That's pure life energy!' the demon thought to himself in shock, his body paralyzed from the sight. The beast's tails curled around towards its head in an arch, a pull in the air drawing all of the life energy into a single orb in front of the monster. The ball shrank into itself before the fox snapped it up in it's jaws, clearly swallowing it whole to Merel'dres growing confusion.

The pit lord knew damn well what would happen next, having witnessed the attack already. All thoughts of continuing the battle flew from the greater demon's mind as its fight or flight instincts kicked in. Its arms dug into the hills, furiously trying to pull itself along the ground away from the fox. It stilled as a muffled explosion sounded behind it, knowing it was too late. Merel'dres watched in awe as the foxes body expanded like a balloon from the energy inside of it. It's head slowly panned towards the crawling titan before it opened it's jaws, releasing all of the pent up energy in a red beam of destruction. "Well shit…" was all the fel lord could say before he was swallowed up in the beam's path along with his brothers, sent back to the twisting nether to form again. The pit lord gave a final roar before the beam caught him full in the chest, picking the demon up and hurling him towards one of the mountains that bordered the valley. The beam exploded upon impact with the mountain, swallowing it whole in the blast as the fireball rose into the sky. Gale force winds ripped across the plains as a second shadow grew from each object for as long as it took for the fireball to dissipate into smoke. A gigantic pit was left behind where the mountain used to be, the ocean now visible from the interior of the Blasted Lands. The water roared forward to fill the new gap, creating an inland sea that would stretch to almost the base of the Dark Portal itself.

The Kyuubi roared as it tilted it's head up to the sky, it's challenge carried in the wind to any corner of the planet not already aware of it's threat. A stream of fire shot from its mouth, igniting the plains around it in a circle of death.

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Naruto stood in a dark tunnel, the tepid water sloshing around his ankles as he slowly stumbled forwards in a trance towards the back of the cave he found himself in. The gates were a golden yellow, stretching from the watery floor of the cave to where the top was swallowed up in darkness. A single seal tag hung from the center of them, the only thing holding back the full force of the Kyuubi from descending on the young man. "Yes, you're doing fine" the Kyuubi encouraged the poor boy as he neared the gate. "Just a little bit more and I can make all your pain go away." The nine tails had no joy in lying to the boy but it took the opportunity for freedom where it presented itself. Being in captivity for close to a hundred years, shoved inside various jinchuuriki and trapped in seals did wonders for removing any empathy one might have to other beings. "Now remove the tag.." he instructed, watching with glee as the paper began to tear. His freedom was imminent! Now if only he could do something about regaining his chakra. The trip through the twisting nether had sapped all nine tails worth of his power simply defending himself and his container from the demons that populated the darkness. He refused to be consumed, choosing to fight with every fiber of his being until he finally reached the portal and the pit lord guarding it.

A roar of outrage shook the cavern as a third conscious came into play, one who the nine-tails had never expected to see again. Naruto's hand was grabbed by another slightly larger one, ceasing the tag's destruction. He shook his head, his conscious slowly coming back to reality as he broke away from the Kyuubi's influence and began to take stock of his surroundings. He found himself staring at a larger version of himself, the only real difference being thinner set of cheeks without whisker marks. "Who are you?" he whispered.

His question was answered with a warm smile and the stranger's hand placed on the top of his head. "I'm the fourth hokage Minato Namikaze." He laughed lightly at his son's dumbfounded expression before choosing to drop the proverbial bomb. "I'm not here as your hokage though, but as your father." Naruto lowered his head for a minute in silence, his fists balling up and beginning to shake. Concerned at his son's inaction, Minato leaned in towards him only to receive a sucker punch to the gut that left the hokage doubled over and wheezing.

The nine tails was unable to keep in a huff of laughter at the sight of one of his greatest nemeses brought low by a single blow from a child. Naruto sent him an appreciative smile before frowning back at Minato again, his brain finally catching up with his mouth and unloading his pent up frustrations about how hard it was growing up as the village pariah. He was interrupted by Minato just as he began describing his lack of training, the blonde holding up a hand to stop his son's rambling. "I'm sorry Naruto but I only have a limited amount of time here before my chakra runs out. Let me fix your seal while we talk…" He was interrupted by another roar from the Kyuubi, causing him to stick his pinky in his ear to clean it out. "He sure is a rude one isn't he? Let's take this somewhere more private" he offered, reaching his hand towards Naruto's head again.

"Rude!?" the Nine tailed fox's voice echoed mockingly through the cavern as it glowered down at the humans in it's sanctum. "You've taken away my freedom time and time again! You stole half of my power from me and use me as a living battery for the rest of it! I haven't even been able to hold on to the other half thanks to your son! Hurry up and leave my sight hypocrites!" he huffed, turning to walk farther into the darkness of the cage to get a measure of privacy. Naruto frowned at the lack of tails behind the fox before his vision shifted to a rocky outcrop bordering a body of water that stretched farther than the eye could see.

"This has been my spot for the last sixteen years" Minato said as he took a seat on a rock and stared out into the distance. "The water would show me what you saw, allowing me to experience your life alongside you."

"So you know already?" Naruto asked, realizing the implications. "About Konoha's destruction? And about what happened to Pervy Sage?" He blinked back the tears that were forming in the corners of his eyes, unwilling to cry in front of his hero. "I tried so hard to stay on the path to peace that pervy sage talked about… but it's impossible…" His eyes had given up the fight. A lone tear flowed down his cheek, soon followed by others as his anguish and frustration raged up from where he had continually suppressed it over the years. "I don't know what to do anymore dad" he admitted quietly only to feel himself pulled into a comforting embrace by his father. He wrapped his arms around his dad's back in return, closing his eyes and resting his head against Minato's chest. All the problems in the world taking a back seat for the moment as he shut everything else out.

Minato rested his chin on Naruto's head, feeling his son shudder as he tried to get his emotions back under control. "I was a firm believer in peace too. Even Pain was in a way, though his method for achieving the goal became twisted over time." He sighed before pulling Naruto back to arms length and looking him in the eyes. "As the Hokage, I would tell you to keep faith and not give up on achieving true peace. Setbacks happen but can be overcome with perseverance and effort." He smiled at his son, his eyes showing nothing but pride at the man he had become. "As your father though I'd say you've already done more than enough." Naruto looked up in shock. His mouth hung open in surprise, never expecting something like that to come from the man who sacrificed his own son for the greater good of the village. Minato read his expression like an open book, saddened that his own son didn't even expect to come first in his eyes. "I've had nothing but time to reflect while watching you grow from here. I've come to realize that the quest for peace handed down by the toads is unachievable at this time for our world. Jiraiya, Nagato, myself, and now you all sacrificed greatly to achieve this yet we aren't any closer to making it happen. It's become almost a curse that took everything from those who chose to follow it."

Taking a seat on the rock, he indicated for Naruto to join him. "All your mother and I ever wanted for you was to be happy. I had assumed that finding true peace for everyone would ensure that your happiness as well. But people won't change until they're ready to, and you shouldn't sacrifice your life trying to speed up the process. I don't know where you are now after Kakashi used his jitsu on you, but this can be a chance for a new life for you." He held up his hand, his smile turning melancholy as his fingers began to grow transparent. "My chakra is almost used up."

"No!" Naruto shouted, jumping to his feet and grabbing his father's solid hand. "I just met you! There has to be some way for you to stay with me." He bit his lip as he wracked his brain for any kind of idea to save his father.

"Don't worry Naruto" his father said as he pulled his son into a final hug before pulling his hand free. "Your mother and I will always watch over you. Just find your own happiness in life. Now come over here and let me fix your seal. Just remember, there won't be any more repairs. The rest is on you."

"Actually dad" Naruto hedged, looking like a small kid about to ask a huge favor of his parents. "Can you make a change to my seal? I need it to perform a little differently." Minato raised an eyebrow in surprise at the request but nodded for him to continue.

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"Bek ubla?" The blonde slowly came back into consciousness. "Yna kosh nomoa?"

He groaned as something large pushed against his chest, forcing him to roll on his side. "Leave me alone!" he grumbled in pain, his body reminding him that he had just finished a fight with a 'god' before doing god knows what while he wasn't in charge of it.

"Jek nomoa!" a deep voice exclaimed from above him. A heavy foot fall caused the ground under him to tremble letting him know that whatever was near him was pretty damn big in size.

Suddenly his ankle was grabbed, hauling him into the air to hang upside down. Naruto's eyes flew open as his mind worked furiously to take stock of his situation, powering through the pain signals and forcing his brain to lucidity. He was at least nine feet off of the ground, held up by a large blue humanoid. The creature grunted, lifting the blonde up to stare at him eye to two eyes. It had a single large horn jutting from it's head above beady black eye and a small nose with flared nostrils. Its sharp teeth and large tusks jutting from it's lower jaw didn't seem like a herbivore to the young ninja. "Hello!" he tried, attempting to be friendly just in case it was an option.

He heard heavy breathing from two directions behind him, signalling that he was either surrounded, or close to it. "Pemga jek nomoa?" he heard from over his left shoulder, the voice distinctively deeper than the one from before. "Thach buc hul!" His captor glanced at him before shrugging and lifting a large wooden club into the air with his free hand. The intention to do harm clear on its face as it glared at the captive ninja.

Naruto panicked, reaching up to his leg holster and opening the flap. His equipment rained down to the ground below as the blonde cursed his luck. Reacting quickly, he managed to snag a falling kunai with his left hand while the right grabbed a fluttering piece of paper. 'A flash bomb!' he cheered internally before igniting it with his chakra and dropping it to the ground. He screwed his eyes shut and covered his ears with his fists, opening them a moment later after he felt the blast wave. The creatures bellowed in pain, furiously rubbing at their eyes as they stumbled around in a daze. Wasting no time, the ninja stabbed his captors hand with his kunai. The blade sticking in the thick skin but doing enough damage to force his release as the creature loosened his grip in reaction to the pain. Scrambling to his feet on the ground, Naruto's eyes fell on the first weapon he could find. Hefting the club with both hands, the ninja swung it with all his might at the nearest creature's kneecap. The beast fell on it's side, bellowing as it held it's injured appendage. A shot to it's head silenced it a moment later, sending it into blissful unconsciousness. The same tactic worked on the second enemy as well, leaving only one target left for the blonde.

This creature, his original captor, was smarter though. It had backpedaled from it's attacker as it furiously rubbed it's eye to alleviate the pain until it could see again. It now stood ten feet away, scowling heavily as it held it's injured hand while contemplating it's next move. It took a step forward toward its small enemy, only to stop as the small thing seemed to do the impossible and lift the large club to hold over the head of one of it's fallen brethren. "Jot!" it cried out as it held its hands into the air, uncaring of the blood spilling down it's hand from the wound. "Jek noama Burr!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he tried to understand the gibberish, only to give it up as a lost cause a moment later. Taking a chance, he placed the club slowly on the ground besides the two unconscious creatures before backing away. The one eyed creature regarded him for a second before grunting and giving a single nod. It plodded forward before throwing the body of one of it's unconscious brethren over its shoulder. Grabbing the other by the wrist he began walking toward a large broken down castle in the distance that sat on the edge of a large cliff.

Naruto kept a wary eye on the creature until it disappeared from sight into the castle before turning in a slow circle to take in his surroundings. He was somewhat reminded of the land of earth with how the land was laid out around him. The cliff containing the castle sat overlooking a large ocean that stretched farther than the eye could see. Everywhere else was grassy plains and rolling hills dotted by lone trees and rock formations. His nostalgia was brought to an abrupt end however as he watched a pack of giant lizards just over his height as they roamed across the grass in the distance. "Where the hell am I" he mumbled as he sat down on a rock. The only sound that could be heard was the waves crashing against the cliffs in the distance.

Author's Note: Writer's block sucks. Sometimes trying something new helps, so here goes.