Hello, readers of the internet! Here's an idea that has been kicking around my head for about a week that won't leave me. What if Naruto (our favorite blonde underdog) gained the power of control over shadows? Add in a little bonus power from an interesting Light Novel/Manhua called Solo Leveling (Find it, Read it, You'll love it) and we can see some real fun times, hopefully.

Review if you enjoyed please, I have the first Arc storyboarded already so expect a dozen or so chapters in the next few weeks. Though this is a 'Prologue' chapter to give a little history to the story, so you can skip this to the real Chapter 1 if you want.

I don't own Naruto, rights to that character and story go to Masashi Kishimoto. Nor do I own Solo Leveling (Otherwise known as Na Honjaman Lebel-eob) that one goes to light novel author Chu-Gong.

Without further ado, let's get on with the show!

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Prologue

The Start Before the Beginning

In the vast multiverse that is the work of Naruto, there are a great many changes both great and small that alter the story of the young titular jinchuuriki. From stories of great mistreatment to alternate realities of godlike powers granted to the young blonde.

However, there is no greater point of change then the fabled Scroll of Seals event. No greater amount of changes has been seen through any other event. Gaining the powers of The Gamer, receiving lost family, new friends or even lovers, obtaining greater strength from alternate heroes, this one event has and always will have the greatest impact on one Uzumaki Naruto both in true canon and a great many fanons in this world.

However, It must be established that this story has changed in the timeline even before the major event of the Scroll of Seals. In a case of 'wrong place, wrong time' our young hero stumbled upon the biggest travesty of Konohagakure.

The aptly named Uchiha Massacre, the cold-hearted slaughter done by a single shinobi of their own family was the blackest mark in Konoha's history since the betrayal of Madara Uchiha himself.

As the story goes, the lone Uchiha Itachi murdered almost every man, woman, and child of the Uchiha clan in a single night. The lone survivor was his younger brother, Sasuke. Yet the boy didn't remain unscathed, for in his pursuit of power Itachi used a dark technique on Sasuke. Severe trauma caused by the technique would forever change young Sasuke into an avenger with a dark desire for revenge.

The story reported of this massacre is quite different from the truth of the matter, but then again what kind of story could this be if it were true?

Nonetheless, this isn't a story of a brooding avenger, a black-haired youth who would sacrifice everything to get his revenge. No, this is about a cheerful blonde who achieves the impossible and unfortunately decided to prank said avenger for an earlier humiliation in the academy.

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A seven-year-old Naruto had climbed the imposing wall around the Uchiha District, the darkening hours providing shadows for the shinobi in training to put to good use.

'I'll get that teme for earlier! How dare he humiliate me in front of Sakura-Chan!' His ears still burned in anger and embarrassment.

Earlier that Day, Outside the Academy

It was the same as any other day really, homeroom, history, weapon practice and finally sparring before the lunch break and jutsu studies to finish the day. It was during this sparring that Naruto received his great embarrassment.

"Kyaaaa! Sasuke-kun is sooo cool!", was the collective swooning call of several young girls gazing admiringly at an equally young black-haired boy. Among them was a pink haired girl with hearts in her eyes sighing as she gazed at the 'man' of her dreams.

'He looks so coooool! Sasuke-kun is the best!' She thought excitedly as she and numerous other girls observed the rather one-sided fight.

A dark smug look adjourned the young man, wearing simple white shorts and a dark shirt with his clan's fan-like red and white symbol on the back. He had handily defeated his opponent with little difficulty, though the achievement wasn't as great as his fangirls proclaimed. After all his opponent was the wild and inept Uzumaki Naruto.

"Hahaha, never stood a chance dobe!"

"Like you could ever beat Sasuke-kun! Just give up!"

"Right on his face! Damn, does he even train?!"

Laying on his face, Naruto's ears burned as he heard the jeers of Sasuke's fans and his fellow classmates. Pushing himself up he spat out a bloodied dirt clod onto the ground, that last sucker punch from the stuck up Uchiha having split his lip. He futilely tried to brush the dirt from his white shirt and green shorts, tonight was definitely going to be laundry night now.

"Sasuke is leading 2-0, are you able to continue Naruto?" The question came from a dark-skinned brunette of a man, Naruto's primary teacher Umino Iruka. The scar-faced man looked at the young blonde in concern, it was a solid punch that had knocked the boy down.

Stumbling slightly the blonde gave his sensei a thumbs up, "I'm good sensei! Just watch, I'll smack him down next!" He proclaimed loudly.

Though hesitant at the boy's unsteady form, he lifted his hand anyways. If Naruto wanted to fight anyway, he wouldn't stop it without good reason.

"Begin!" Jumping backward he observed the two in the small sparring ring.

Standing 10 feet apart from each other the two boys stared the other down. Snorting derisively Sasuke decided this farce of a fight was getting way to dull to continue, even though Naruto's proclamation was slightly amusing.

'As if the Dobe could even lay a single finger on me!' With that thought fueling him, he dashed forward, readying a fist to knock his opponent out completely.

Naruto readied himself to meet Sasuke's charge, his hands held unsteadily in front of him. Smirking at the uselessness of his opponent's attempts to prepare he suddenly stopped short of the Uzumaki, deftly avoiding the poorly telegraphed preemptive attack sent his way. Sidestepping the punch he threw his right fist out into a haymaker.

Naruto ducked in desperation, feeling the side of Sasuke's fist slide against his hair.

'I did it!' He thought elatedly, only to see stars as a sudden knee to the forehead knocked him back. Sasuke smirked as the boy stumbled back holding his face.

"Give it up dobe, you don't stand a chance." he taunted.

"Grrr, I'll show you teme!" Despite the pain and dizziness from the blow, Naruto charged forward with bloody intent. He was getting a blow in if it killed him!

Quickly getting into Sasuke's personal space he threw a flurry of body shots towards him. Dodging each blow with minimal movement Sasuke waited for the right moment to strike. Seeing the growing frustration on Naruto's face he didn't have to wait long as the rage fuel blonde overextended a kick.

Naruto's eyes widened as he felt a powerful blow to his back, Sasuke having slipped past his straight kick and gotten behind him. The boy stumbled forward, gasping in pain as he struggled to stay up.

Points were only awarded on knockdowns and ring-outs and as long as he stayed up, he was still in this!

Still facing away from Sasuke he decided to do something unorthodox, time for an Uzumaki special! Falling onto his hands suddenly he threw a donkey kick at the Uchiha. Stunned at the sudden movement, Sasuke received a full sandal to the jaw and was thrown back straight onto his ass.

"Point Naruto! The score is 2 to 1 now!" Iruka called out to the stunned class. Turning his stumble into a surprise attack, sometimes the blonde surprised him with his unpredictability.

The rest of the class wasn't so happy about that, particularly the fangirls were quite upset.

"Stupid Naruto! How dare you put your dirty feet on Sasuke-kun!" A certain pink haired kunoichi-in-training cried out, shaking her fists angrily at the blonde.

Flinching at the young girl's rage, Naruto took a step back in fear. 'How are we supposed to spar if I can't hit him? Why are you so angry? I was cool there Sakura-chan!' He thought in frustration.

Why does Sasuke get all the attention? People celebrated when anyone else got a hit in, not just Sasuke. But when he gets a shot in everyone berates him! Where's the fairness in that? He'd show them, two more points and he would win!

With renewed confidence in himself, he stood across from a seething Sasuke, who sported a growing bruise on his chin and dirt smeared onto his cheek.

"You won't be getting lucky again dobe, I'm ending this now!" He growled out, barely holding himself from charging to wait for Iruka's signal.

"Wah-Wah-Wah! Keep crying Teme! I can still win!" Pulling his eyelid down he taunted the Uchiha, reveling in the sheer rage he could see in the youth's face.

"Begin!" Once more Iruka gave the signal, readying himself to intervene in case it got too heated. The look on Sasuke's face was not giving him a good feeling.

Without further talking the two boys dashed towards each other, each prepared to beat the other into the dirt. Naruto began by ducking down and throwing a quick uppercut to the Uchiha's already bruised chin. Leaning his head out of the way Sasuke avoided the blow and threw out a snap kick at the boy's shin.

Flinching at the strong blow to his leg Naruto limped away from Sasuke's follow-up hammer punch to his head. Spinning on his good leg he threw a fierce backhand at Sasuke. Ducking below it Sasuke threw his leg out in a sweeping kick, knocking the surprised blonde off his feet and leaving him flipping in mid-air.

Quickly taking advantage of his opponent's vulnerability Sasuke slammed his fists in a double-handed downward smash to send Naruto straight into the ground.

Letting out a silent cry of pain Naruto laid on the ground, the wind knocked out of him from Sasuke's painful combo. He shifted to his back as Iruka called the match and quickly came to check on his student.

"Winner Sasuke! Deep breathes Naruto, it'll pass." He knelt next to the shell-shocked Naruto, watching as his student struggled to regain his breath. After a few moments, he helped Naruto to the sidelines to open the area for the next set of matches.

Naruto looked towards the crowd despondently as Sasuke walked back towards their classmates, quickly getting surrounded by his fangirls.

"Sasuke-kun is so amazing!"

"I knew he'd win, Naruto-baka had to pull a dirty trick just to land a hit!"

"Here Sasuke-kun, you can use my handkerchief to clean your face!" One of his fangirls excitedly offered the cloth to him.

Keeping his calm facade up, Sasuke politely declined the offer and reached into his pocket to grab his own. Cleaning himself up he glanced towards the defeated Uzumaki some distance away. The two met in a glaring contest for a few moments before Sasuke smirked haughtily and turned away, moving to stand towards the edge of the group.

Glaring at the smugness of the Uchiha, Naruto could only shake in silent impotent rage at his situation. He watched as Sakura and others happily followed Sasuke like lovestruck puppies, cooing praises at him along the way.

His pride stinging in his defeat he immediately began plotting his revenge upon the obnoxious boy. He was getting such a pranking tonight! He had more than a few ideas going through his mind at this point.

'Glitter bomb, maybe… glue and feather bomb with a stink bomb attached..? How about all of the above? He's showing up looking like a glittery chicken tomorrow!' His revenge filled thoughts comforted him as he sat off to the side, no longer paying attention to the matches.

Uchiha Compound, that night

Shaking himself from his sour memories Naruto prowled around the darkened alleys, making his way towards Sasuke's house. Looking around he readjusted his bag of tricks on his shoulder, wondering where any of the stuck-up clan usual members were. Even in these darker hours, they would usually be out and about, the compound being a mini village in its own right.

Shrugging dismissively, he moved on, missing the dark splotches to his left in the shadows of a doorway to a bakery. It was time to get to work, Sasuke wouldn't know what hit him.

A few minutes later just a few hundred feet away from his target, Naruto suddenly stopped, a cold feeling freezing him in place. Unexplained fear and paranoia ran through his body as he frantically looked around himself.

'What's going on? Where's that feeling coming from?" He looked around, his shaking form leaning against the gate to the house. Feeling odd wetness under his feet he looked down to see he had stepped into a murky puddle, looking towards its origins he saw a trail go towards the darkness of the house's entrance. He could faintly see a lumpy mass at the base but couldn't really see it clearly.

"A lost little lamb has wondered into the slaughter…", suddenly an ominous voice sounded out above him.

Stumbling away from the voice Naruto looked up at a shadowy figure on the roof, seeing nothing more of their form than a dark cloak and single glowing red eye behind a tiger stripped mask.

"W-w-who are you…?" The child questioned shakily. The figure chuckled darkly, not deigning to answer the boy as he suddenly vanished.

The boy's terror brought on a moment of extreme luck as Naruto fell to the ground and barely avoiding a blow he never saw. A crack was heard as the boy turn and saw the masked man with his fist buried in the wall, right where his head had been.

'Is he trying to KILL me!?' He thought in fear as he attempted to crawl away, bloodying himself in the forgotten puddle in his attempt to escape. He ended up bumping into the very man he was crawling away from, his sudden appearance causing the boy to let out a frightened yelp as he quickly began to crawl backward.

Pulling a small blade from his cloak he bared it threateningly at the terrified child. Naruto immediate put his hands up in an attempt to defend himself from the cloaked man.

'Maybe I should take a limb off… make it easier to get the boy later.' The man thought idly, enjoying seeing the terrified spawn of the man he hated squirm in fear. Tilting his head to the side, he paused as a presence made itself known.

"It's time to leave, ANBU will be here soon." A quiet voice called out behind him. Looking at his soon to be protégé the masked man paused in contemplation before turning back to the child.

Naruto could only look on in confusion and fear as a second man appeared, not recognizing the young man in grey ANBU armor but realizing he wasn't here to save him. He watched the masked man seem to contemplate something for a moment before turning back to him.

"Very well." With that he readied the blade, taking his time to creep closer to the boy.

With wide eyes, Naruto threw his hands out in a futile attempt to stop or dodge the blade, only for the man's arm to pass through his guard. He screamed in pain as the blade tore into his face. He quickly grabbed at his wound, rolling on the ground in a pain-filled fervor.

"A parting gift child, don't worry I will come back to visit in time." With that foreboding statement going unheard by the crying child he soon vanished. The second man frowned at the pitiful sight before him, his pacifist nature disturbed by the pain before him.

Sensing the masked man no longer in the area, he quickly threw a small senbon at the boy's neck. Blissfully knocked unconscious from the needle, Naruto finally stilled. Jumping down from the wall he approached the boy and knelt beside him. Adjusting the boy's memories with a jutsu he then sighed faintly as he turned to jump away, quietly praying to Kami to watch over this unfortunate child in the future.

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Awakening a few days later to a morose Hokage waiting for him, he learned of what he had stumbled upon that night, the entire Uchiha clan had been murdered. Despite his best attempts, he couldn't tell the Hokage much of what he saw, having no clear memories of the night in question.

All he could remember was a dark figure and intense pain, everything else was just a blurry mess of fear and helplessness. A few more minutes of attempted conversation with the boy and the Third Hokage left him to rest, understanding that Naruto needs to come to terms with his new reality.

Naruto lightly brushed his hand against the bandages on the right side of his face, faintly remembering the Hokage explaining the damage done to him. His eye was too damaged to repair, there was nothing but an empty socket left behind now.

Alone in his thoughts Naruto blankly stared off into space, everything was different now. An entire clan was gone, his eye was gone, and he had a foreboding feeling that the man who did this to him would be back in time as well. His fists tightened on his covered legs, a brief flash of determination in his lone eye.

'I won't be helpless next time… I need to get stronger…' With this thought running through his mind he leaned back to sleep. He had to work harder from now on, there were real monsters in this world to prepare for.

Though the road to recovery was hard, the boy powered through it with greater ferocity and determination. With greater focus on his studies and even more effort on his physical efforts through the years, the young Uzumaki managed to pull his scores up enough to hit the middle of the class.

Despite his effort though, without any true support from people who could train him properly he couldn't attain the strength he desired.

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A few short years later, a young Naruto sits upon a swing outside his academy, his form the very definition of dejection. His solitary gaze resting on the ground in despondency at his situation. Though teary-eyed, he wouldn't allow them to fall.

Crying helps no one after all.

'Why? Why is that stupid jutsu so DAMN difficult?! Why can't I get it right?!' These thoughts and similar blazed through his mind as he quietly seethed in self-resentment at his failure. The third one in his tenure as an academy student, though this one was his only chance to stay with his age group.

The test to graduate the academy was rather straightforward, a comprehensive written test over shinobi techniques, prudent formulas, and history along with a simple exam of the three most basic jutsu in a shinobi's arsenal. It was the feasibly simplest jutsu that brought his score down to failure.

Bunshin no Jutsu, e-rank technique that creates an illusory copy of the user. It wasn't solid, it was rather useless unless one was particularly clever. But in the end, it was his downfall, despite achieving a middling score in the written exam the jutsu portion was the most important aspect of the exam. It was worth two-thirds of the final grade! Why was that even a thing?!

Sighing to himself he looked towards the gathered students and their families, celebrating the milestone the new graduates had achieved.

"I did it! I passed!"

"Fantastic job! I'm making your favorite dinner tonight!"

"I aced the test, it was sooo easy!"

"I'm proud of you son!"

Yet among these happy voices, darker whispers could be heard by the despondent blonde.

"Did you see him over there? He didn't pass this time either." A woman whispered irately to her neighbor, both looking distastefully at the young man.

"Good riddance, he should just give up. Why they allow that boy to even attend is beyond me." She responded, a sneer on her face.

"Blasted Dem-"

"Quiet! Remember the law!" Quickly interrupting her before she fully broke the Third's law, they quickly walked away with their children in tow.

'The law again… what the hell are they talking about?' The boy thought to himself, watching as the crowd soon dispersed as the happy families left to celebrate.

Frowning to himself he readied to leave his spot, time spent wallowing in self-pity was better spent at home. However, upon standing he heard someone land next to him. Looking to his side he saw his sensei, Mizuki, standing there with a somewhat genial smile on his face.

"No luck in passing this time, huh?" Mizuki began, a look of sympathy on his face for the blonde.

"No…" was the despondent reply, "But I'm not giving up! I'll pass for sure next time sensei! Just watch!" He quickly recovered, brashly proclaiming his desires to his teacher.

Mizuki let a smirk alight his face, "Well I think I might have an idea for you to pass this time if you're interested?" The two quickly left the academy's property, Mizuki detailing the special secret exam he could take to finally pass.

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So, what do you think? Too much exposition? I know some people rage and tune out on the whole flashback thing, but it's just a nice tool to use in these things. A nice 3500-word prologue to set up some history before we get in the meat of it.

I know, not enough shadowy fun, right? It is a prologue so the real fun starts next time. Preemptive answering here, no Naruto isn't getting a Sharingan, Rinnegan, or any other -gan you can think of. That's so overused it's a trope by now.

The true first chapter is out along this one, so feel free to hold any comments until then if you like.

Review, if you please and I'll see you in the next one.