Well, this is my revision of The Shadows Behind a Fire. Basically, I'll be using the same characters and ideas, with a slightly different plot. Okay, a totally different plot. Oh well, enjoy!

Chapter 1: Prologue

No one will help you.

NO!

Everyone hates you. No one wants you here.

No...

No one.

An eight year old Naruto dashed through the streets as blood flowed freely from his arm. His breathing was already ragged, and the mask that Kakashi had gotten for him was slightly torn. The plasma continued to spill, draining the color in his face. And even though he was an eight year old, he knew that it wasn't good news. Panicking, he felt another kunai clip his side. Things weren't looking to good. Worried, he continued to dodge the flurry of kunai, but he was still in a grim situation. His eyes lit up though as he saw a small crack in the Konoha wall in the distance. Thanking kami for an opening, he dove through the hole and ran out of the village. However, in his fervent running, Naruto missed the growing smiles of the ninjas.

"He's outside of the village. We can kill him now, right?"

"Right. Make sure you tell our officers that I just went out for patrol duty. Kakashi nearly killed us last time we tried something like this. I'll take care of the brat."

A nod ended the conversation as one headed back to HQ and the other ran out of the village.

Shin laughed as he ran through the forest with a happy smile. Since his father almost never allowed him to play, today was a special day. Jumping with energy that seemed unnatural for a twelve year old, he launched himself through the forest at a neck breaking speed. He suddenly stopped though, as he spotted a collapsed figure in the middle of the fields. Jumping down, he landed next to him just as a grown man flew into the clearing.

"Hey kid, step away from the monster."

The "kid" paid no attention and instead took to poking the Naruto's head.

"Hey mister, why does the boy have a mask on?"

The ninja was surprised at the sudden question, but started to get annoyed. He need to finish the job quickly before ANBU got there.

"He wears the mask because he's ugly. Good enough for you? Now get away from him."

"What are you going to do with him?"

The ninja took out a kunai as he growled. "Step away from the boy. He's dangerous."

Shin once again ignored the man's warning as he prodded and pulled Naruto's blond hair. "No... I think he's okay to be around. Besides, I've always wanted a little brother!"

The man groaned as he shook his head. "If you don't move kid, I'll kill you too. I don't think you want me to tell your parents that you died trying to defy a Konoha Chuunin."

The boy's eyes sharpened ever so slightly as he stood up. "If you want to try and kill me, go ahead. But I'm not abandoning this kid. As for telling my parents that I defied your orders, haven't you heard?"

The man's eyes widened as the boy suddenly appeared in front of him. With a sudden strike, a wave of blue energy flashed through the ninja's body as all of his internal organs dissolved.

With an icy stare Shin looked at the falling corpse. "Dead man tell no tales."

Looking back at Naruto with smiling eyes, he heaved him onto his back and started for home.

Wait till father sees what I've brought home this time. With a gleeful smile, Natsumune Shin sprinted back home with a groaning Naruto breathing heavily through his mask.

(In Konoha)

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST HIM?!"

Three ANBU looked ashamedly at the ground while Kakashi muttered obscenities under his breath. "I thought that I specifically assigned you to watch him. It was your duty as shinobi to obey a higher officer.

The three ANBU were silent.

"Enough. Go out and search every corner of this village. If you can't find him, I'll put you under probation under negligence of duty. Now go!"

As three shadows zoomed out of the building, Kakashi couldn't help but blame himself for it. Picking up a picture of him and the blond, he smiled lightly as he remembered that day. It was the day he gave Naruto his mask.

You better be okay Naruto...

(3 Hours Later)

Shin sped up with Naruto on his back as he scaled the village wall and flew towards a compound. Ducking inside, he lightly put Naruto on his bed while he ran downstairs to greet his father.

"FATHER! I'M HOME!!!"

"KAAAAH!" An open palm suddenly hit Shin directly in the stomach as the boy flew into a wall from the impact.

"You let your guard down Shin. If I went a little lower..."

"Dad... Can't you be normal for once?"

Natsumune Murasame laughed heartily as he gave his son a hand. "If you're going to succeed me as our family's head, you've got to have the balls to at least take on a weak strike like that!"

Shin smiled brightly as he punched his father on the arm. "Next time, easy on the Jyuken father. Your regular attacks already hurt like hell."

"SHIN!"

The boy in question gulped as he turned around to face his mother.

"Did you learn that kind of language from your father?"

His father also gulped as she walked towards them. (Women, what can I say?)

"Come on mom! 'Hell' isn't a bad word-"

"Shut up dear. Go to your room and play or something."

Shin's face suddenly lit up as he remembered his guest. "Wait! I forgot to tell you! I picked up a person today!"

His parent's suddenly paled as they thought in unison. He brought a person this time?

"Let me get him!" Shin quickly ran up the stairs as he blasted into his room.

Five minutes later, a bewildered Naruto was kneeling before three people he had never seen before. His eyes looked at the faces, but then turned away after memorizing them. He was obviously confused.

Murasame groaned as he looked at Shin. "Well, I suppose you want an explanation. According to my son, you were attacked by a ninja from the village of leaves. Being the idiot he is though, he killed the guy."

Shin put up his hands in defense as he shook his head. "He wanted to kill us! I won't let anyone hurt my little brother! Plus he smelled bad."

Murasame and Shin high fived while Shin's mother groaned at her son's antics. Stepping toward Naruto with a warm smile, she decided to take introductions into her own hands. "Well dear. My name is Natsumune Aya. That big loaf over there is my husband, Murasame. The kid with silver hair is my son, Shin. Now, what's your name?"

Scared, Naruto slowly took in her features as he tried to speak. However, nothing came out. Averting his eyes, he then looked at his hands and sank his head.

"He's a mute? Ah man! I wanted to have someone to talk to!"

Shin's father quickly nailed him on the head as he looked at Naruto. "No... he's not mute. Rather, it's traumatization. Something bad must have happened to him."

"GREAT! We just have to make him happy then, right?"

Shin's father shook his head as he stepped out of the living room. "I don't know. Either way, let him stay for now. Make some food for us dear. I have some thinking to do."

Aya looked at her husband's retreating figure before sighing. "Alright, I guess it'll be dinner for four."

Naruto watched Shin and his father practice as he sat on the balcony. It had been several weeks now, and to tell the truth, it felt quite nice to be left alone. There weren't any villagers, and that Shin fellow was pretty good at talking. Touching his mask, he frowned as he remembered his teacher. Kakashi sensei had promised to always protect him. It would be lonely without his masked uncle-like figure, but he would survive. Naruto watched in interest as Shin suddenly flew from an attack. He quirked his eyebrows in confusion, as he had remembered seeing someone from the Hyuuga clan do that once. But these people didn't have Byakugan. No, they had normal brown eyes. But how could they use the gentle fist so adeptly? Observing them carefully, he noted the stances and movements of their attacks and took mental note to try it that night. If one thing didn't change, it was his love in learning new techniques. Shrugging, Naruto laid on the balcony as he watched the clouds drift over head. Funny how fate worked, especially on eight year olds like him.

Late that night, Naruto snuck outside as he looked at a reasonable good sized tree. Taking the same position, he rotated his body on his toes as he slammed his palm onto the trunk.

There was no effect.

Frowning, Naruto tried it again, each time with increasing force. Annoyed, he began to slap it, almost begging it to do something.

"It doesn't work like that you know."

Naruto immediately turned around as he saw Murasame standing outside. Bowing, he was about to go in when the man stopped him.

"Try it again, but this time, visualize your energy gathering on your palm. When you're about to hit the tree, let it explode. At all costs, don't let your hand touch the tree. Rather, it's your energy that does the damage.

Naruto nodded slowly as he breathed in and out. Pushing chakra into his hand, he then rotated quickly and exploded the energy on contact with the tree. A light pulse of blue flickered, but besides that, there was nothing.

Murasame sighed as he picked his earwax. "Oh well. It's fine if you don't get it. After all, Shin's been training since birth. Practice this for now. If you master that in a year, I might teach you another technique. Go to sleep though. You look quite tired." With that, the man walked back into the house to the bed of his wife.

Naruto stared at his hand as he concentrated. His energy seemed to want to come out, but for some reason, there was something blocking it. Rubbing his hands to warm himself, he suddenly noticed that the energy came more easily.

Heat! That's it! Since heat gives off energy...

Concentrating, he tried to warm up his hands lightly with his chakra. At once, he then compacted his chakra into his palm as he rotated. Unleashing his energy, he then slammed the tree, showing a light burn mark.

It still isn't enough. Disappointed, he was about to give up when he suddenly tripped on his own leg. The rotating movement had stressed his leg, making it unable to turn properly. Widening his eyes, he stood up as he suddenly figured it out.

"Got it." With those two words spoken, Naruto broke into an entirely new future with endless possibilities.

"BOOM!"

Natsumune Murasame often woke up to his wife's nuzzling or even Shin's hysterical screams for food. But never a "boom." Looking out the window, he noticed that it was early dawn and that there were only a couple hours before morning. Leaving his wife, albeit very reluctantly, he decided to check out what had left that strange noise. Stepping outside, he was shocked to see Naruto breathing heavily in front of the tree while the entire foliage behind that tree was destroyed.

No way. He already mastered the bypass technique? The tree though. How is that possible? Even Shin can't...

Murasame stared at Naruto with his mouth agape as he walked towards the boy. "Hey kid... How in seven hells did you do that?"

Naruto turned with a frustrated look on his face. "I don't know. I tried to make the tree explode, but instead the trees behind them were uprooted."

Murasame received his second shock of the day as he looked at Naruto curiously. "You can talk now?"

Naruto nodded.

"I see. Well, can you show me the technique?"

Naruto turned to the tree and started to gather chakra into his palm. Suddenly though, the chakra flew towards his right leg as the energy started to rotate.

Centripetal Force?

The energy suddenly exploded as the blond's body followed the twist and rotated in a sudden flurry. The chakra then shot back to his palm just in time to hit the tree. In an instant, the trees behind the target were lifted from the ground as a blue wave lifted them, while the tree that Naruto had been trying to attack stayed the same.

"See. I can't do it."

Murasame laughed fiercely as shook his head. "That IS the technique!"

Naruto quirked his head curiously as he asked for an explanation.

Murasame scuffled Naruto's head as he walked over to the tree. "The principles of Jyuken come from attacking the internal energy of the target. Basically, even though the outside does not seem hurt, the inside..."

Using his index finger, Murasame poked the tree lightly. In an instant, the gigantic oak crumbled to nothing. "The inside becomes so damaged that it'll eventually collapse under the lightest of hits. That is the Hakka Gofubaku. An advanced technique of the style of Jyuuken that only my family and I know."

Naruto nodded as he took in the question. However, another question came as he looked at the destroyed trees in the distance. "But why did the trees behind my target fly? If it attacks the inside..."

"The reason why they flew was because of the amount of energy. Once the inside is damaged, the rest is sent through the object, manifesting itself as a physical force. Using this, we can create the illusion that..."

Murasame suddenly outstretched his arm. In an instant, a multitude of trees were blown away. "...we can shoot waves of energy. Of course, all we're doing is sending the Gofubaku through a layer of space, making the rest shoot out as a physical wave."

Naruto stared in awe as he noted the destruction the man had done in an instant. He had even done it without rotating his body. Murasame then went over to Naruto as he put his hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry to say though that the clan rules state that a non family member is not allowed to learn our techniques." Murasame smiled faintly as he saw Naruto's disappointment.

"But say... you've got potential. What was your name again? You never told us in the first place."

Naruto thought for a moment before answering. "Uzumaki Naruto."

Murasame smiled as he ruffled Naruto's hair. "From now on, your name is Natsumune Naruto. Distant relative that came from my family in Kiri."

Naruto brightened up as he spoke up. "So that means..."

"Hurry up and get cleaned. After breakfast, it's training with Shin and me until lunch. After that, I will personally tutor you until you get to Shin's level."

Naruto bowed as Murasame walked away.

Entering the house, Murasame spotted his wife waiting for him on the stairs.

"Did you come to give me a morning embrace Aya?"

Aya scoffed as she walked over to her husband and looked out the window. "That tree he managed to take down... Wasn't that the-"

"Yes. That was the sacred tree that was said to be impermeable to any attack. Even I couldn't make so much as a dent on it. This boy...is quite interesting."

Upstairs, in a mid-sized room, Shin looked out the window with a growing smile. It looked like he would get that little brother he had wanted after all. Not wanting to be outdone, he quickly changed into training clothes and jumped out of his window to meet his new brother for the first time. After all, big brothers couldn't let their little ones go through things like these alone. Laughing, Shin grabbed his katana and decided to show Naruto a few techniques and tricks before eating. The years to come would be fun indeed.

TBC...

A/N: Well, that's it. Pretty long for a prologue. Next chapter will have a time skip. So Naruto will be around eleven. Remember to read and review! It helps me. For those of you who have read this story before, don't worry. Maya will come in due time. Maybe even an introduction next chapter? Either way, read and review!

Oh by the way, do you guys want...

A) A quiet, darker Naruto that doesn't laugh too much. Knows when to be serious, and can have a sense of humor, though not that much. Maybe like...Shino's attitude.

B) A happy boy (much like Shin right now and Naruto in the canon series) that is hyperactive.

Vote please!