Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion, Naruto, or The House of the Dead.

Chapter 1: Before the Storm

A Blood-red sky…

That was everything he could accomplish to see with those eyes of his.

His broken and unmoving body rested upon the charred black earth of a once green and lively meadow now turned into a lifeless desert by the hands of selfish men.

The smell of ashes permeated the area and made the act of breathing much harder than what it originally was. His laborious breathing came in harsh gasps; each time he inhaled, he suffered as the hot air traveled down his hoarse throat and into his injured lungs.

It had been far too long for him since a noise different that the sound of the rushing wind or the slow, agonizing squeals of wood creaking under a raging fire entered his ears, but that auditory monotony was broken when a sound, so eerie that made even his broken body cringe, was heard.

A roar…

An overwhelming roar that felt very powerful and ancient. A malicious roar used to prophesy despair, fear and destruction to any unfortunate soul to hear it.

He attempted to move…but it was useless. His body rebelled against his wish to move, the only thing he could accomplish to do was continue staring, with clouded eyes, at the immense crimson sky…

A pair of blue eyes lazily opened up to the world when their owner was woken up by the characteristic melody of the school's bell. He had his right cheek resting on his right palm and he was staring at the sunny, bright world behind an opened window of the classroom.

'Must have dozed off…' He thought.

"Rise!" He heard the class representative starting the customary show of respect towards any entering or leaving teacher, so he forced his still sleepy body to stand up alongside the other students of class 2-A.

"Bow!" Once again, the same brunette with the pigtails ordered. The whole class obeyed and bowed low as their old teacher left the classroom.

"Sit!" As soon as those words left the class rep mouth, the sleepy young man plopped back into his seat and closed his eyes.

One of the most defining features of the young man leaning back on his chair were his azure blue eyes, which were currently hidden behind his closed lids. Besides that, he also had spiky bright blond hair -an unusual hair color in the fortress-city that was Tokyo-3- that fell slightly on his forehead and two bangs, which almost reached his top lip, framed his face. But without a doubt the physical trait that made him unique above everyone else were the trio of whisker-like birthmarks that adorned each of his cheeks.

All in all, he was a figure that stood out without even trying. Due to his appearance some people called him scary, others -mostly the girls- called him sexy, and the ones that judged without even knowing anything about him called him a delinquent. But for the people who had taken their time to actually get to know him, he was simply known as…

"Naruto."

Naruto Uzumaki turned to his right to see the first two people which he had formed a bond with since he transferred to the school in Tokyo-3…They were Tōji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida.

Tōji Suzuhara at 14 was two years younger than Naruto himself. Tōji had short black hair, tan skin and he was the tallest of the class, except for Naruto, but everyone assumed that when he reached 16 he was going to be even taller than the blond. He was the typical jock, often preferring to wear a dark blue track suit with white stripes going down the sides of his legs until his thighs and across his shoulders, rather than wearing the school uniform.

Kensuke Aida was the same age as Tōji, and had brown hair, round glasses and small freckles on his face. Contrary to Tōji, he did wear the customary school's white shirt, but he also wore a red t-shirt under it and a pair of jeans. He was often called a military nut because of his obsession of everything related to the army and warfare. His hobbies included camping, reenacting war scenarios and videotaping anything that happened to catch his attention with his camcorder.

"Guys, what's up?" He asked drowsily.

Kensuke had his ever-reliable camcorder rolling and used it to get a zoom-in of Naruto's sleepy face. "You okay, Naruto? You seem a little bit tired."

"Not tired, Kensuke, I'm just bored." Naruto responded

"I bet you are," Tōji started. "That old man's ranting keeps getting longer and longer, it's almost impossible to stay awake!"

Naruto grinned. "You got that right." He scanned the classroom to see that most of his classmates had already left their seats; some were chatting amongst each other, others were pulling their desk's together to eat their lunches with their friends, but the vast majority were leaving the room in search for a comfortable place to eat lunch.

"So…" Kensuke's voice drawled out. "Want to go the cafeteria and grab something to eat?"

As in agreement, Tōji's stomach growled. "Now we're talking! I'm starving!"

Kensuke deadpanned. "Of course Tōji the Stomach would be hungry… What about you, Naruto?"

When Kensuke heard no answer he turned to Naruto only to see the blond spacing out, his eyes were clouded with thoughts as he stared at nothing in particular.

"Naruto?" Kensuke tried again to reach his friend, but to no avail. He was there physically but it seemed as his mind was somewhere else. It was until Tōji grasped Naruto's right shoulder that the blond teen woke up from his trance.

"Are you really okay, Naruto? You have been out of it for the whole day." Tōji showed a serious expression combined with his concern towards the unnatural way Naruto had been acting.

Naruto stared at Tōji in the eyes and said. "Tōji, that serious face doesn't suits you…at all."

Both Kensuke and Naruto then broke out into a laughter that dissipated the silence and the serious atmosphere that had been surrounding the three friends, but in turn made Tōji embarrassed.

"Man, this is what I get for worryin' about ya!" The jock said with his arms crossed around his chest and his head turned in indignation.

The fit of chuckles soon were drowned by the noise inside the classroom and eventually died out, leaving two amused boys and one not so amused.

"Sorry, Tōji, but your seriousness was just too funny!" Kensuke exclaimed, but his apology lacked true feelings as the boy was still drying the tears that came out of his eyes during his laughing spree.

Tōji scoffed. He obviously didn't buy Kensuke's apology, but in the end he decided to just forget the whole incident altogether. "Fine," He then addressed the older blond. "So, Naruto, you hungry or what?"

The two boys stared at Naruto while their unofficial leader decided their course of action.

Naruto shrugged. "I guess I am…"

Tōji and Kensuke nodded and began making their way out of the classroom until Naruto made himself heard again. "But I'm not really in the mood to go to the cafeteria."

The boys stopped in their tracks and turned back to the blond.

"Then what do ya wanna do?" Tōji questioned.

Naruto stretched his arms behind his head until the unpleasant sound of snapping joints was heard through the entire classroom. Many heads turned to see the blond stretching as if he was a bear that had just woken up from hibernation.

He then pushed his chair back and stood up showing his impressive built. Naruto was in fact the tallest person in his class, but his height paled under his overall physical condition. He had a built that none 8th grader should have, lean but firm muscles trailed his arms, his shoulders and back seemed capable of carrying the weight of the world in them, his chest was as hard as a rock, his abdomen showed not so faint traces of and enviable 6-pack, and finally his sturdy, but agile legs were strong enough to keep him standing even during the stormy days that life sometimes throws.

All in all, he was in excellent shape, and when asked about what kind of diet he followed to gain such a physique, he would reply: "A diet full of ramen, of course!"

The proclamation about his rather unhealthy diet often left the listeners baffled and perplexed, but sometimes there were some believers that took his words to the heart and followed the diet that the blond had named 'Ramenism'

…It is needless to say that the people who followed his diet turned doctrine gained 50 pounds in two weeks.

The ones that didn't believe him would decide against questioning his strange food habits and instead change their previous question into one that questioned the physical activities he had to do to stay in shape.

When asked that, he'd often put some thought into it, but then shrug and assure that he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary to gain the physique he had. Naruto was by no means an exercise-obsessed dude. He enjoyed having quick one-on-one basketball matches with Tōji, running some laps around the neighborhood and sometimes he'd the strange urge to climb any tree or building he saw, but in general, since he left the countryside he had been enjoying a lazier lifestyle.

Naruto then closed the distance between him and his friends, and spoke. "How about we hit the arcade?"

"The arcade?" Tōji and Kensuke questioned back.

"Yep," The blond said happily. "We can grab something to eat on the way."

Kensuke choose that moment to interfere. "But Naruto, this is only the lunch break! We still have classes after this!"

A wicked grin slowly began to form on Naruto's face. "And your point is…?"

In the end, as usual, both Kensuke and Tōji decided to follow the blond on his daring plan to escape the prison that their school could sometimes be.

While the trio of boys walked towards the arcade they were blessed with a sight that student's didn´t get to see frequently. The normally plagued with pedestrians streets were now mostly empty with the exception of a few random people walking by now and then.

Downtown –at least for Naruto- was truly a sight to behold. Enormous buildings lined next to each other, each one with the glasses of innumerable windows reflecting the rays of the midday sun, transformed the journey through the city into quite an enjoyable experience.

They soon reached the arcade, and the boys couldn't be happier when they escaped the blistering heat of the outside world and entered the cool comfort that only an air conditioner in a closed room could provide.

Seeing as most kids were still in school, it didn't surprise them to see that they had the games of the arcade all for themselves.

Without hesitation, Naruto, Tōji and Kensuke began exploring the place dimly illuminated by the neon lights hanging from the ceiling and the brightness emanating from the machine's screens; completely ignoring the strange looks that the workers kept sending them.

It was until two hours later that the pockets of the three boys were finally emptied that the boys finally decided to leave the arcade.

"That was totally worth it!" Exclaimed Tōji, feeling rather accomplished after beating the high-score of the basketball machine game.

Naruto, on his part, wasn't sharing Tōji´s good mood. "We should have stayed in school…"

Kensuke laughed and tried to comfort his friend. "Come on, Naruto, don't sulk. It wasn't that bad." Unfortunately, that had the opposite result…

"Don't talk to me, Ken. I'm not playing The House of the Dead 4 with you ever again…"

"Ya really did humiliate him this time." Tōji said. "Takin' all the extra lives for yourself. That was harsh, man!"

"You got that right, but you'll see, next time we play it's going to be me the one that leaves you in the dust!" Naruto, by now, was out of his flunk and instead thirst for revenge coursed through his veins.

Kensuke was unaffected by Naruto's bold declaration, and instead a cocky smirk appeared as he adjusted his glasses. "That sounds like a challenge, Uzumaki. But the day that you beat me is the day that Tōji stops being hungry!"

"Yeah…hey, what da hell ya talkin' about!"

"That's unfair, Kensuke," Whined Naruto. "You know that Tōji has like four stomachs! He is always hungry!"

"My point." Kensuke said smugly.

"What? Do ya guys think I'm a cow or somethin'?"

The boys shared a laugh and once they reached the crossroads they said their goodbyes and made their way towards their respective homes. But Naruto wanted to visit one more place before calling it a day…

It took him some time and riding a monorail to reach his destination, but Naruto didn't care.

The place he wanted to see so badly before going home was situated in the outskirts of the city, far away from the monstrous buildings and the gray smoke that the vehicles breathed out. It was a small, but noticeable hill covered with green grass where a gentle breeze always blew.

On top of the hill one could overlook the city, and gain a full panorama of the miracle of engineering that the last fortress of mankind truly was. But to Naruto, nothing bested being able to lie down on the soft blades of grass and let the kind caress of the wind drift you away.

He would often come up to this same hill each time he needed a place to think, to escape from the overwhelming rhythm of a life in the city or just a place to take a quick nap.

It was his haven, his sanctuary.

Maybe it was because the air on the hill resembled that of the countryside's that the blond immediately felt connected with it. The air up there felt pure, untouched and refreshing, it would always make him remember the old town where he grew up and lived alongside his grandma.

He smiled. It sure felt nostalgic...but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling of nostalgia.

Naruto lay down on his back, disregarding the stray piece of grass tickling the inside of his ears, and looked up at the sky.

The bright blue sky was being randomly occupied by Cumulus clouds of different size and shape, but they all had the same cotton-like appearance that characterized them. Traveling the sky with a lazy snail pace was their specialty, and observing their slow parade made Naruto feel sleepier that what he really was.

The warmth of the sun combined with the fresh breeze made him feel comfortable as he was slowly claimed by the land of dreams…

Naruto was aroused from his catnap two hours later by a sound that he had only heard a couple of times before.

In his half asleep state it took him some time to remember what that loud, wailing sound was or what it meant, but when he did, he immediately jolted awake… it was the emergency siren.

'Could it be another simulation?' Naruto shook his head. Had it been a simulation everybody would have been informed several days before. Something was not right…

The blond raised his gaze at the sky and a gasp escaped his mouth. "W-what is going on?" Naruto was alarmed, over his head several of the most advanced combat aircrafts had just passed like a flock of birds.

'Aren't those things units of the U.N?' He could faintly remember Kensuke talking about a new aircraft model of the U.N. A model that when described was exactly the same as those that Naruto had just seen traveling the sky.

But what could possibly the emergency be? The only thing that Naruto knew was that it must have been something serious for the United Nations to deploy their private army.

He followed with his eyes the path of the Heavy Fighter Jet-VTOL gunships and his eyes widened when he saw what they were fighting against.

"A monster…" The shocked blond whispered.

Sachiel, The Third Angel, had appeared.

E/N:Thanks for reading!

I wasn't really planning in starting another story until I finished the ones still in progress, but one day a small idea popped into head and that small idea grew and grew until it became a whole scenario for another story...and, well, you know the rest.

About the pairings. The main pairing is going to be Naruto/Asuka. Why? Because I prefer Asuka over Rei (sorry Rei fans.)! I'm also thinking in pairing Shinji with someone...Maybe Mana?

Anyways, please review and tell me what you think, after all, I mainly write FF to improve my english.

Ok, gracias y hasta luego!

Taco & Sombrero