Authors Note: Hey everyone, this is my first story that I'm writing. Please feel free to let me know how I'm doing and give me tips, corrections, or other critiques. But please, no flames or put downs. If it's not constructive then please keep it to yourself.

I will say this now; this may end up being a harem story, I haven't fully decided yet. I like a lot of the possible pairings, and also feel that after the crap he had to go through in his life, he deserves a little extra love. Either way, Naruto won't be seriously dating until he's older. Until then, there will only be some slightly compromising situations with various girls, although he will be kind of clueless about their feelings.

Also, Naruto will eventually be overpowered. He will still struggle a bit during fights, so he won't be Godlike per say, but there will be few that can challenge him. He will still have to get there however, so by the time he graduates, he will only be overpowered for a fresh Genin, only strong overall.

Finally, there will be bashing. Specifically, Sasuke, civilian council, and elders bashing. There will also be some slight Sakura bashing. I feel that in canon, Sasuke is basically an idiotic prick who can only do what others tell him to do, these others being those he views as enemies or eventually wish him harm. Only in the recent chapters does he start to pull his head from his ass, leaving only the stick there.

The civilian council represents the villagers, who are asses in general, so they get bashed too. The elders are power hungry idiots, so I will enjoy making them miserable as well. As for Sakura, she does turn around in canon, and not late canon either, so after giving her some slight bashing and adjustments, I plan to turn her around.

If you don't like any of the above, please don't read, or at least keep your opinions to yourself. While I will take suggestions to improve the story and/or writing, the above items will most likely not change. Any suggestions I do take will be acknowledged when they occur.

Inspiration for elements of this story comes from phoenix3488's story titled "Shinigami".

I don't own Naruto or Bleach. If I did then I'd be rich and wouldn't be writing on a fanfic website. The Uchiha also wouldn't be so overpowered to be broken characters. That would be Naruto.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Demon Speech"

'Demon Thoughts'

Jutsu/Skills

Chapter 1: Finding Power

It's been six years since the Kyuubi's attack on Konohagakure. The day was another bright sunny day, common in the Land of Fire. It was the type of day which caused most people to smile without thinking about it. There was one small child however, who was currently frowning.

"Jiji," pleaded a six year old. "Pleeeeease?"

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I've already told you that I can't help you. It would be seen as favoritism and an unfair advantage." said the old man sitting behind the desk. The old man was the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, leader of the shinobi of the Land of Fire. He was an elderly man who was past his prime, although he was still one of the strongest shinobi in the world.

"But Jiji, a lot of the other kids in class have people helping them, why can't I have you help me?" asked Naruto. The child had bright blonde hair that seemed to shine like the sun, and blue eyes that seemed to shift slightly depending on his emotions. Sometimes they were the deep blue of the ocean, and other times they were the crystalline blue of sapphires. He was small for his age, seeming to be closer to four or five than six. One of his most defining features however were six whisker-like birthmarks on his face, three on each cheek.

"That's because of their clan training. One of the oldest laws of the village is that clans can train their own children in their techniques and traditions, to make sure that they don't die out."

"Fine, but I need some help! The teachers keep telling us to use chatara to keep a leaf stuck to our foreheads, but I don't know how to do it!"

At this the Hokage frowned. "First Naruto, the word is chakra, not chatara. Also, what do you mean by saying that you don't know how to do it? I know that by now the Academy has already covered the basics on how to access and mold your chakra."

"The teachers kicked me out that day. I dropped my pencil, and when I went to pick it up the teacher said that since I apparently had better things to do than pay attention in class I might as well not be there." the boy said sadly, looking down at the floor.

At this, the Hokage became furious, although he was careful to not let any of his killer intent reach Naruto. Six years ago, when the Kyuubi attacked the village, his successor, Minato Namikaze, sacrificed himself to seal away the demon into a newborn child. The only thing he asked for was that the child be seen as a hero for keeping the Kyuubi imprisoned. However, instead of following his wishes, most of the village, and even some of the shinobi, instead saw him as the demon itself. This led to numerous beatings and attempts on his life, especially on his birthday.

Forcing himself to swallow his anger, he leaned back into his chair and sighed. Apparently even some of the instructors chose to dishonor their hero's dying wish. What made it worse was that, although most of them didn't know it, Naruto was Minato's son. 'I'm so sorry Minato for being unable to do more.'

Hiruzen lifts his hand to his face and began to think. He knows that if he gives Naruto any training whatsoever, the civilian council would take advantage of that to remove his vote on anything concerning him by saying that he's biased towards his student. 'As if they're not completely biased against him. If I wasn't there, they would have executed him in less than a week! Either that or turned him into a mindless weapon.' He then comes up with an idea.

"Naruto, follow me." he said, standing up from his desk. He then guides Naruto to his home, and takes him to his family's library. After a quick search, he locates a basic book on chakra and holds it out to Naruto.

"Naruto, while I can't help you directly this book should be able to teach you how to access your chakra, and hopefully answer any questions you have." Hiruzen said. "Also, I can give you this advice. Remember this; a ninja is one who endures. He endures against the hard training it takes to get the strength to protect his loved ones, he endures against his enemies despite the odds pain he faces, and he endures in deception, using it to fool and surprise his enemies and to achieve victory. Do you understand what I'm saying Naruto?'

Up to this point Naruto was staring at the Hokage with wide eyes. During this little speech Hiruzen had seemingly transformed from the kindly old man that Naruto knew into the legendary shinobi known as "The Professor". He found himself hanging on every word coming out of his mouth.

"I think so Jiji." He answered.

"Good then." said Hiruzen. "Now, I need to get back to work. Please return the book when you're finished."

"OK Jiji!" shouted Naruto. He then ran out of the Hokage's mansion, and seeing as it was still around noon, ran to one of the training grounds located around the city so that he could train in peace.

-An Hour Later-

Naruto was in the middle of one of the training grounds. After having made sure that no one else was around, he found a good spot and sat down, opened the book the Hokage gave him, and began to read.

Chakra, the book began, is made up of a mixture of two different energies. The first energy is physical energy. This energy is produced by the body and involves the aspects of the body such as endurance and strength. To increase the amount of physical energy one has, one should train the body to increase its stamina and power.

The second type of energy is spiritual energy. This energy is produced by the mind and soul, and concerns one's willpower and experience. The amount of spiritual energy can be increased through meditation, learning, and experiences in life.

Both of these energies are mixed in the body to produce chakra. There are multiple ways to unlock one's chakra, but the most common way is through meditation. By meditating and focusing into the depths of one's mind, one can eventually sense their chakra network, which allows them to consciously access their chakra.

Reading this, Naruto was slightly disappointed. He has always had difficulty with meditation when they did it in class; he just had too much energy to sit still that long. Still, if he wanted to be able to use chakra, he needed to do so. So with that in mind, he put down the book, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.

-Mindscape-

After a while on focusing inwards, he noticed that he felt like he was descending. Since he knew that he was still sitting, he thought that he must be doing like the book said so he continued. After a while, he found himself in what looked like a sewer. He looked around and saw pipes going everywhere. There were two pipes however that caught his attention. One was blue, and another was red.

'My mind is a sewer? Oh, that's just GREAT!' Naruto thought sarcastically. 'I know that I like to look at pretty girls and all, but still didn't think I was that perverted or anything!' Naruto let out a sigh, and then took a closer look at the pipes.

'Are these pipes my chakra network?' Naruto looked around and saw that there was a tunnel leading forward. He was about to follow the tunnel, when he noticed a side passage that had a staircase going down. He thought about what the book said about going into the depths of his mind, and decided to go further down just in case the pipes weren't his chakra network and he still needed to descend more.

With that in mind, he began to climb down the stairs. After a while, he came to the end of the stairs and found himself in what seemed to be an underground cavern of immense proportions. He walked forward a bit and saw that he was in between two fairly large ponds.

On his left, there was a pond of some sort of extremely thick and viscous liquid that was golden in color. It almost looked like honey, except that it was more metallic in color. It was like someone had made a pond of thick liquid gold.

On his right there was another pond of a silvery liquid. Where the liquid in the other pond was a thick and heavy fluid, the liquid in this pond seemed light and airy. It almost seemed smoke-like and gaseous somehow, while still definitely being a liquid.

He first went over to the golden pond, and slowly placed his hand into it. As he touched it, he began feeling strength filling his body. Excited, he dove into the pond and noticed that he felt GOOD, unnoticed aches and pains fading away. After a while he got out of the pond, noticing that as soon as he left he appeared to dry out, but still has the feeling of strength and goodness from before.

He then went over to the silver pond, and placed his hand in it. This time, he noticed that he immediately began to feel rested and relaxed. He also submerged his body into the pond and this time he felt completely at peace. He relished the feeling, since it was the first time that he can remember feeling so. Even during the few times in his life that he was genuinely happy, a part of him held back, always on the alert. Now however, he felt truly calm and peaceful. He then got out of the silver pond and looked around.

He then looked beyond the ponds, and saw what seemed to be a recessed lake. This time however, it was filled with what seemed to be some sort of liquid blue fire. How fire could be liquid, he had no idea, but that's the impression he got from the blue lake. He took a closer look and saw that the two ponds beside him were cascading into the lake with small waterfalls.

Looking around he realized what the two ponds and the lake were. 'This is the source of my chakra. The two ponds are my physical and spiritual energies, while the lake is my chakra' he thought amazed. 'The golden pond must be my physical energy, while the silver pond is my spiritual energy.' He took a closer look at the lake and noticed a pipe coming down from the ceiling and stopping about 2 feet above the surface of the lake.

It was a clear pipe, so he could see the liquid within it. At the top of the pipe, the liquid started out red and as it traveled down the pipe it slowly turned purple and then blue like the lake, although it was still a darker color. As he looked, he noticed after a while that as the now blue liquid slowly dripped into the lake that the lake was slowly increasing in size. Another thing he realized was that although the ponds had miniature waterfalls pouring into the lake, somehow they were not causing any ripples whatsoever. The slow dripping from the pipe however was causing the surface of the lake to ripple like a lake in real life.

Curious as to the nature of the pipe, seeing as the book didn't mention anything like this, he went over to the lake and placed his hand in his chakra. This time he felt power coursing through his veins. He waded in and felt energized. Slowly, he made his way over to the pipe. He reached his hand out under the pipe and caught a drop of the liquid.

'Heavy!' Naruto thought. The liquid from the pipe was 10 times heavier than his normal chakra, and felt thicker too. He then took a closer look at the pipe, and noticed that it seemed to have various rings of what looked like script at even intervals on its length. He realized that as the liquid passed through each ring; it became more and more blue.

He thought about the script for a minute, and realized that it looked just like the seals he sometimes saw in the scrolls in the Hokage's office. 'These seals must be slowly transforming the red liquid into chakra. But what is the red liquid?'

He looked up at the pipe and saw a small spigot near the top where the liquid was still red. Deciding to find out the nature of the liquid, he grabbed the pipe and began shinnying up it. When he reached the spigot, he placed his hand on the valve and opened it.

Nothing happened.

Curious as to why nothing was coming out, he looked up from underneath the spigot, trying to see what was blocking it. Unfortunately for him, this was just in time for a large splash of the liquid to hit him right in the face.

He screamed as he felt the liquid begin to burn his face and eyes, and fell off the pipe. Luckily for him, he still had his hand on the valve, so as he fell he accidentally turned the valve, closing the spigot. He splashed into the lake of chakra while clutching his face, but his chakra didn't seem to lessen the pain he was feeling. In fact, it only seemed to give the burning sensation more power. It was the worst pain he had ever gone through in his life. If he had not gone through past experiences of being beaten and tortured by angry mobs, he wouldn't have known how to handle the pain and he would have been completely mindless from the pain.

He quickly made his way out of the lake and rushed into the golden pond, reasoning through his pain that since it seemed to ease his aches before it might stop his pain. However, after he submerged himself he found that while the pain did not increase like it did in the lake, it didn't lessen either. In fact, the only change he could perceive was that the skin of his face seemed to harden under his hands.

He made his way out of the golden pond and then quickly dove into the silver one, desperate for anything to stop the pain. This time, the pain seemed to go deeper into his body than before. Quickly though, the pain started to ebb until it finally stopped. He slowly made his way out of the pond, breathing heavily, and collapsed on the ground.

After a while, he finally felt well enough to stand, and made his way back to the silver pond and looked at his reflection. He gasped at what he saw.

His face was covered by a white mask that was slightly similar to the masks he saw used by the ANBU. It had a fox motif, with a slight muzzle with grinning, sharp teeth. On the cheeks of the mask, he had six black whiskers painted on similar to his own natural birthmarks, but thicker and going to the edge of the mask. Two foxlike ears extended from the sides of the mask at eye level, but sweeping back and completely covering over his ears, as if replacing them. The "insides" of the ears were filled in black, with the black extending itself to reach and surround the eye holes of the mask.

If it wasn't for how he got the mask, he would have thought that it looked badass.

The most disturbing thing he saw however were his eyes. Instead of his normal crystalline blue eyes, his sclera were now pitch black, and his irises were now gold. They were as beautiful as his normal eyes, but now seemed to exhibit a dark coldness that were absent from his normal eyes.

"What the hell is this?!" Naruto screamed, and then jerked at the sound of his own voice. It now seemed to have a hollowness to it that seemed to almost echo, but didn't.

As he stared at his reflection, he saw the mask slowly sink into his skin, leaving him with the black and gold eyes. As he looked however, his eyes slowly reverted back into his normal blue ones.

Naruto stared for another moment at his reflection. "What the hell just happened?" he asked himself. He got up and decided to leave.

-Real World-

Naruto slowly got up and stretched. He looked up at the sky and was shocked to realize that almost no time had passed. 'Weird, I could have sworn I spent hours down there.' Seeing as he still had a lot of time until he had to go home, he decided to see if he could access and control his chakra. Focusing his mind, he willed his chakra to move to his palms.

After a few tries, he felt a rush of power fill his hand. 'I did it!' he cheered in his mind. 'Now all I have to do is practice sticking the leaf to my forehead, and I'll be good to go!' With that thought, Naruto picked a leaf from a nearby tree and began trying to use chakra to make it stick to his forehead.

-Several Hours Later-

After practicing until the sun started to set, Naruto decided to get some dinner at Ichiraku Ramen. 19 bowls of ramen later, he went home to sleep. After taking a shower and changing into his pajamas, he went to his bed to lie down. As he was going to his bed however, he caught his reflection in a mirror and paused. Remembering the mask in his mindscape, he began checking himself to make sure that everything was fine.

Even after making sure that there were no traces of a mask on him (or in him as the mask had seemed to sink into his skin), he still felt slightly worried. He began to channel chakra to his face, thinking that if nothing happens while doing that then he was safe.

Nothing occurred, but his eyes felt a little funny when he did this. With a weight in his stomach from fear and worry, he then tried to channel his chakra only to his eyes. His control however was still bad, so he ended up only sending chakra to his entire face. After a few more unsuccessful tries, he finally managed to channel chakra only to his eyes, which made the strange feeling return. He then started increasing the amount of chakra that was going to his eyes. That's when it happened, and what he saw made him gasp.

Looking back from the mirror at him were two black and golden eyes.

Author's Notes: That's the end of the first chapter. I'm planning to release the first few chapters together to build a base for the story for everyone to get a feel for it. I'm calling this first section the Finding Arc. It will be slow, but remember that he's still a child and in the relative "safety" of the village, meaning that he won't need to fight until the graduation exams. The next arc is when the action will begin to pick up. Please, read and review the chapters to let me know what you think.