Naruto Uzumaki was screwed. Why was he screwed? He was screwed because the last thing he remembered was killing that bastard Madara, and asking Sasuke to return to the village, which the said young man promised he would do, while in tears. He was even more screwed because he did NOT remember falling asleep in a forest with a huge ass lizard with wings, nor did he remember using the transformation jutsu to look like he was ten years old again. Why, oh god, why?!?

'Calm down, kit. We are not where we were before.' Kurama's voice came to him in his mind. He rolled his eyes.

'No shit, Sherlock!' He replied, confused and exasperated, 'Where are we, oh noble and high and mighty demon lord? And why the hell is there a mutant reptile staring at me with them weird eyes of his?' He asked, and was rewarded with a slight headache as Kurama proceeded to remind him exactly how much he liked being in his head. Naruto, really not believing the creature in front of him to be real, went up to it and touched it, feeling its scales. Weird, it felt real. Very real. Almost as if it were...real....oh shit.

"Holy god, Kurama what's going on?!" He yelped, jumping away from the creature, that, for some strange reason, didn't look or show any inclination that it was going to eat him. That was a plus, right? ...Right.

"Calm down, kid. This big guy won't do anything to ya. Who are you, anyway? What's your name? How old are ya? Is you hair real? Ooh, your eyes are pretty. Hey, now that I think about it, Where'd ya come from?" A voice asked him. He looked up, only to see a man with the weirdest hair ever. Nah, Sasuke's duck ass hairstyle was worse. But this dude came in pretty close, though. Jet black, like Sasuke's, this guy's hair was, unlike Sasuke's, sticking straight up, and was all spikey.

"Hi. Good to know he won't try to eat me all of a sudden. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Twelve years old. It's real, I can hardly imagine wearing hair that isn't my own. Thank you, I get my eye color from my father. I'm from Konoha." Naruto replied absentmindedly, looking around him, keeping an eye, though less wary than before, out for the giant reptile. The man was silent, and then he grinned widely.

"I'm Ging. Ging Freecss." The man responded. Naruto nodded curtly, still gazing around the room, then his eyes traveled to the man.

"So, where am I?" He asked.

"With me." He answered. Naruto smiled, amused.

"So I've noticed. Where are you?" He asked.

"With you." Came the response. Naruto pouted at the answer

"Where are we?" He asked.

"Together." Came the reply. Naruto was amused, but slightly disappointed he didn't get an answer.

"I like you, Ging-san." He said, and the older male gave him a curious look, but dropped it.

"So, any idea how I can get back to civilization?" Naruto asked. Ging pointed East.

"Go wherever you wanna go. But I do suggest you go take the Hunter Exam. You would make an exceptional hunter." He said. Naruto cocked his head to the side slightly.

"Why?" He asked. Ging smiled again.

"You've got skills kid. I don't usually say that to many people, but you look like you've got what it takes to be a hunter." He said.

Naruto arched an eyebrow.

"Why?" He asked again. Ging grinned.

"You've had experience in battle before, haven't you?" He asked. Naruto narrowed his eyes at him.

"How do you know?" He asked. Ging laughed.

"You've got the mark of a warrior, kid. But, that isn't something a hunter should be." He said, smiling, then getting serious at the end. "

"I'm a warrior. I was born to be one. To protect my village and it's people." Naruto said. 'Even if they hate me in the end.' He thought.

Ging looked thoughtful for a while.

"Why?" He asked. Naruto shrugged.

"Because it's what I want to do." He said without any hesitation. Ging was silent, until he pointed in a different direction than before.

"That way gets ya out. I hope to be seein ya soon, kid." He said. Naruto grinned.

"Yeah, me too, Ging-san." He said, and waved before running off. He tripped over the tail of the mutant lizard, and gave it a half hearted glare. He then sighed,rubbed the back of his neck and reached a hand out to pet the creature. To say Ging was shocked was a huge understatement. The kid was getting all buddy buddy with the creature it took him two full days to tame. He then grinned inwardly. 'He's good. Very good.' He thought, and nodded as Naruto waved yet again and went off on his merry way.

"See ya, Ging-san!" Naruto called. Ging nodded again.

"See you...Naruto." He replied, though Naruto was too far away to hear.

--TIMESKIP(2 years)--

Naruto got off the elevator and looked around the dimly -but good enough- lit room. There were people he knew he should look out for immediately. As he was judging the people around him, some dude with a pudgy nose came up to him.

"Hello there. You must be a rookie. I'm Tonpa, nice to meet you." He said, naruto glared at the man through dull, lifeless blue orbs.

"...Naruto." He said. Tonpa nodded, looking slightly thrown off.

"Would you like some juice?" He offered a can out to Naruto. He immediately smelt the laxatives in the can. He smirked inwardly, but nodded and took it from Tonpa. He downed it in one go, crushed the tin in his hand, and handed it back to Tonpa.

"I thank you. But drugs like these don't work on me." He said, and walked away. During the two years it took for him to train and become illegible to take the hunter exam, Naruto had learnt a lot. No longer was he the loud, obnoxious boy of twelve (originally 18), but now a cool, calm and collected youth. He had long gotten rid of his orange jumpsuit, and now sported an outfit suspiciously similar to the Hokage's.

Naruto sighed. There weren't any people he should look out for, except for maybe number 44. Sighing yet again, Naruto sat down and leaned against a wall with headphones on. Listening to Breaking Benjamin was always one if the things Naruto liked to do that no one knew about. It wasn't until a little while later when a boy around his age came up to him.

"Hey." The boy said. He had silver hair, just like Kakashi-sensei, and his eyes were a very dark blue. Naruto nodded curtly, showing he heard him. The boy sat down next to him and looked around, Naruto took the headphones off of his ears, letting them hang around his neck instead, letting Kurama listen to Dance with the Devil while he spoke to the boy.

"How long?" The boy asked. Naruto 'hmm'ed as he thought.

"About half an hour." He said. The boy smirked.

"I say forty five minutes." He countered. Naruto smirked in an Uchiha-ish way. Where he got that from, he didn't know, but planned on not doing it again if he could help it. He held his hand out.

"How about a tenner on thirty minutes?" He asked. The other boy grinned as well and shook his hand.

"Deal."

Thirty minutes later, the boy, whose name Naruto found out was Killua, was handing over ten dollars as an alarm rang, and a seriously tall dude came in, told them to follow, and walked out. Naruto smirked as he pocketed his cash, and sighed as he stood up.

"Troublesome." He muttered, suddenly feeling like a lazy person he knew well. Killua chuckled.

"I know, it's killing me. Oh, the suspense." He said with a straight face. Naruto grinned and jerked his head in the direction the tall dude from before went.

"C'mon. I'll kill you if we get lost in here because you're busy complaining." He said. Killua nodded nonchalantly and went after him. The crowd followed the tall dude until the pace sped up, and eventually more and more people got left behind.

"The dude's going faster." Naruto said, Killua nodded.

"Yeah. You okay there?" He asked, smirking over at Naruto, who scoffed.

"If it weren't for your attitude, I'd think you were a girl." Killua muttered. Unfortunately for him, Naruto heard, and gave him a damn scary glare.

"Why?" He asked. Killua chuckled nervously.

"You've got soft blonde hair, blue as hell eyes and your all...feminine looking. Weirdo." He replied. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Weirdo? Me? Says the one with grey hair at twelve." He shot back. Killua grew an anime irk mark.

"Oi, it's silver, not grey, Naruto!" He said. Naruto nodded, looking exaggeratedly bored and uninterested.

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say, old man." He replied. Killua growled.

"Whatever, sunshine." He said, Naruto gave him an annoyed look.

"Whatever. I got my hair from my dad. My eyes too. The only thing I got from my mother was a ball of fur and a damn catchphrase I had just gotten over." He said. Killua 'oh,ed.

"What was it?" He asked, genuinely curious. Naruto huffed, not answering.

"Not telling." He said. Killua snickered.

"That bad to turn the almighty Naruto silent?" He asked. Naruto ignored him.

"Come on, tell me, I wanna know how you've been embarrassing yourself for twelve years." He said. Naruto sighed and whispered in Killua's ear. Killua burst out laughing, and Naruto's eye twitched, until Killua's laughter died down soon.

"You spent your whole life until six months ago yelling out 'dattebayo!'?" Saying it out loud seemed to get Killua into another fit of laughter as he slowed down on his skateboard. Naruto huffed.

"Shaddup. Hurry up, were gonna lose sight of that dude up front, or shall I go without ya?" He asked Killua waved him off.

"Go ahead, I'll be with you in a second." He said, still gasping for breath. Naruto rolled his eyes and nodded, before turning and leaving Killua behind.

"Hey Naruto!" He looked back.

"Don't worry, it's not so bad, dattebayo!" Killua said, Naruto growled under his breath and picked up a stone, then chucked it at Killua. Hearing a satisfying 'thunk' as it hit his target, and Killua's muffled curses, Naruto shook his head and ran to the front, looking for something to do. He spoke with the examiner for a bit, finding his mouth...or rather, his LACK of a mouth to be utterly fascinating, and finding that they both were inspired by the same person to take the Exams. It seemed the examiner, the tall dude, was an archaeological hunter, and met Ging a long time ago. Naruto nodded and told his story of meeting Ging. They then parted as Naruto heard Killua's voice calling him.

"Ah, that's Killua calling me. Gotta go. See ya, Satotsu-san." He said the examiner nodded and looked ahead of him, all the while wondering who the little boy with the yellow hair, blue eyes and whiskers was, and WHY, when he was going at such a pace, he wasn't even breathing hard. Interesting.

"Kil?" Naruto called. He felt a presence come up I behind him, and turned to see number 44, with a card in his hand, looking like he was ready to kill him. Naruto let his gaze turn into an icy glare, through half lidded, dull eyes.

"Can I help you?" He asked, letting Kurama's chakra envelope them in an invisible bubble of KI. The man gave a crazy laugh and shook his head.

"You pass early. Good boy." He said, patting Naruto's head. He was about to walk away, but Naruto stopped him.

"Oi." He called.

"Hmm?" Came the response.

"What's your name?" He asked, the man looked confused, then smiled in that creepy way of his.

"Hisoka. And may I have the pleasure of knowing yours?" He asked, Naruto shrugged.

"Naruto. Nice talking to ya, don't touch the orange stuff around ya, it'll burn your flesh off. Sorry bout that, the fur ball doesn't know what enough is." He said, not realizing he was still speaking aloud, until he noticed Hisoka giving him a weird look,

"Ah, it's nothing, just don't touch the orange stuff. Yes, I know you can see it, now don't. Touch. It." He said, and carefully reeled back in Kurama's chakra. He passed his hand over Hisoka's skin, Kurama's chakra forming into a ball as it passed. When he was done, he grinned brightly, just like his old self used, to. Hisoka looked surprised at the sudden change, but said nothing of it.

"Kay Hisoka, I gotta go. Kil's getting rather impatient. Could you perhaps tell his brother to stop staring at him? And to quit glaring at me, it's honestly disturbing." Naruto said. The only reason he knew was because their scents were sort of the same, not like Killua's and Hisoka's, concerning bloodlust, but more like they were of the same kind concerning their actual blood. Don't ask him how he knew, Kurama wouldn't tell him anything other than 'it's one of my gifts. Shut up and be happy you get one from me.'

Naruto waited for a response, and Hisoka gave his evil laugh of evilness, and nodded, before going along his merry way. Naruto was surprised to know this entire goddamn exchange took place in approximately ten seconds, and they were still running.

"Yo, Kil!" Naruto waved his silver haired friend over. The other spotted him, and his SLIGHTLY forced smiled turned into a wide grin.

"There you are! I thought you got left behind." Killua said. Naruto scoffed.

"Please. I would think that only old men such as you would get left behind." He replied. Killua rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, look!" He said, pointing to a boy with black hair and brown eyes, wearing a green jacket over a black vest, and green trousers. Naruto rose an eyebrow.

"Am I wrong to think your favorite color's green?" He asked. Killua rolled his eyes and spoke excitedly before the boy could reply.

"This is Gon! He's the same age as us!" He said happily. Naruto 'hmm'ed.

"And that gave you reason to run like the rest of us?" He asked, seeing him off of his skateboard. Killua grinned in response. Naruto chuckled, holding his hand out for the board, Killua handed it over to him with a little hesitation, while still talking animatedly with Gon. Naruto sealed it (with much difficulty...he was running, and only had two hands, after all) within a scroll, and sighed as he saw Killua looking bored again. Two minutes and he was already bored with his new friend. When Killua caught Naruto looking at him, he grinned. He looked genuinely happy, and Naruto was glad to see that. He grinned back, like he would if he were in Konoha, surrounded by all the people he loved.

They were then interrupted by some dude in a blue suit. Gon, another blonde guy and Killua stopped as well.

"What are we waiting for? Let's leave him, he's done for." Killua said. Naruto sighed and whacked Killua on the head.

"Idiot, Gon isn't gonna do that. You'll never get friends like this." Naruto teased. Killua scoffed.

"I don't need friends." He said, sounding playful on the outside, but Naruto knew that tone. That was how he sounded when he lied to himself. He 'tsk'ed.

"Liar. I may not be one to know much about making friends, but I sure as he'll know pretty damn well that saying you don't need them doesn't help. It never does." Naruto said, making Killua look at him in surprise, then defeat. Naruto sighed, seeing Killua's obvious hesitation.

"So...are we...friends?" He asked. Naruto nodded.

"Yep. By the way you're fine the way you are. After all, you approached me, didn't you?" He asked, and Killua's eyes widened.

"Why?" He wondered out loud, Naruto smirked as the dude in the blue suit got hold of himself and started running again.

"Because you're not totally a lost cause, Kil." He said. Killua flinched.

"That nickname...it's what my mother and brother call me." He said, and Naruto knew by the tone in his voice that family was treading in dangerous waters with Killua.

"Then don't think about it." He said. Killua's head snapped towards him as he ran.

"Whenever I call you, don't think of anyone else but me." He said. Killua's cheeks grew hot and he looked away,

"You...say the most embarrassing things, Naruto. I knew you were a girl." He said, smirking at the end, Naruto yelped indignantly.

"I'm not a girl, goddammit, Killua!" He shouted, making the people around him stop and stare at him with wide eyes. Naruto's mouth fell open.

"You people too? Why? I don't look anything like a girl, I'm male!" He said, and one of the random people whose name isn't important enough to mention called out,

"Prove it!" Naruto growled, letting Kurama's demonic epicness lace his voice.

"Mind saying that again?" He asked, and the dude shook his head and shut up.

"My my, it seems my little friend is having trouble." Came a voice, Hisoka. Naruto groaned inwardly as Hisoka came over and gave a closed eye smile to the crowd of about seven people, and they all went running. Naruto rubbed his temples.

"You, what are you doing?" He asked, looking at Hisoka with an anime irk mark on his head.

"Me? I'm helping a young woman in danger, of course." He said, and Naruto snarled. He cussed inside his head. This was all Kurama's fault. Why else was the demon always sealed inside females for generations?! The damned Fox demon makes his container look even more girly, goddammit!! He glared at Hisoka, huffing as the clown retreated, but of course, was just playing along. Naruto growled as eye felt a gaze on his face. He turned to see the blonde boy that was with Gon and the blue suit clad guy. He tilted his head in question, a silent inquiry as to why he was being stared at. The blonde boy opened his mouth or speak, but was interrupted by the dude in blue.

"Oi, Kurapika, is this your twin sister?" he asked. The blonde boy got an anime irk mark.

"Fot the last time, Leorio. I'm a guy. Naruto's a guy too. Get over it." He said, and Naruto instantly knew that the newly dubbed Kurapika felt the same way he did. They shook hands in greeting, and an unquestioned bond of mutual understanding.

"Naruto, if you've quite finished bonding with your new friend, come over here, were gonna have a race with Gon!" Killua called excitedly. Naruto rolled his eyes and gave Kurapika a curt nod before going off towards the other two. He reached them in a short time.

"Jealous much? Anyway, if Killua's done being a jealous girlfriend, let's have that race?" Naruto said, making Gon chuckle and Killua grow an anime irk mark. Before he could say anything, however, Gon grinned at Naruto and pointed to the front.

"Naruto-san, let's see who can get to the front first! Whoever loses has to buy the others dinner!" He said, and Naruto smirked in that Uchiha-ish way that he thought he wouldn't do anymore.

"Think you can pass me?" He asked, and the other two nodded.

"Bring it." He said, and on Gon's count, they dashed off, Naruto speeding past them all, even the examiner, to the exit. He slowed down to a stop, however, when he thought it would take them at least a few minutes to get there. He sat on the floor, and waited, listening to his music. Fifteen minutes later, the others showed up, running as if their lives depended on it. Naruto stood up, yawned, and jogged, keeping up with Satotsu,

"Can I go ahead to the exit? I wasn't sure if I was allowed to without the examiner, so I waited." He said. Satotsu rose an eyebrow.

"What makes you thin there's an exit?" He asked. Naruto grinned. "I can smell the light." He said with a mischievous look. Satotsu 'hmm'ed.

"What does it smell like?" He asked looking disbelieving yet curious.

"Like everything I'm not." Naruto replied, not meeting the other's eye. Satotsu knew this was a dangerous topic for the boy, so he changed the subject.

"Go ahead, if you get lost in this maze no one will help you until the first phase is over." He said. Naruto saluted him, and it wasn't until he heard a loud bang did he turn around with wide eyes, and use his chakra for the first time in two years (apart from using sealing scrolls) to move faster as he ran towards the source of the sound. He found Hisoka a little way away from the site, looking rather miffed, and his friends were stepping out of a hole in the wall. He counted all of them there, and slumped over. He then gave a murderous glare to Killua, who looked sheepish, if not SLIGHTLY scared.

"Killua motherfucking Zoldyck, if you EVER DARE to scare me like that again, I will murder you in your sleep with a goddamn plastic spoon, got it?" He scolded and shook the silver haired boy back and forth as the onlookers were completely baffled. The innocent little blonde boy was now cussing like a sailor. What just happened?

Naruto sighed, "I haven't had pleasant experiences with bombs, don't use them." Naruto said, almost sounding like he was pleading, one of the onlookers scoffed.

"What happened, someone with some balls scared you off?" He asked. Naruto gave him a glare.

"No. There was a blonde tranny who used bombs, and he just happened to be part of a group that tried to kill and take over the world where I come from." He said, and the man cackled.

"Oh yeah? And what was the name of this group?" He asked. Naruto chuckled darkly, sending shivers down his spine.

"Their name...they were The Akatsuki." He said, and there was stifling silence. Naruto's eyes went wide as everyone else looked like they would puke from just hearing the name.

"The Akatsuki? The one that was lead by Madara Uchiha?" He asked. The man was suddenly thrown to the wall by an invisible force, Naruto's wind jutsu he used with one handed hand signs when no one was looking.

"Say his name...and I WILL kill you." He said, enraged. Killua suddenly stepped up to him.

"Naruto. What is your last name?" He asked. Naruto suddenly pieced two and two together as he saw others looking at him with a mixture of realization, fear, and shock. The Fourth Shinobi War. Of course it had to have been recorded, hell, this was probably the future, judging by the things called 'cell phones' were definitely a sign of better technology, he swore in his mind, but then sighed. There wasn't any use hiding it now.

"Uzumaki...Namikaze...my name is Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze." He said, and there were gasps. He sighed as they all edged away from him, but then someone shouted out.

"That's not possible! Uzumaki Naruto was one of my ancestors, he's dead!" Naruto smiled.

"Really? Well then, since you know your ancestors so well, who was he married to?" He asked in a mocking tone. The man looked stumped, then grinned smugly.

"Sasuke Uchiha. There are no reports on that person, though." He said. Blink.

Naruto laughed. He laughed and laughed and laughed until he fell down, and was rolling on the floor laughing. When he had calmed down some, he chortled and stood up with the help of an annoyed Killua and a confused Gon. "Dude...Sasuke Uchiha was my best friend before I 'died'. I would rather marry Ino! And guess what? Sasuke. Is. A. Guy." He said, chuckling. The guy narrowed his eyes.

"How do you know about her? About Ino?" He asked. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"She used to Fangirl over Sasuke every single fucking day, damn, she pissed me off. Sakura-chan did it too, but got over it soon when he went off to the snake bastard." He said, feeling Kurama stir at the memories. He then sighed.

"Argh, I'd rather not talk about it. Too many bad memories, y'know?" He said, and then grinned brightly as he would if he were back home in Konoha.

"Gon, Leorio, Kurapika, you guys go ahead." He said, and they all got over their stupors and ran ahead, after small hesitation from Gon, then they finally noticed how far ahead the rest of the people had gotten. Naruto frowned. He might have to use his shadow clones to get them to the front in time. Oh well.

He gave Killua a small smile, encouraging him to go ahead without him. Unwillingly, he went, but not before giving Naruto an awkwardly hesitant wave. Once he was far enough, Naruto sighed.

"Hisoka, what are you doing?" He asked, facing the two men who had spoken back to him earlier, his back to Hisoka emerging from behind a wall.

"Watching to see if sparing you was the right choice." Came the reply. Naruto laughed.

"Yeah, if course, you didn't stay behind just so you could watch me kill these two?" He asked, and Hisoka chuckled in that way of his.

"And if I have?" He asked. Naruto shrugged.

"Do as you like. Any questions, later." He said, then turned to give Hisoka a quick grin, which startled the clown, and then, looking back at the two cowering men before him, he did a few hand signs, and killed the two men in front of him, stealing their souls. Naruto really wouldn't like using this jutsu in his old world, but in this one, he had learned more things, and now felt nothing if he killed a person. He had learned this jutsu from Madara. More specifically, from Kurama, who had -conveniently yet suspiciously- memorized the hand seals that Madara did just as he killed him. Apparently, the jutsu was designed to steal the soul of whoever the caster wanted dead, with no price. Very handy, unless you're the one being killed. Like Naruto was, just as he killed Madara. The bastard had enough time to make the hand seals. Tsk.

Naruto looked at his watch and 'tsk'ed. He looked to Hisoka.

"We've gotta get to the exit in thirty three seconds. I can get us there in five. Wanna come?" He asked. Hisoka gave him a disbelieving look, but allowed himself to be pulled along by Naruto, who took his hand and transported to the others. They all made startled noises as he suddenly appeared, much less with Hisoka. He rolled his eyes at their reactions, grabbed their hands, and concentrated, then teleported them all to the exit, where Satotsu was with the other contestants. They were all really surprised to see them appear out of nowhere, but made no comments. Instead, they just stared. Satotsu brought it all to their attention that they were now standing outside the Swindler's Swamp. Gon went up to Satotsu,

"Ne, Satotsu-san, who came first?" He asked, pointing to himself, Naruto and Killua. Satotsu gave him an unfathomable look.

"I believe you all crossed the finish line simultaneously." He said, and Gon frowned.

"Okay then I'll buy you guys dinner, then you guys buy me dinner!" He said, all happy. Naruto and Killua sweat dropped.

"I don't get it." Natruto mumbled. Killua just shook his head in amusement. They were all interrupted, however, when a seriously beat up looking man came with a monkey. Yes, a goddamn monkey. Claiming to be the real examiner and that Satotsu was a part of the creatures that could kill them, the man showed them how much the monkey he brought looked like Satotsu. As much as Naruto didn't want to admit it, Satotsu really did look like the monkey. Heh.

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Well, two men are dead by Naruto's hand, Hisoka was confused, but not showing it on the outside...this doesn't sound good, does it?

~Anna

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