Naruto 1. What to do

**Disclaimer: **I OWN NOT THIS MANGA NOR ITS ANIME NOR ANY COPYRIGHTS TO ITS MERCHANDISE. I WRITE THIS STORY FOR ENTERTAINMENT, NOT FOR PROFIT IT IS ONLY A FANFICTION.

**WARNING: **I WONDER IF YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN EXPECTING THIS MESSAGE SINCE I STOPPED FREQUENTLY POSTING CHAPTERS AND EVEN NOW AS I WRITE THIS MESSAGE I'M WINCING AT WHAT I'M GONNA SAY. I'M NOT DROPPING THIS STORY- I'M JUST RESTARTING IT… AGAIN... BEFORE YOU LEAVE LET ME EXPLAIN. I'VE FINALLY GOT DOWN A SOLID FOUNDATION FOR THIS STORY. IN OTHER WORDS I'VE WORKED OUT HOW MAGIC WORKS IN THIS UNIVERSE AND IT MAKES THINGS JUST A LITTLE EASIER TO WORK WITH THE STORY. I'VE ALSO WRITTEN DOWN A LOT OF THINGS THAT HELP ME O FIGURE OUT THIS STORY SO IT SHOULD BE EASIER TO MOVE ON WITH THE PLOT WITHOUT EVENTUALLY COMPLETELY CONTRADICTING MYSELF OR CONFUSING YOU WITH HALF EXPLANATIONS THAT SERVE AS A SORT OF DISTRACTION TILL I CAN CLEAR MY HEAD AND COME UP WITH SOMETHING BETTER.

**PS: **SORRY, THIS WARNING WAS UP FOR TOO SHORT A TIME BEFORE I DELETED THE ORIGINAL STORY SO I'M GONNA PUT IT UP AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS CHAPTER. I'M SORRY ONCE AGAIN. GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE NEW CHAPTER TWO SHOULD BE OUT BEFORE THE END OF NEXT WEEK. THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH ME SO FAR.

**SR**

**S**PIRAL **R**EFLECTION

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'_Move, move!' An old man shouted as he tried to pull the cart that carried his merchandise to safety._

'_Will you watch where you're going?' another voice shouted in the distance._

'_Get out of the way!' an aggressive voice shouted and was soon followed by the loud wailing of an upset child._

_The scene in the town was chaos as its inhabitants struggled to get to cover and away from the impending storm._

_Oppressive grey clouds gathered over the small settlement and a flash of lightning was often shortly followed by the rumbling of thunder. There was a storm building in the air and the natural instincts of the people told them that it was so much more than a rain storm. Hence, everyone was rushing to get cover._

_On the outskirts of the town where no one lived four figures stood fighting a midnight black wolf that would have completely faded into the shadows despite the fact that one of its paws was enough to destroy the whole town, but it did not fade as it would have because of its bright red eyes that could easily be seen._

_Unlike in the town a storm was not just threatening but was raging: Fierce winds bellowed and the sound of lightning was more of a roar than rumbling; The rain came down in torrents, crashing harshly against the skin of the figures and all other surfaces; Below their feet the ground often crumbled and from time to time a fire would suddenly and violently come to life beside one of them before it died down or was put out by the rain._

_It was in these conditions that the four figures tried to completely subdue the beast who had the ability to temporarily fade to shadows and to sometimes disappear and reappear in another spot. _

_Suddenly there was a bright flash of light and a voice that was easily drowned by the rain came from one of the figures: 'We've got it!' _

_Luckily her companions who had both seen what had happened and had been carefully listening for these words heard them and they immediately moved into position. From the cage of light that trapped the beast several brightly lit lines spread out forming into weird shapes around the general area. Most people would not have been able to follow the full array if they were not viewing it from above, the villagers would not have known what it was: but the four figures knew and moved quickly to their positions in the rune circle._

_Three of them moved into kneeling positions in different circles at different points: the two women were expending all their power to keep the prison of light standing; the man used all of his power to keep the rune circle active. The last person in the group, a man, stood in a circle in front of the cage. His eyes were purple and had several black rings surrounding his pupils, the minute his eyes locked with the beast its struggled lessened significantly though it never completely stopped. _

_Keeping his eyes fixed on blood red eyes of the monster he began to form his hands into weird shapes, all the while mumbling some words under his breath. Finally he finished and slammed his hands into the runes around him shouting out loud the words: 'Splitting sentient prison sealing technique!'_

_The creature roared out in pain as a white light formed in its chest. The light grew as did the struggles of the monster and then there was a burst of light that even more than the fierce storm, completely blinded them all._

_When the light cleared the beast was no more, instead in ten different circles there were ten different mists that all seemed to be glowing but had a dark shadow in their middle that pulsed._

_Even as the four figures watched with a sense of growing elation that their plan seemed to have worked the mists twisted and twisted… and seemed to grow…_

_The towns people who had before all been in a hurry relaxed as the atmosphere lightened somewhat and the grey clouds gave way just a smidge to allow a few rays of sunlight to show through._

* * *

When Naruto Uzumaki was angry things tended to get destroyed one way or another.

There was the incident at the age of three when Naruto had snuck away from the orphanage to attend a certain festival. He had ended up at a small shop that sold masks. The owner of the mask shop that opened only on certain festival days had refused to serve the small boy and had instead humiliated him in front of a large crowd that had gathered to sneer at his misfortune. As Naruto had defiantly glared back at them, without any apparent stimulation, every single mask in that crowd, including the ones in the shop, begun to crack one by one until they were all in pieces. At that time a ninja had had to intervene to prevent the boy from being attacked by the angry mob. Naruto had not understood what was going on but he still felt that they deserved it for bullying him- because that without a doubt was what they had done. The shop owner had demanded restitution for the damage to his goods; Naruto and the ninja had both denied Naruto's involvement; the Hokage had believed them; said merchant got zilch.

Then there had been the time when the matron at the orphanage had refused to feed him lunch or dinner because of a certain fight that had taken place that was not his fault and in which his only participation was to try and defend himself- he was still only three and the youngest bully in the group had been three years older than himself there was really not much he could do. For the remainder of the day Naruto was simmering and whenever the matron had tried to switch on any cooking appliance it exploded.

Then of course there was the incident which had gotten him thrown out of the first orphanage he was in: the matron had tried to lock him out of the building during one stormy night for one thing or the other- really the little boy was not even sure what he was being punished for this time but he knew it was unfair- and had found herself unable to get back in the house as she had been chased by lightning. The lightning seemed to have fun striking at all the places where she could have been and had been and the matron had gotten more exercise than she had in years! Naruto had been amused at the sight and had let out a small chuckle; the lightning immediately seized. After that frightening experience the matron's survival instincts had been sharpened and she was able to connect the pieces and link the lightening to the small blond. A startled Naruto had been all but dragged back into the orphanage and locked in his room. Before dusk the next day he had been moved to a new orphanage.

After that Naruto had been moved around from one orphanage to the next in quick succession. The longest he had stayed at an orphanage was three months; the shortest was a little under fifteen hours- arrived late one night and was gone before lunch the next day. In the short span of approximately one year Naruto Uzumaki had lived in six different orphanages.

The incident that got him thrown out of the second orphanage was much less amusing than the first but no more astounding seeing as how the building which served as the orphanage was partly sunk into the ground. At the fourth orphanage every single window had simultaneously shattered when Naruto threw a tantrum after his favourite and only toy was taken from him by an older child and the head was ripped off from the already tattered teddy bear. The incident that had finally gotten the Hokage to relent and get the young boy his own apartment at the tender age of four was an incident that had put the citizens of Konoha on edge- the orphanage had caught on fire; the matron had been severely burnt and a few children had been hurt as well. No one really knew what had happened but everyone at the orphanage- Naruto included- knew one thing- he had been the cause. Naruto knew it; he felt it and he felt guilty about it. Even if the Hokage had wanted to place him in another orphanage no one was willing to accept him.

The council had immediately used this as an excuse to try and control the boy but the Hokage had fought for him and had gotten them to back off for the moment. Still, he knew that this was far from over: the council of Konoha was nothing if not persistent. From the moment that he moved Naruto to his own apartment the Hokage had been walking on needles. He could not fight off the feeling that something was going to go wrong.

And it did.

Almost three weeks had passed since Naruto had moved into his new apartment block when it caught fire. Luckily no one had been hurt but the citizens were outraged. It became obvious to them that they had been right in calling for the boy's death. After all that the _demon_ brat had done it was even clearer to them that he was a hazard and that anyone that could not see that was blind and _incompetent_.

Naruto spent the following morning sitting in the Hokage's office and colouring pictures or playing games, unable to leave. He could not comprehend what was going on but the old man looked tired and Naruto wanted to put off disturbing him as much as possible: after the first time he had asked and the old man had kindly (but wearily) told him he could not go outside to play he had obediently and unconsciously played as quietly as possible so as not to stress out his grandfather figure.

Sarutobi noticed Naruto had toned down his noise levels after asking if he could go play outside and being denied. Sarutobi let out a fond but sad smile at the boy. He had lived long and in that time he had realised that children were more insightful than most adults gave them credit for.

He watched Naruto gravely for a while before he turned back to the set of papers on the desk which he had been considering for a while.

These were the papers that Kushina had specifically deposited with him asking him to please take care of them because she did not want anyone to get their hands on them. Apparently she had received them from Mito and Kushina did not want anyone of those greedy Konoha merchants to somehow get wind of the documents. Sarutobi had felt that her fear was somewhat justified at that time seeing as how Kushina was a jinchuuriki and many of Konoha's richer and more well established merchants were bigoted fools with hearts colder than ice and harder than diamonds. After seeing the piece of property in question he had felt that she was more than justified enough in her worry- it was amazing!

The Hokage had gone with Kushina to visit the home once when she was pregnant with Naruto and she had felt it only proper to show Minato. The Hokage had tagged along curious about the ancient home that had once belonged to Mito and which now belonged to Kushina: he was not disappointed.

The house, a two story building with an attic and a basement, was western styled and painted in tones of cream and soothing brown; the use of a glass like substance, that proved to be much sturdier than glass, was freely applied in the upstairs corridors and in the rooms instead of having walls and allowed a good amount of sunlight to filter into the house; the curtains and rugs that filled the place while of an obviously high quality make were not gaudy in a way that emphasized too much wealth but instead showcased a quiet elegance; and the furniture though heavily covered in dust appeared to be in good shape and were obviously placed for their functionality as much as for the their beautiful craftsmanship; portraits as well as several other curious and beautiful ornaments were present throughout out the house and demonstrated a cheerful sort of personality mixed with good taste.

It was a house that had been made not only to be shown off but also to be lived in.

But that was not all. The house was also surrounded by an extensive amount of land and trees and several small other buildings that had long been abandoned. Small bodies of water and a miniature forest as well as extensive gardens had been present in the compound. The place was a treasure.

Curiously enough, an aspect that very much awakened the curiosity of the scholarly Hokage, was the fact that nothing from the house was visible or even seemed to be in existence once the compound had been locked down. Before Kushina had applied a drop of her blood on the required seals nothing had been present and after she had locked down the compound the Hokage had walked around on the now empty land and had confirmed that there was nothing left there from the Uzumaki property.

Minato had been intrigued by that and had, with the permission of his wife, begun to study the seals involved. As far as the old Hokage knew, the young man had not made any progress before his death.

The aged leader gave a weary sigh at the reminder of the premature loss of the life of his successor. He looked up at the yellow haired child that quietly sat on the floor drawing pictures of his uncomplicated view of everyday life in Konoha and he let a soft smile onto his lips. He was fond of the boy, very much so in fact, and did not want Danzo or the others getting their hands on him. He had done many things in his life which he regretted and he did not feel himself to be a good man or an evil one really- he simply did what he could to protect those he cared about. He would have repeated many of those same decisions that sometimes came back to haunt him because they were decisions that protected those he cared for.

Was Naruto really a danger to anyone? The answer was 'Yes but only when he's angry' because 'at those times the world seems to tense up and listens to his whims'. Those had been the words of the ninja that had been placed to monitor Naruto since his strange abilities had cropped up.

'…the world seems to tense up and listen to his whims.'

That had been another thing about these events. The ninja had said that Naruto had not used chakra but he had still been, after some time spent constantly watching the boy, able to tell exactly when something would happen because the world around him seemed to shift. What exactly changed- he could not tell but he could feel it.

The Hokage sighed; he had been doing that a lot more recently. The most recent incident had not been Naruto's doing because that had been traces of chakra left behind and the incidents instigated by the small blond never made use of chakra. This was a setup.

He pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. Such an attempt had been dangerous and badly planned and had resulted in a lot of unnecessary, extra paperwork for him! If he could he would have like to send the moron who had done it to Anko and let the woman have her fun- irritating, manipulative, old windbags!

As it was he had no solid proof and so would not do anything- yet. Oh no, for now his top priority was Naruto. He looked through another file that lay on his desk- a file that contained the anbu under his command. He planned to find those that were most loyal to him and hopefully understood just how much the child had been forced to give up for people that hated him. Many of the anbu who had also had to do some unsavoury things found that they could empathize with young Naruto's situation. From those he would choose a few who could help with the clean-up of the Uzumaki mansion which was to become the boy's new home. Hopefully with Naruto no longer being a direct threat to any of them the villagers would calm down and Naruto would have a bit of quiet.

He looked at the pictures in the file carefully. Hopefully with a bit of guidance as Naruto grew older he would learn to control this ability, whatever it was, or it may become a problem in the future.

He stopped absently flicking through the file as a certain face came up to stare at him. A small smile was on his lips as he studied the file of the anbu: there also happened to be current need for a guardian who would stay with Naruto.

That settled he looked up at the boy and a gentle smile came to his lips "What do you say we get an order of Ichiraku's for lunch?" he asked the small child and his question was answered by a bright smile and a vigorous nod of the head. "Then I'll have Ayaka pick up some," he said as he pressed the button to summon his secretary. As he did so he noticed the smile of the child falter just a bit and he had to hide his grimace.

Trapping the child in the office had not been his plan but right now, no matter how much Naruto may want to, nothing could convince the old Hokage that it was alright to let the boy outside.

The small blond turned back to continue his drawings and Sarutobi had to repress his sigh. He really wished that Minato and Kushina were here right now because he was honestly getting too old for this job.


	2. Pollux

Disclaimer: I OWN NOT THIS MANGA NOR ITS ANIME NOR ANY COPYRIGHTS TO ITS MERCHANDISE. I WRITE THIS STORY FOR ENTERTAINMENT, NOT FOR PROFIT IT IS ONLY A FANFICTION.

* * *

Naruto stood precariously balanced on the edge of a chair in his new study as he tried to reach for a toy robot positioned with other ornaments on a shelf set rather high up on the wall. It had been a week since his last home had caught fire and late the previous night he and the Hokage had left Konoha and come here. The four year old was excited: this whole house and everything around it was his- the Hokage had said so- that meant that he could go where he wanted and do what he wanted, and the Hokage had even promised that Naruto would have one roommate who would live with him and make sure he did not injure himself- a friend! Someone with whom he could go exploring all the wonders of the new house with; that was why for now he had not yet gone to explore on his own- everything would be more fun if he had someone to share it with. Understand that he may not have had the best of experiences with people but the Hokage had assured him that this person was friendly and they would get along. Not to mention the fact that this was Naruto's house and if the person was mean to Naruto the young boy reserved the right to throw them out. It was his house after all!

After the Hokage had left Naruto had pondered that statement for a long time. For someone who had only owned very few things to suddenly be the owner of a house and all that was in it was monumental. It made him giddy. He had been bouncing about in his excitement as the old man had chuckled and followed after him to examine all the rooms in the house.

But right now Naruto was not thinking of this. The man had shown Naruto to the upstairs rooms including the room to be owned by Naruto and Naruto had been suitably impressed; the room that he was to sleep in was one of the largest bedrooms in the house. Naruto was presently in the study of the house. A large room whose colours had been more calm and neutral than the colour of his room- the room gave off an adult feel is what Naruto had decided- the room also happened to have several tall bookshelves all filled with books he could not, for the life of him, understand; a large desk and a chair with wheels; A couch; a couple of beanbags; and a few shelves containing some curious ornaments.

What Naruto was now here trying to claim was a white and green robot that sat limply on one of the shelves.

"Got it!" he shouted with delight as he managed to grab a hold of his prize then deftly jumped down from the chair on which he stood with a smile on his face. The robot was about three-quarters his size and was much heavier than he had anticipated; it was predominantly white with a green circle each on its forehead, stomach, palms and the bottom of its feet; green lines that mildly resembled veins trailed down its arms and legs; and there was a symbol of the Uzumaki clan on its back which, unlike the ones Naruto had seen, was a forest green colour.

The circle on the stomach was not just a circle. Sure it was round on the outside but there were more shapes on the inside. It vaguely reminded Naruto about the seal where he had been required to place a few drops of blood to make the house appear. He got a thoughtful look on his face as he contemplated the possibility before he slowly nodded his head and went to the kitchen.

The main kitchen, as it had been named by the Hokage, was done up in black marble, for the counters; white tiles which looked like they had black grains of sand, for the floor; and white tiles with lime green borders and small pictures of lime green fruits and veggies, for the walls.

It had been named the main kitchen because it seemed to be built for common use unlike the small kitchen upstairs, rather close to Naruto's room, which looked to have been designed for a child as small as Naruto or maybe a little older. Naruto had yet to use the scaled down kitchen but the yellow walls, white tiles, fruits painted on the walls in bright colours and the cheerful coloured equipment and ornaments, many of which he had never seen before, made the place very welcoming and he was looking forward to using it. Alas it did not seem to have what he was looking for- a knife.

So Naruto went downstairs to the main kitchen, retrieved a small knife and, after offering a silent apology to his absent grandfather figure for disobeying his instruction of 'Do not touch the knives!', carefully made a small cut on his little finger and let a single drop fall onto the robot's stomach. Then he placed the knife in the sink and after making a mental note to wash it before the Hokage arrived later that afternoon, placed the robot in a sitting position against one of the cabinets in the kitchen, sat down and watched as the blue lines on the robot all lit up.

A few minutes later two bright green circles placed into the robots head became visible, and then in quick movements became white and then green again. With a growing excitement Naruto realised that the robot had opened its eyes and blinked at him.

The small robot got to its feet and bent low in a bow "Good day young master," it greeted in a mechanical voice.

Naruto's head whipped to the sides in surprise as he looked for the person whom the robot was greeting before he turned back to it his mouth still open "'you talking to me?" he asked, his tone coloured with unconcealed awe.

"Yes." It answered. It had stood straight up and both the boy and the robot stared at each other with unblinking eyes before the robot spoke up.

"It seems that you have been accepted as the new master of the Uzumaki Mansion. As such I will serve as your most trusted assistant. Do feel free to assign to me any task you wish." It finished its words with a little bow.

Naruto continued to stare at the robot unblinkingly and said nothing since most of its words had gone over his head "What's your name?" he eventually asked though his voice showed that he was not completely out of his daze.

"My name is Pollux. It is my job to take care of this house and to provide you any help I may." It explained to him.

Naruto nodded slowly as he took in the words of the small robot that stood before him.

Finally he broke into a huge grin- he had his very own talking, walking robot!

"As my first job, may I reactivate the runes that power the house?" Pollux asked him.

"What?" Naruto questioned.

"May I turn on the electricity?" the robot clarified.

"You can do that?" Naruto asked hopefully "Hokage-jiji said he would bring someone to do it but that it wud take some time because the house is hard to understand."

"Hmm," the small robot hummed. "I have been deactivated for quite a while but I wonder if perhaps the earthlings' knowledge of runes has progressed any since then- All the same if you give me permission I should have the electricity up and running before an hour has passed."

"Permission granted!" Naruto answered enthusiastically, having only understood the second part of the robots words.

"Excellent." The robot turned and began to walk away with Naruto hot on its heels.

They first went up to the study where the robot had been stored and Pollux retrieved a small wooden box from one of the cupboards before they both left the house and went outside.

They walked for a short while till they came to a building that looked like the barn in one of the picture books Naruto had once read: It was tall, made of wood and had red walls and a white roof. The door was locked with a small padlock that was at least a head and a shoulder above Naruto's head.

Once there the robot traced the lines on the box with one of his fingers, whose tip now glowed with a vibrant green. Naruto watched as each line turned a vibrant blue colour as Pollux's finger passed over it; and once all the lines were blue the small box opened with an audible 'click!'. The box now opened, Naruto noticed that it contained several stones of a pinkish-red colour all neatly arranged in rows and columns. But it seemed that was not what Pollux was looking for, evidenced by the way he gently removed the layer that contained the stones from box and placed it aside before he began to rummage through the bottom of the box. Finally the robot pulled out three keys- one was shaped like a normal key, the second like a keyhole (it was white with a single red stripe running down each side vertically) and the last was shaped like a normal key but much thicker and sturdier looking than the first- before carefully rearranging the contents of the box and shutting it.

Then to Naruto's ever growing wonder the hands of the robot extended till it reached the lock on the small padlock and inserted the ordinary looking key into it. The lock opened with a small snap and Pollux removed it before pushing open the huge doors.

Naruto's head snapped from one side to the other as he took in the large room filled with boxes placed upon one another and sometimes piled as high as the roof. Once his 'roommate' arrived they were going to go through every single box in this building!

"Come along then," Pollux's voice called from somewhere ahead and the small boy immediately rushed to catch up.

Pollux led him to the back of the room and stopped in front of a small metal trapdoor with a small hole in it that was shaped like the second key. Pollux placed the key into the hole and Naruto watched as the two red line lit up before Pollux began to turn the key. When the two red lines on the key turned green the trap door opened slightly and grasping it by the its handle Pollux pulled it open fully. In the dim light below the door Naruto spotted a ladder leading downwards.

"I'll go down first, watch your steps as you follow." The small robot instructed Naruto before it descended. A few seconds later Naruto followed the robot, carefully placing one foot on each step below to make sure of his footing before he placed his other foot.

The journey was a fairly short one and soon Naruto found himself standing on solid ground before a tunnel that led on into darkness. Pollux stood at the bottom waiting for him and once Naruto reached him the robots eyes turned white began to shine brightly, acting as a torchlight that let them see a few steps ahead into the darkness. Once that was done the two began to walk with Naruto always a step or two behind the robot.

They kept walking for a few minutes along the path that seemed to slope downwards till they came up to a large metal door and here Pollux used the third key.

The second he stepped beyond the door Naruto felt like he had been hit but it was a pleasant warm feeling that enveloped him and left him feeling tingly and excited even after the initial shock was gone. The room was a rather large one that had several clear white stones that were set into the roof and emitted a warm white light that lit up the whole room. On the floor and walls were green lines that all connected to form strange patterns similar to the one on the trap door in the barn or on Pollux's stomach or even on the seal outside his new home. He turned to Pollux to ask him the function of these lines but the robot had moved from his side and was placing one of the red stones into a small hole that had been set in the ground in the middle of one of the circles formed by the lines.

Naruto made to move to the robot's side when Pollux spoke up: "I must ask that you remain in your position young master; once charged up these rune lines can send a nasty shock to whoever steps on them and unlike me you are not fitted up to take that."

"It's dangerous?" Naruto asked the robot to make sure that he had correctly interpreted its words.

"Yes." Pollux answered simply.

Naruto nodded and remained where he was: Young he may be, foolish he was not: so he listened to Pollux's words and settled on following the robot's movement with his eyes. Pollux moved around the room placing the red stones from the box into the holes at the centre of the circles. Then Naruto watched as the robot began to move towards him but stopped at the centre of the room and placed one last stone there before he finally came up to Naruto.

As the last stone was placed the green lines, like all the others before them, began to glow: starting from the one closest to the last stone, at the centre of the room, and then quickly moving outwards, all over the floors and up the walls and into the holes that ran into the walls. Naruto watched the progress with shining eyes and an excited grin plastered on his face.

"This is so cool!" he exclaimed as he turned to the robot.

Pollux simply tilted his head to the right and gave a single nod before turning around to leave, making sure to beckon the young blond to follow after him.

The two returned to the house, Naruto asking questions all the way back. He learned that the strange lines he had seen often since he arrived at the house were called 'rune lines'- lines that were made of 'mana' and a 'binding magical signature' and were drawn into different patterns so they could do a special task; He learned that mana was some kind of special material that was present in everything- him included; he learnt that rune lines were drawn with magic wands and that magic was real and he would be able to do it too- 'very soon' Pollux had said.

By the time they reached the house Naruto was vibrating with his excitement. He had often seen ninjas do cool things with something called… he couldn't remember what it was called but it started with a 'c' and he had wanted to learn how to do it as well. He also remembered all those stories that had been read to him a few times or that he had managed to read as well, and while he was fairly certain that the word 'magic' did not begin with the letter 'c' he had always known that magic in its own right was quite awesome and he would not mind learning it at all.

They got back to the house a little past noon and Naruto's stomach gave a grumble as he flopped back into the comfy arm chair in the downstairs sitting room he had come to favour the most.

"I'm hungry," he whined to no one in particular but Pollux answered him

"Then shall I cook something for you young master?"

Naruto stared at his robot companion in contemplation before shaking his head and replying "Nah. Hokage-jiji said there would be some food in the kitchen; I'll just warm that up and eat it."

"If you are sure,"

"Yeah, thanks Pollux." Naruto said as he slipped down from the couch and made his way to the kitchen, Pollux at his heels.

"So do you have to drink oil or something to keep going?" Naruto asked as he remembered a few of the cartoons he had watched.

"No," Pollux replied promptly "I am powered by mana."

Naruto took a moment to digest this information as he removed a small bento from the fridge and took it to his microwave "How does that work?" He finally asked as he finished setting up the microwave and stepped down from the small stool that had been specially placed to help him where his height was not sufficient.

"I have a core made of a crystal in me: it is similar to the crystals that help generate electricity for this mansion," Naruto nodded as he remembered the red crystals that they had retrieved earlier in the day, "The runes that have been applied to me allow me to constantly absorb mana from the air to the crystal which then breaks down the mana to pure energy and distributes it around my body to help me function." The robot explained.

"So it's magic." Naruto summarised. He had not understood much of what had been said but the words 'mana' and 'runes' combined with the mention of the 'magic crystals' (as he had determined they were) led him to the simple conclusion- and that it was magic was more than a satisfactory explanation for him.

"Yes."

At that moment the beeper on the microwave went off and Naruto rushed to get his food which he devoured with great gusto. As it happened, Pollux was in charge of the house and that included mundane chores like washing up dishes. Of course that was only till Naruto was old enough to perform some of the chores himself since Pollux was an assistant not a maid. Never- the- less Naruto was glad to help by drying up the plates, and eventually sitting quietly in the sitting room, while listening to Pollux recounting tales of some of the people who had lived in the Uzumaki mansion in the past.

Apparently, Pollux had been made by the first master of the house who was a really smart man and was good at working with runes. Pollux had been created to assist the man in running the house as well as being in charge of the man's young child who had a habit of getting into places and doing things, he was not supposed to. Thanks to Pollux's connection to the runes surrounding the land he was able to keep a track of the child at all times by tracking the child's magic along the runes. Also, the house had not always been so big but the family grew and almost all following generations had chosen to add something to it till it had become a sort of tradition for the head of the family to add at least one thing extra to the compound if not to the mansion itself. Another tradition that had developed was for Pollux to be passed down from the retiring head of the family to his successor. And even as the family members all moved away and ceased returning, such had been the tradition till the last head recorded in his data banks had turned him off and, presumably, left.

Naruto was about to ask why they had left when Pollux suddenly stood up and headed to the doors.

"Who are those?" He asked as the two white haired strangers that had stepped through the gate began heading towards the mansion.

"Jiji!" Naruto called out happily, rushing past a surprised Pollux and latching himself onto the legs of the older of the men that had arrived.

"Naruto," the old man smiled down gently at the energetic blond.

"C'mon, Jiji you gotta meet my new friend!" the boy said excitedly as he tugged on the man's hand "You gotta meet him! He's a robot and he knows all about magic and about my family and all sortsa cool stuff like runes and electricity and mana and he says I'm gonna be able to do magic someday!"

Naruto babbled on without stopping while the two men followed after him and listened to his enthusiastic babble with amused smiles- well the older one did at least seeing as the expression on the younger one's face was obscured by a mask.

Pollux, for his part, had moved forward and kept his eyes on the two men. When they finally reached his position Naruto let out a blinding smile as he proudly said "This is Pollux: he's a robot and my friend…" then after a small hesitation, "And my assistant!"

He looked up at the old man with an expectant expression on his face while the old man examined the robot. A look of recognition followed by surprise, as he remembered the small robot from the library, flitted across his face before his face became unreadable again.

"It's a pleasure to meet you… Pollux… is it?" he said at long last.

"A pleasure…" the robot trailed off,

"You may call me Sarutobi," the Hokage told him "And this is Hatake Kakashi," he gestured to the young man that had been all but overlooked by the small blond.

"Then it is a pleasure to meet you Lord Sarutobi, master Hatake." Pollux greeted them both.

The Hokage gave a single nod before turning to Naruto, his expression softening greatly as he took in the still expectant look on the small boy's face.

"I'm glad you found a friend Naruto," the old man began and the beaming smile returned to Naruto's face "Unfortunately I have a lot of work to do and won't be able to chat with you right now," Naruto's expression fell again "But I brought you another friend," Sarutobi continued as he gestured to Kakashi.

Naruto whipped around to look at the second man whom he had only given a passing glance when the Hokage had introduced the man to Pollux as Kakashi.

Now that the Hokage's words had succeeded in attracting the small blonde's attraction to the man Naruto studied him carefully.

The man was tall (so were most adults to the height challenged four year old), he was old but not as old as the Hokage who was really old, he also had on a mask and ninja forehead protector that was worn in a combination that hid most of his face from view, and the man was standing in a pose that Naruto immediately decided was 'cool'. His smile returned at maximum brightness as he let go of the Hokage's robes and walked over to the man who had stood some distance back,

"Hello!" he said brightly "My name's Naruto!" he held out a hand for the man to take and eye shining with amusement, the man responded

"I'm Kakashi, pleased to meet you Naruto."

Naruto nodded as he adjusted himself so that he could comfortably pull Kakashi into the house after him, all the while he happily babbled about the house and everything in it and everything they were going to be doing.

Once Naruto had disappeared through the door Sarutobi turned to face Pollux, who was also staring at him and was the first to speak,

"You used the master's blood to gain entry to this premises." It was a statement not a question.

"Yes." The Hokage replied shortly "How did you get in here?" he asked the robot, his eyes hardening as he faced down the small robot.

"My name is Pollux," the robot replied as the air about them began to shift slightly "Guardian of the mansion." Several yellow lines became visible and raced across the grounds of the compound, crackling with electricity. A yellow line moved like a snake and formed a circle that was never fully closed around the two; every once in a while the circle would let out a powerful crack and either speed up or slow down.

"It is my job," said the robot "to ensure the safety of the inhabitants of this mansion and to protect my master from all threats."

This was all said in a level tone of voice but the robot held his stare in a manner that told Sarutobi exactly what was being implied. Through it all the face of the Hokage remained impassive and after some seconds he gave a nod.

"Very well then, we shall talk tomorrow. I will be here around noon." Sarutobi informed him.

The small robot gave a nod of acknowledgement as the surroundings returned to normal.

"Till next time," the Hokage said as a farewell,

"Till next time Lord Sarutobi," Pollux replied in kind.

Sarutobi turned around and began to leave, his expression never changing as he thought about several things. The Uzumaki had always been a surprising kind and were known to have been fighters who could devastate their enemies. It had been near impossible to ever predict what an Uzumaki would do. That had been why when he had found the little Uzumaki journal that talked about a 'guardian of the mansion' he had been worried. Little had been said about what the guardian was and the less information you had on an Uzumaki's method of attack the worse off you were(the same could be applied to many people, races or even activities not related to combat but the Uzumaki always seemed to make it seem worse.) Still he had not been prepared for that, for what Pollux had seemed to do. But if Pollux was who he said he was, and had the abilities he implied he did and that the journal claimed he did, then Naruto was in good hands and the Hokage would have just a little less to worry about.


	3. Defining magic

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own anything Naruto: the character; manga; show; video game: even merchandise. This is a non-profit **fan fiction** in which anything I do not disclaim can be viewed as mine unless it is obviously not mine.

**AN:** This chapter has a lot of explanations that form the premise of the story so it is advised to read it carefully. And feel free to send me a message (PM or review) if you have any questions. Thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

* * *

It had been three weeks since Naruto had found Pollux. Three weeks since he had been told of magic. Three weeks since Kakashi had come to live with him. And Naruto still loved it.

It had stopped long ago, the excitement he felt at being moved to a new 'home' as the detestable orphanages had been called. In his young mind Naruto could not help but link the word home to a house where there was a mother and a father who loved their child and where the child was welcome. Hence he considered no place, least of all the orphanages, home because there was no such house and no such people who loved and welcomed him. At first moving from orphanage to orphanage had been exciting for him but then his enthusiasm would rapidly dull and then completely die within hours of being at his new residence when it became that there was no one there who would like, let alone love, him. Still he had hope and even though he was let down every time and he knew it would never be better he could not help but hold tightly on to that feeling, knowing that to let go would be unbearable. It was a lesson he knew instinctively and one that he would not discard because he feared the consequences.

But it had not happened this time. This time Naruto had not yet become tired of this new house; his new home. He had not gotten tired of exploring the forest; of working in one of the numerous gardens- the one he had claimed as his; of going swimming in the small, natural pool that lay in the forest; of feeding the ducks that resided in the pond on the farm; of searching through the dusty boxes in the pseudo barn; of hearing stories of his family and of magic; and of the lessons he was now required to take.

The lessons were to help bring up his concentration, his observation skills and his capacity to retain, recall and apply information. They also focused on helping him to improve his vocabulary and pronunciation, helping him to learn his colours, his numbers, his alphabet and the base runic symbols that he was told would become an important part of his future. Naruto was also drilled in basic etiquette and learning how he was to hold and conduct himself in public- something that he was told the head of the Uzumaki family would have to know. Of course it was hard but Pollux had said he needed to learn it and Naruto would not complain. Pollux had also mentioned something about poli- something or the other but said that Naruto was still too young to learn that. All in all he had a busy but happy life these past couple weeks.

There was no mother or father here but there was Kakashi and Pollux. Kakashi who teased and played with him and Pollux who took care of him and cared what Naruto did. Kakashi who smiled at him; and Pollux who brought him a warm glass of milk to drink before bed. Kakashi who never ignored him; and Pollux who always watched him. There was always warmth here and fun and smiles. So no, this place did not fit into his definition of home but he liked it here and so this place was his home.

A soft wind swept across the Uzumaki compound causing the red and gold leaves that littered the ground to swirl around in lazy patterns before they were swept away with the wind and dropped a few paces hence. The sun was already high in the clear blue sky but the warmth emanated was not enough to completely counter the chill that hung in the air, quickly increasing and indicating that the fast approach of winter.

Naruto smiled happily as he finished up the last strip of bacon on his plate, smiling happily as he did so. Bacon was another luxury that Naruto had been denied at the orphanage but he had been able to eat it with reasonable frequency since he had arrived here and he was happy about that: bacon was delicious. Kakashi sat directly opposite him absorbed in a small red book while his empty breakfast platter had been pushed to the side and Pollux sat a seat down from him keeping silent and looking vacant. He had just finished the last of his cup of milk when there was the sound of their bell ringing.

He immediately jumped down from his position at the table and rushed towards their door with Kakashi and Pollux following at a more sedate pace.

"Who is it?" Naruto called out in an excited voice thinking that there was only one person it could be. Well it could be more than one but then the person he wanted would still be among them.

A good natured chuckle rang out from the person and Naruto was already turning the doorknob before a reply was given.

"It's jiji."

A firm hand caught Naruto's and he looked up to see Kakashi smiling down at him good naturedly but refusing to let go of his hand.

"Kakashi san?" he asked, unaware of why the man was preventing him from opening the door.

"It is alright. The runes have verified his identity." Pollux's emotionless voice said.

Kakashi hesitated for a moment before he let go of Naruto's hand. The small blond spared a short, curious look at him before he opened the door and flung himself into the arms of the aged Hokage.

"Jiji!"

"Hello Naruto," the man said with a fond smile "I hope you have been doing well."

"Yes!" the blond replied enthusiastically as he caught hold of the old man's hands and dragged him into their most frequently used sitting area. It was the first room to the right when passing the front door. A large room that was painted cream and had one set of walls completely made out of glass so that when the heavy, light brown curtains were pulled apart there was a full and clear view of the neat outside lawn with its recently trimmed bushes. All the furniture and furnishings in the room were done in various shades of brown and maroon save for the marble top of the coffee table which had a pattern that was done in mostly a seashell pink colour with various sprinklings of orange, red and black. There was a large marble fireplace next to the room's entrance and at the opposite wall were two book shelves, filled with books, parallel to each other and with two cushion chairs in between showing that the small, comfy looking corner was a place for leisurely reading in comfort.

"I found some duckies and some baby duckies and then I get to feed 'em ev'ry day but Pollux says to call baby duckies ducklings and they eat all the bread crumbs I throw 'em and then sometimes they dip their head into tha wa'er " he said dipping his own head in demonstration "and then the go- BRRR" Naruto flung his head back in a sudden and violent motion and shook it vigorously so that his hair was flying all around his face "Just like that!" he finished looking up at the Hokage with wide eyes that showed excitement. "Then I got my own garden and it's got lotsa flowers of many dif'rent colours like yellow and red and orange- I really, really like the colour orange. It's my fav'rite. But I also like all tha other colours like red and blue like the skies and like my eyes. My eyes are blue like the sky, did you know that Jiji?" He asked, looking up at the Hokage with awe struck eyes.

"Is that so Naruto?" the man asked with a short laugh.

"Mmhmm. Mmhmm," the boy nodded vigorously, "Yeah and-"

"Young _master,_" Pollux cut in before Naruto could go off on another rant.

Naruto looked at him curiously before he seemed to realise something and then he turned back to his jiji and gave him a shy smile "Please have a seat jiji." He said to the old man and once the old man had complied and with an amused smile took a seat on one of the sofas closest to the window wall: "What would you like to drink?" The small boy shot a quick look at Pollux to see if he was doing this right but the robot gave him no help and so he continued "There's milk and orange juice and- and," he scrunched up his nose in concentration before his face was lit with a brilliant smile "We've got wine!" He declared proudly as he remembered Pollux's lessons about how adults would prefer wine to flavoured milk. He had never tasted it because he was too young but he was curious about the stuff. "And it's the good stuff too," he said confidently "It's been around for a long time." He said nodding his head as if in confirmation of something he had long known though he had no idea why the wine was considered to be better because it was older when milk was thought to be worse the older it was.

"Thank you Naruto." The old man laughed genially "Just water would be fine." He said. The small boy nodded and as Pollux left the room to get some water he settled himself comfortably in the Hokage's lap. Pollux returned a few minutes later to find Naruto babbling away again as he related the tale of a squirrel and a nut that Naruto had found interesting some days prior.

"Thank you." The Hokage said politely as he poured himself a glass of water and sipped it as all the while he quietly listened to Naruto's tale.

"I apologise," the old leader addressed Pollux once Naruto stopped rambling to catch a breath "I was unable to make our prior engagement due to some… unforeseen disturbances in the village." He paused and let out a weary sigh. The business with the Hyuuga had been nasty. Hiashi was even colder to him when he had been told that the Hokage would rather placate Kumo than give the Hyuuga what they felt was justice. He was truly too old for all this. The hand that held Naruto gently squeezed the small boy's shoulder as he thought of his successor. Naruto looked up with a question in innocent blue eyes and the Hokage smiled down at him. Immediately the question died on his lips and the small blond looked down at his hands, a frown marring his features. The Hokage had often given him that smile and whenever he did Naruto was faced with the sudden urge to turn away and think up a way to cheer up his jiji because that smile, he thought, had something sad about it.

"It is understandable Lord Sarutobi, your duty to your people must, of course, be fulfilled." Pollux said simply. Naruto looked up from his hands and to his small robot friend before he wriggled out of the Hokage's lap and onto floor then headed towards the small reading area. "It was no trouble at all." The Hokage gave a small nod and the robot continued "I believe you had some questions for me?"

The Hokage gave another nod before he began to speak. "I have been led to understand that you knew the Uzumaki family?"

The robot nodded "For generations and generations." He answered

"And may I inquire as to your relationship with them?"

"To serve and to defend the head of the family in whichever way they saw fit; to protect the mansion and its inhabitants; and to ensure the safety of the family heir at all times." He rattled off.

"Kushina made no mention of you at all." The Hokage said. He really did not doubt the robot but there were answers he wanted, things he wanted to know.

"I do not know this Kushina of whom you speak but from the information I have been able to gather it had been several decades since my last mistress saw fit to deactivate me. I have little information on what happened during the period in which I was deactivated."

"If that is the truth then how can you tell that Naruto is the master of the family? The Uzumaki are famous for red hair and Naruto is blond. I have seen the portraits displayed throughout this home and it seems to be a trait that has existed for a long time." The Hokage finished, his mind recalling the several portraits that displayed the red heads. Of course the portraits had also featured people who were not read heads but they were not as many as the people with the custom Uzumaki trait.

"The runes tested him and they accepted him and told me so."

The Hokage blinked at that "They tested him and accepted him and they told you so?" he asked slowly.

"The runes were written to perform certain tasks, to gather certain information and be able to transmit that information. I can read and understand the information of the runes just as I can direct them."

"I see." The Hokage nodded to show his understanding. He brought the glass of water to his lips as he sipped the water and thought of what he had been told. He was sure that the runes referred to the glowing lines that had appeared all over the compound during his last visit; the lines that were no doubt dangerous and which Pollux seemed to have control of; the lines that vaguely reminded him of seals. He nodded absently. He had known that the Uzumaki compound had been protected but he had not known how- now he did. He wondered which question he should ask next and decided on the one that had him the most concerned:

"You say that you have been with the Uzumaki for generations." He fixed the small robot with a piercing gaze, "Then maybe you have some idea of the abilities that young Naruto shows." It was not a question.

Kakashi glances at the small boy that had vacated the Hokage's lap; fetched one of his picture books and now sat on a comfy cushion at a corner of the room to look through the book.

"I assume you are talking about his ability to perform magic." The sound of Pollux's voice draws him back to the conversation going on between his leader and the small robot.

"Magic." The Hokage repeats quietly and although no one is watching Kakashi raises an incredulous eyebrow at the word. From the several fairy tales that spoke of magic Kakashi had come to decide that what ninjas did could be classified as a type of magic. But Naruto did not use chakra; of that much he was sure. "Explain." The Hokage's voice was sharp and commanding and Pollux complied.

"Mana is the most basic form of everything; small particles of energy that coalesce to form matter. From a pebble to a human and everything before, after and in-between- it is all made of mana." Here he stopped and gave them a moment to process what he was saying before he ploughed on "Magic is the act of manipulating mana."

Kakashi and Sarutobi both sat silently as they processed the robot's words. Sarutobi was immediately reminded of what the ninja that had spent the most time with Naruto had said about the way the world seemed to shift before anything happened around Naruto. If he were to explain Naruto's abilities in terms of manipulating the basic entity that made up the world then the words of the ninja made sense.

"How?" Sarutobi asked, breaking the silence. "How does he do it? Is it a special ability that only the Uzumaki possess?" It had always been known that the Uzumaki had special chakra but this was not chakra and Kushina, as far as he could remember, did not have the same capabilities as Naruto and all the Uzumaki he had met had made use of chakra.

"It is not an ability possessed only by the Uzumaki." Pollux answered. The Hokage looked at him, eyes urging the small robot to explain further. "Certain beings- humans or otherwise- are born with what is called a core. A core is to mana what a magnet is to iron. It exudes a force that attracts mana and that can bend, shape, combine and otherwise manipulate mana in several ways." This time he did not stop there but instead continued to speak.

"Just as there are weak magnets and strong magnets and magnets with intermediate power levels so also there exist cores that are weak, strong or in-between. Also, in the same manner that some magnets only work under special conditions so are there cores that do the same.

"Then of course you must know that there are different types of mana, for example there is what is called elemental mana which can further be subdivided into air elemental mana, water elemental mana and etc.; And while all elemental mana might feel similar they are not the same."

Here he once again paused for them to catch up and once the Hokage gave him the signal he continued to speak:

"This is another way in which cores differ: they work with different types of mana. You can have a core that will work on all types of elemental mana but no other mana type just the same as you may have a core that only works on one type of elemental mana but will work with other mana types or even a core that will work on any other mana type but elemental mana- the combinations are several." The Hokage nodded and Pollux continued "This way of classifying a core is classification by type. You can also classify them by: Strength- in which a stronger core will have a stronger control over the mana type it can manipulate; Range- which deals with the distance over which a core has influence; and size- in which the size of the core determines how much it can do before the user becomes too tired as well as how quickly the power of the core is regained after use." Here he stopped. That was the most basic of magic theory that almost everyone- even the little kids (not toddlers) - should know. If they wanted to know more they would have to ask.

After a period of silence the Hokage spoke up once more "And you are saying that Naruto has a core."

"Yes." The robot replied.

"I am assuming that there is a way to control this ability of his?"

Pollux nodded. "Yes. Once a child reaches the age of four he is trained. Some guardians will hire private tutors to train the child at home; others will train the child themselves; the majority choose to send the child to a magic academy where the child will be trained by professionals."

"A magic academy?" Sarutobi questioned

"Yes. It is no different from a normal school save that it has included subjects in its curriculum that will teach a child about their magic- both the theoretical and practical aspects of it."

"And how long does this take?" The Hokage placed a hand on his chin and stared unwaveringly at the small robot.

"Formal education takes fourteen years- from the age of four to the age of eighteen a child is taught not only magic but also normal topics that those without a magical core learn. These topics are very often intertwined with one another for example teaching history of the world along with the developments in use of runes or teaching biology and using it to explain the basics of using mana to heal. Then again, my information is out-dated and so I am not sure of what the current educational practices are."

The Hokage took some time to ponder this but before he could speak Kakashi spoke up "Why does their education start at so young an age?" Even in the ninja world education did not start till they were seven or eight- with special exceptions. Was there really so much to learn that the child had to start so early on in life?

"Because that is when their abilities become active," Kakashi was about to say that Naruto's abilities had been active for a long time but Pollux did not give him a chance as he continued "Or to better phrase it, that is the 'activation' age of their cores. This means that at the age of four the child goes through a process after which the child is able to consciously use their cores. Before this stage the cores act on their own for the benefit of the child. If a child is bored the core responds by creating entertainment; if he is angry it works on that; if he is happy then it tries to demonstrate that; if he is curious then it works to help satisfy that curiosity. The core may begin to act whether the child longs for something or may have just a passing fancy; if the child knows what it wants or not. The child cannot control his core.

"However after the age of four the child has the reigns of his core turned over to him and the core responds more to the children's conscious commands than to their subconscious demands. It is also during the first few years following the activation stage that it is easiest for a child to learn the basic of core control.

Mostly for that age group their education, bar their learning to find and begin to control their core, is almost the exact same as any other kindergartners so it is not too stressful for them."

The Hokage nodded at the explanation and posed another question "How do you know if a child now has control over their core?"

Pollux stared at them for a while before answering "You will feel it when the power explodes from them. When that happens an area around the child will be saturated by the power from their core and they will be surrounded by purplish-black particles as well as particles of a few different colours. At times things will break or simply seem to dissolve around them. It will also be visible that the child is in a lot of pain because the power burst strains their body."

There was silence after that until Pollux spoke again "Most parents take their child to get their core power level estimated and then they either buy store made regulators or have regulators custom made for their child's power level. Regulators are pieces of technology that will help to siphon off and store the child's power. They bring the power down to a level that the child's body can manage. This is done to reduce the pain and sometimes, if the child already has that much power at so young an age- which is not so common, it will prevent the power from damaging the child's body in any way. I must mention that often at times, even after a regulator has been applied to the child, the child will still feel mildly uncomfortable for a period of time- after effects of the original power burst."

Sarutobi nodded his head in understanding.

"Naruto has not yet gone through that," he said "At least not to my knowledge"

Pollux nodded at the man's words. The young master had yet to go through the activation period.

"This is an ability that I have yet to come across in my studies. Naruto's training or even his core's activation- how do you suggest we deal with this?" he asked the small robot. There had been other diaries there and books that Sarutobi had not taken an interest in because of their title. He had felt that many of them were books on sealing and while he would have liked to read them he had not had much free time to do so. No though, now though he would make time because while he had no reason to distrust the robot he would like another source that he could look to for answers and he would like a more in depth understanding of the boy's ability.

"The Uzumaki have a store of regulators in the mansion; I can measure the young master's power levels and choose an appropriate regulator for him. As for his training-" here Pollux stopped speaking and seemed to think on what he was about to say. The Hokage sat up in interest at the action. "It has been a long time," the robot spoke slowly, as if it was measuring each word it spoke "But perhaps it is time for the Uzumaki to reconnect with the land of their ancestors."


	4. The Bird and the Bolt

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own anything Naruto: the character; manga; show; video game: even merchandise. This is a non-profit **fan fiction** in which anything I do not disclaim can be viewed as mine unless it is obviously not mine.

* * *

_The morning air was still and cool. It was light out and even though the sun had long since risen it was still that time in the morning when the day could not yet be classified as sunny, and had a quiet peacefulness to it that calmed and relaxed a person._

_She stood leaned against one of the destroyed walls that enclosed the small area where they usually met. Vibrant red hair, a trait that ran strongly in her line, and one she was particularly proud of, was cut short into a bob and framed her small face making her cheek bones stand out all the more. Her brown eyes were warm with affection as she watched the brown haired man that sat at the table, his back to her, in the centre of the room, with his eyes fixed on the parchment before him. The parchment that she knew, from experience, would be filled with all kinds of diagrams and descriptions that she could barely follow. The last thought only made her smile with pride. That man, her husband she thought fondly, could confuse even some of the most impressive minds in his field when he tried to (and many times even when he did not: she smothered her giggle behind her hands)._

_From her position she watched his hand come up and rub across his forehead in quick aggressive motions, and she could imagine the look on his face clearly: his brows would be scrunched up in frustration; the lines around his eyes tight; his teeth bared slightly in a show of his anger._

"_Argh!" a growl of frustration came from him and his hand moved from his forehead and down across his face in a slow motion. His back hunched over a little more._

_The man with inky black hair and two stripes, each, of a whitish blue colour on either side of his head raised his head from his intense concentration on the floor to stare up at the man sat opposite him. His eyes briefly met hers before they were focused on the frustrated brunette. He raised an eyebrow but said nothing and she took that as her cue._

_Moving from her spot she took a few brisk steps until she stood right behind her husband and then she slowly wrapped her arms around him and rested her chin on the top of his head._

"_Good morning," she greeted him, the words were drawn out. Her voice was soft but cheerful and filled with her characteristic playfulness. _

_The man melted in her arms; the tension flowing from his body as he relaxed into an embrace. Her soft smile grew into a full grin and she shifted her head to meet her husband halfway so that they could share a good morning kiss._

"_Have you found anything that might work?" she asked as she broke away from the kiss and moved to stand beside him. She riffled through the papers for a moment looking at the diagrams and then back at her husband. She was not horrible at rune magic but the truth of the matter was that she could not even begin to decipher his notes._

_He looked at her for a moment and she noted the strange glint that flashed in his eyes before they were filled with some emotions that were a little complicated to make out. But the strongest emotion there, the one that almost masked all the others, was his frustration._

"_No." his voice was tight as he turned back to the papers that littered his desk. Concern rushed through her person as she watched the tension that had fled only a few moments ago return to his features._

"_You will." she assured him as she sat in his lap bringing up her arms to encircle his neck and pressing their foreheads together. "I know you will." It was not false hope, not a way to pressure him, but a statement of a fact she knew to be true._

"_What if I don't?" He asked in a small voice. The arms around her waist kept her in place as their eyes met. _

_She threw back her head and laughed. Her grin remained on her face even after she stopped and she said: "You will. I have known you for years and I have yet to see a problem you cannot solve when you become determined to do so." She shook her head slightly but her smile did not abate in the least, and she continued "Whether you were trying to have fun or help someone or make your life easier in some way you always found an answer. Some of the things you did when you were trying to court me for instance…" her smile took on a sly edge and when he blushed a shade of red to match her hair she threw back her head and laughed. _

"_You are stubborn and brilliant and just a touch mad," she held up her fingers to demonstrate "but you get the job done." She nodded firmly at this statement. "You will get it right, I know it. It was never a question of if but a question of when." She leaned forward and kissed him again. _

"_Ahem,"_

_The couple broke their kiss and looked up to see an amused woman standing there. She was a beautiful woman with flowing light green hair that reached to her waist, eyes that were the same colour of her hair and light blue skin. She wore a plain, beautiful, sleeveless, gown that flowed around her, seeming to both hug her curves and hide them completely, as she walked- the gown was a deeper blue than her skin. She looked transparent though it was obvious that she was not if anyone concentrated on her._

"_Good morning Zen, Arata." She greeted first the man with the black hair then the brown haired man._

"_Nereid," Arata said by way of a greeting while Zen gave her a short nod._

_The woman gave them a smile before turning to the woman still perched atop Arata's laps, "Come Aerith, the others await our arrival at the river." Her voice was soft and pleasing to the ears._

"_Of course Nereid," Aerith replied as she slipped from her husband's lap. She leaned in for one final kiss and said to him:_

"_Once we are done perhaps you should also have a small soak under the water fall. I have often found myself able to better think about things when I am there." Arata smiled weakly at her and she returned a stronger smile. She swooped in quickly and pecked him on his cheek before she slipped a hand into the cooler grasp of the older woman and they both walked away._

_Arata watched them go and was startled out of his thoughts by Zen's voice "What did you find?"_

"_What?" he asked his friend with a raised eyebrow and defiant eyes._

_Zen only returned the gesture "Aerith may not wish to call you out on it but you found something that we could use. You are not saying what."_

"_No," Arata countered "I did not find anything that we could use."_

_Zen watched the man opposite to him before he spoke again, "You found something we could use but not something you are willing to use. You found us a viable option. Tell me what it is."_

_Arata's emotions as he debated this with himself were clear on his face and finally he spoke "The circle I found is strong but it also requires a lot of power to activate it; to maintain it."_

_It took Zen only a moment to find the clue and latch onto it "To maintain it?" he questioned and his friend nodded,_

"_We would need a very powerful source for that,"_

_Again Zen took only a moment to catch the idea "I would power it." A statement; not a question._

_Arata nodded._

"_Constant maintenance?" Zen asked with a raised eyebrow._

_Arata flinched then spoke up "You would be asleep for a very long time. It could be millennia till someone succeeds in breaking the circle... or finding a better one,"_

* * *

The Hokage, Kakashi, Pollux and Naruto all stood in the study that Naruto had often found himself using during the weeks of his stay. The large window that occupied a good bit of the wall on the far end of the room let in a good deal of light and had a nice view to a colourful but overgrown garden. Even with the more 'mature' colour scheme of the room and the several bookcases filled with books he could not even begin to understand this room was peaceful and cheerful. It had quickly become one of the boy's favourite haunts, and he often sat there to study or to read his picture books.

Pollux led them through the room, past the bookshelves (the bookshelves were perpendicular to the large window and they walked past them not between them.) to the end of the room. Though the window was large it did not extend this far back and so this place was not a bright as the rest of the room.

The back wall of the room was almost completely covered with a tapestry that had pictures showing several different things. Some pictures showed monsters; some, elves; some, quiet forests; some, battle scenes; some showed robots; some, ancient looking weapons; some showed people dancing merrily; some, people grieving; some, mothers with children; and, others still, fierce warriors.

Naruto had often come to this place and just stared at them for minutes on end (and, a few times, for a couple of hours) as his mind put together tales of greatness and love and peace and sadness (something he could understand). A few times he would ask Pollux to tell him the story behind an image and the small robot would.

Pollux walked to the end of the tapestry, the end that was closest to the wall that held the large window and was behind a bookshelf. At this end was a robot that looked extremely similar to Pollux and had a golden rune circle with black writings beneath its feet.

Pollux placed his palm against the pictures slightly larger palm and the black writings beneath the image turned gold. When the writings turned back to black he led them further behind the shelf to a piece of wall that was not hidden by the tapestry. The piece of wall had a small indentation shaped like a keyhole on it. The small robot passed the now glowing green palm of his right hand over a section of his left hand. Immediately that section of his left arm began to glow before it slid back. Pollux extracted a small piece also shaped liked keyhole from his arm; a piece that looked like it would fit perfectly into that small indentation on the wall.

Without a single word or glance at anyone he placed the piece he had extracted from his arm into the indentation on the wall and then turned it.

Eventually the key of sorts began to softly glow, emitting a blue light- very much like Naruto remembered a similar key doing weeks ago- then a set of writings appeared around the small indentation, then another set appeared, a short distance away, around the first set of writings: and on it continued till the uncovered section of the wall was covered in writings placed in a circular manner. Once the wall was covered with writing the, save for a small round section in the middle that held the keyhole shaped indentation, wall moved back and disappeared.

Naruto felt his mouth open slightly in surprise as they were left with an open space filled with a blue mist that did not let anyone see into the new room.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed and his mouth turned up in a huge grin.

"Wait here," Pollux instructed "I will get the regulators and be out soon." Without waiting for a reply he walked through the open doorway and was immediately lost from view.

Naruto's eyes bulged as he watched this and he wished he could go in after his friend and see what kind of things were kept in this secret room. However, he did not do so. Pollux had stated his instructions clearly and as excitable and mischievous as the four year old was he was not going to disobey them. But he was curious…

Slowly the small blond walked up to the mist and inspected it: his head was cocked to one side, his mouth opened slightly and his eyes filled with curiosity. The Hokage thought it was cute and watched his pseudo grandson thinking nothing of his actions… till Naruto lifted his hand and stuck it through the mist.

Naruto, for his part, had been extremely curious about the mist so he had studied it, watching the way the different shades of blue swirled about each other- some parts of the mist looking more solid than others; blowing it and watching with fascination as the mist had behaved like smoke- dispersing only to have more mist take its place. He would have liked to taste it but he refrained though he was now tempted to touch it. He hesitated as he recalled Pollux's words but while Pollux had said not to follow him he had not said Naruto could not touch the mist. And Pollux had passed through so there could be no real harm right? So he took courage and touched it. It felt smooth and pleasantly cool beneath his small fingers. And then he felt another urge, but unlike the last time he was now firmly convinced that this did not go against Pollux's words so with no second thought he gave in to the desire and plunged his hand through the mist- it felt remarkably similar to placing his hand in water but was not quite as wet or as cold. He had only reached this conclusion when a voice called his name and he was brought out of his thoughts.

"Naruto," the small boy turned his head to face his grandfather figure "What are you doing?" the voice sounded calm but Naruto thought he detected something else behind it; just like he sometimes did when the Hokage told him the story of the Yondaime's victory against the tailed beast that had attacked their village- only that the underneath strain was a little different.

"Well," the small boy began sheepishly, "I was just wond'ring what it felt like, ya know?" he explained. At that moment something nudged against his fingers and he caught hold of it. Momentarily forgetting about the Hokage, he turned back to the mist as he pulled his hands back still holding on tightly to whatever it was that had nudged his hands.

As his hands came out of the mist a box came with it: a rectangular box that was made of a very dark wood, smooth to the touch. The box was a little heavy and on its lid, made of a cold, black metal, was the image of some sort of bird. The bird had its wings open and passing right down the middle, separating the bird in two halves was a lightning bolt. Unlike the bird the lightning bolt was made of a cool black stone.

Naruto used a finger to trace the image of the bird as he studied it closely.

"Ah, I see you found that." A voice from behind startled Naruto and he jumped as he spun around, and came face to face with Pollux.

"What is it?" the Hokage asked looking at the box the small boy held. He had been startled and worried when Naruto had plunged his hand into the mist but had not wanted to alarm the child. When he thought of it, Pollux had said not to follow him but he had never told them not to do as Naruto had. He had also never given them an actual reason as to why they were not to follow him, and while the old Hokage had been startled by the actions of the blond child he had no grounds on which to tell the child to stop. He may have cited that the mist 'could' be dangerous but he had not because he had gotten the impression that if it truly was then they would have been told by the robot.

"This," Pollux answered the question, "Is an heirloom of the Uzumaki line. It was an heirloom that my creator gained and has since then been passed, just like myself, from one family head to the next." Pollux stared intently at the box before he continued to speak "Though while I kept the Head safe, the Head kept this heirloom safe. Overtime, as it remained unreactive, more and more of the members forgot about its existence and it remained in the vault. Every time the new Head was brought here it would make itself known. Sometimes the Head would take it out, sometimes he would not, sometimes he would tell of it to the current members of the family that resided in the mansion and when he did that sometimes they were excited and sometimes they were not. But every time it would eventually get dismissed."

There was quiet after he said that. Naruto was watching him and was in a daze; the Hokage was studying him; and Kakashi was intently staring at the box.

"Of course," Pollux broke the silence, "Overtime most actually forgot its purpose. If they remembered that then they would not have been so surprised at its lack of reaction. After all, while it was once an instrument of power it is right now nothing more than a trophy. A trophy that was very precious to my creator, a trophy that once gave him a great help in a war that cost him a lot."

"What is it?" Naruto asked in excitement. And for the first time since they had met Pollux gave a smile,

"Open it and find out."

Naruto did just that. He undid the small clip that kept the box locked and opened the lid. In the box was a gauntlet for a right arm. It was silver and had a black metal plate over the knuckle. On the gauntlet there was a red stencilled image of the bird and the lightning bolt. But unlike on the box, sitting on top of the lightning bolt was a black gemstone shaped like a cross.

Naruto examined the gauntlet in awe having no idea of what it was save for the fact that it greatly resembled a glove. A very large glove, but a glove none the less. His small fingers ran over the strange glove as he thoroughly examined each aspect of it. As Naruto's hand ran over the gem he felt a slight tingle. He looked the glove over one more time before he put it on, needless to say, it was much too big for his hand but it was still comfortable.

"And what was the use of this gauntlet?" Sarutobi asked the small robot. He, unlike Naruto, was old and well-read and knew exactly what the strange glove was. Naruto looked up at the Hokage's words and stored away the name of the strange glove before he went back to studying it now with the knowledge that it was called a gauntlet.

"It was his link to Zen-" Pollux began before there was a great change in the air that even the Hokage and Kakashi felt. All three of them faced the blond in alarm and the Hokage was to first to act, briefly noticing the boy's surprised but awed look, but as the Hokage reached for the small blond a wall of golden light surrounded the small boy. Written in the light were several runes. The Hokage's hands were stopped by the wall, surprising him. Before any of them could gather their wits about them and decide what to do the wall of light let out a flash of very bright light that was unexpected and forced them to close their eyes.

When the flash was gone, a short moment later, they opened their eyes and discovered that Naruto was gone too.


	5. Awakened

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own anything Naruto: the character; manga; show; video game: even merchandise. This is a non-profit **fan fiction** in which anything I do not disclaim can be viewed as mine unless it is **obviously** not mine.

Thank you for your patience with me even though I'm a slow updater; I've already started working on the next chapter so, hopefully, it won't take anywhere near as long to get it out.

* * *

A figure moved quickly through the night-time forest. Her strides were long, her movement graceful and quiet, and her form melting into the dark night save for the slight glow that surrounded her skin. In the darkness of the forest no details of her person, save for a dark silhouette that seemed to flow through the surroundings, were distinguishable.

She moved through paths that twisted and turned like a maze; effortlessly navigating through them, and avoiding the roots of trees that were too high above the ground or the branches that were too low. Still, despite this seeming lack of exertion, she moved with a sense of urgency and purpose.

Several minutes had passed when her pace finally slowed at the beginning of a small clearing. Over the clearing, the canopy of trees that covered the forest had thinned letting the moonlight stream in from the almost full moon and illuminating the figure making her features visible: light-green hair that reached to her waist; a small face with high cheekbones; slanted, sleep-lidded eyes with pupils the colour of her hair; a graceful, lean body that was slightly curvy and light-blue skin. She wore a blue dress, the colour of the sky on a warm summer day, which seemed to hold her in a gentle, flexible embrace; it was secured around her waist by a sash of a deeper blue, and around her shoulders was a scarf. She wore nothing on her feet.

She walked through the clearing- feeling the energy that tickled her skin as she entered it- passing over the small circular space made of concrete, and paying no attention to the silhouettes of the fragments of destroyed structures that stood in the shadows of the trees. At the end of the clearing she stopped.

Before her was a cave. Its mouth stretched tall and wide so that it was easily five times her height and twenty-five times her width. Beyond the mouth of the cave there was thick darkness that it seemed no light would penetrate.

Breathing in deeply, she could feel the magic that thrummed with power around the cave, and for a few moments she stood still and simply basked in the feeling of the concentrated mana washing over and around her; extending her senses and feeling it brush her skin. But she soon stopped so as to prevent herself from being overwhelmed by the feeling. Though the feeling of mana in its pure form was a delight for her, it also presented the danger of overwhelming her. That was the way it was with spirits: as beings whose forms were made from pure mana- unlike the bonded mana that made up most other creatures and creations- they had a higher sensibility to mana- and also a higher vulnerability to it.

Closing her eyes tight she stretched her senses once more; but this time instead of drowning in the feeling she made her senses needle sharp and more specific as she searched for the irregularity that had brought her here.

_There!_

It was a hole in the barrier. Her eyes snapped open and she headed towards the area that had alarmed her. Once she stood in front of the spot she once again began to probe at the barrier.

_It's mana. _She touched the spot and pulled her hand back quickly as she was burned. _A small concentration of dense mana; it's drilling into the barrier without any signs of stopping. The source is rather large then,_ she examined the spot and her eyes narrowed:_ it doesn't seem it'll dry up any time soon._

_But still, it's too precise- and to be able to find him past the barrier. Whatever it is must have a powerful object it's using to locate him and latch on. What could it be…? To be able to find Zen... What kind of object? The summoning stone…_ The floated to the front of her mind and she shook her head to clear it. _This barrier was designed by Arata to be able to resist even something that powerful. But-_

Something from within the darkness of the cave stirred and she stopped her thoughts to stare into the darkness.

"Zen?" she called after a moment of deliberation. No one answered but as she stared forward she saw the darkness seem to shift and she stiffened before relaxing again.

_So, they succeeded._

A small figure emerged from the cave into the brightness of the night. Startling yellow eyes with thin pupils resembling a reptile's- or a bird's-were set in a small round face, long black hair fell untidily around his form, and the moonlight the silver stripes that ran along each side of his hair seemed to give out a metallic light.

Before the spirit stood the small form; he stood there with a dazed look on his face and a lack of clothes.

Her eyes widened and she stared at the figure in disbelief. She remained like that a few seconds before she turned her head to hide her snickering.

"You look cute Zen."

The child looked down at himself slowly before turning back to his still snickering friend.

"I need clothes,"

She nodded her head slightly and made to go fulfil his request but then she abruptly stopped as she felt the concentration of mana in the surrounding suddenly increase sharply. The small boy beside her also stiffened as he felt it. Something was arriving. Probably whatever it was that had broken the circle.

There was a bright light that illuminated the whole of the forest making it daytime for a few seconds before it disappeared just as abruptly as it had arrived, leaving a small bundle in its wake.

Zen stared at it with eyes narrowed before he casually strode to it.

"It's a child." He said in a low voice, to no one in particular, though she did hear it. Her eyes widened at the announcement.

Closing her eyes she once again reached out to feel the flow of mana around the child. Snapping her eyes open in alarm she addressed her friend:

"The movement of the mana around him is erratic- very erratic!"

Zen studied the child carefully. It was a small boy, very young.

_Can't be older than four_, Zen concluded.

The child had a chubby face with six whisker marks on each cheek and with hair the colour of a sun plant. He war curled up in a foetal position, his hand clutched tightly to his stomach, his face scrunched up in pain and his breath coming out in short, quick gasps.

Zen's eyes locked onto the gauntlet that the boy wore on his arm and gently pulled it off. "Put him to sleep." He told the spirit that had been quietly watching him all this while; "It would be better for him if he were in deep slumber while I make some preparations."

She nodded solemnly and watched him go before she began to summon water from the air. The water coalesced around the child and then formed a cocoon around him, leaving his face above it. She manipulated the water so that it massaged his body in gentle, repeating patterns. The small amount of mana infused in it also contributed in calming him down and putting him to sleep. As she worked she studied his face intently and thought. The gauntlet that Zen had removed from the boy's hand was a gauntlet that she recognised.

_I can't see his face well in this dim light. But he should be their descendant right? How else would he have got that; surely Arata won't have let it out of his family- would he?_ She sighed and briefly glanced, from the corner of her eyes, the cave into which Zen had disappeared _Zen saw his face so he could tell me after this. _The child let out a soft moan of pain and she placed a hand on his forehead; immediately he quieted down again. She continued to work as she studied his features: _Bright yellow hair. A trait that overwhelmed Aerith's! _She let out a quiet chuckle and her smile turned fond for a second, as she remembered her red-haired friend, before turning sad again. _But that's only if he is related to them- anything could have happened in that time._

_But that power- So the stone was used as the anchor but the amount of power that it would take to do that._ She looked down at him again, her face pulled in a frown as she tried to figure it out. _I wonder what happened: was he able to break the barrier because his power was in this state or is his power in this state because he was able to break the barrier. He probably doesn't know the answer to that himself._

His heart beat was relayed to her through the vibrations of the water. _It's much calmer now. _The thought floated through her mind.

She turned her face up towards the sky; through the parted tree tops she could make out the almost full moon set against the starry, cloudless sky. _But the question remains, whatever the reason for his success in passing through the barrier, what are the consequences going to be?_

* * *

"_Where is the brat?" A large boned woman asked looking fierce as she looked around at her surroundings with a menacing glare._

"_We allow him to live and this is how he repays us?" her voice was a roar._

"_When I get my hands on him-! Hokage-sama you should have just gotten rid of him! In fact you should still get rid of him! That, that thing! Is nothing but a danger to us!" her anger, and fear, overrode her reluctance to talk to the most powerful man in the village the way she was now. The demon brat had finally gone too far: the orphanage was nothing more than a pile of burnt debris._

"_He was trying to kill us. We were lucky he didn't succeed!" she said loudly "There are children who had to be admitted to the hospital, and if something isn't done about him he's going to come and try to finish off the job. He is dangerous Hokage-sama!"_

_A small figure sat crouched behind the bushes as the owner of the orphanage he had resided at ranted and threatened and stormed while the old man tried to get her to calm down._

_He hadn't meant to! He shivered and clutched his arms tightly to himself. It was not his fault! _

_The small boy was frantic. _

_Another angry roar from the owner and he crouched further into the shadows of the bush. He wanted to leave but at the same time he was too scared to move. _

_He hated it! He hated this! Why did this always happen to him? He hadn't meant to burn down the orphanage. But he had. It was him. It was always him. He may be young but he was not stupid. These weird things always seemed to happen around him. Why?_

_He made himself even smaller than before and sent out a desperate thought: 'I don't want to be here. I want to be alone: somewhere I can't hurt anyone, somewhere far away.' But the Hokage had told him not to leave and Naruto really wanted to apologise… But not right now. Right now he just wanted to be alone!_

_And then the darkness seemed to reach out to pull him in. All his senses were overwhelmed and yet strangely free. He was nauseous; he felt lightheaded..._

"…_get it right?"_

"_Yes… it was…"_

"_Home…" _

"…_Wake…"_

_There's voices, but I want to be alone right now._

Naruto gave a small grunt of discomfort and tried to turn his body to drown out the noise.

"He's waking."

_What?_

"Get up." The voice was young but filled with authority. Still Naruto remained still, shutting his eyes tighter than before and tensing his body. Maybe if he pretended to be asleep then it would be okay: they would go away.

There was a light chuckle and a cool hand was placed on his forehead.

"Hmm, if he wants to sleep a little longer then he should be allowed." A female voice said.

"No!" the childish voice replied immediately.

"Why not?"

"Because we have questions."

"They can wait."

"Are you sure?" came the immediate reply and the female voice did not speak up again.

"Get up child." The child's voice said and Naruto stiffened even more. He wished they would just leave him alone. He did not want to talk to anyone right now.

A hand stroked his head and he leaned into the touch, opening his eyes slowly.

The first thing he saw as he opened up his eyes was an almost full moon set in sky with so many stars that he just stared, speechless, forgetting everything else, till a voice called him.

"You, child, what is your name?" the voice of a child asked and Naruto turned in its direction.

"Uzumaki Naruto," he said in a somewhat defiant tone as he lifted his head from the lap of a woman who was beautiful but definitely had something off about her. "Who are you?"

As Naruto said his name there was a quiet intake of breath and the woman's eyes quickly sought out and met Zen's before they darted back to Naruto unnoticed. Her suspicion had been confirmed. Zen began to speak but the woman cut him off and replied instead. "His name is Zen," her voice was gentle but strong, "and I am Nereid." She finished this with a smile.

"Who are you people and where am I? Why am I here?" he questioned in a voice that was shaky but filled with his resolve. People, even strangers whom he knew nothing about, tended to dislike him, and he would rather not be around them.

"That's what we want to know." Zen told him. Naruto cocked his small head to one side and stared at the two in confusion, he was pretty sure that he had never seen either of them before.

Seeing his expression, Nereid chuckled. "Zen meant that we wished to know why you are here; how you got here."

Naruto stared at her, his nose was scrunched up and his brows were drawn together as he tried to think of an answer; finally he gave up. "Dunno," he said with a shrug of his shoulders; "I was wif grandpa Hokage and I was lookin' at this glove… A gauntlet: the old man said it was called a gauntlet!" he exclaimed happily. Then he did not speak up as he tried again to remember what happened after that. The memory shot up, and as the pain grabbed his body for a few moments he brought up his hand to clutch his tummy in remembrance. When next he spoke his voice was slightly more subdued "I remember there being a light and then my body felt real heavy and light and the same, and then there was some pain- I guess. Then I don't remember anything and when I wake up you're here." He brought up a hand to rub at his forehead, as if to ease away an ache, then he looked back up at them with big blue eyes that asked them several questions.

"The gauntlets," Zen began after a few quiet seconds when he thought of the information given by Naruto "they were given by the old man?" he said.

"Nah." Naruto said, his voice regaining their former level "I got them from inside this box that was in this weird, blue, smoky thing," he said waving his arms about to illustrate his point.

Zen looked at the child and sighed. He ran a hand over his face in frustration. If what Naruto was telling them was true then he really had been pulled here by the stone. The why or how, as the case may be, was not clear.

"Do you know what this glove does?" Zen asked finally.

"Nope." Naruto answered. Then he adopted a thinking pose and Nereid and Zen hoped that he remembered something that would give them a lead "Pollux said it was an air- air- air-" he looked up at them with a sheepish expression on his face, and chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of his neck: "Sorry, can't r'member." He shrugged his shoulder and looked apologetic.

Nereid and Zen exchanged glances, both catching what the other had.

"And this Pollux is?" Zen questioned. And then added "It'll also help if you tell us about your grandpa Hokage…" he thought he got it right.

Naruto nodded enthusiastically at his words and began to speak quickly "Well grandpa Hokage is tha leader of our village. It's a great ninja village see," he said stretching his arms out, "and the Hokage is tha strongest ninja there. Someday I'm gonna be just as strong!" he finished, his voice rising at the end.

"And he is your grandpa?" Zen urged him on.

Again, Naruto gave an enthusiastic nod, "Yeah! But not like my real grandpa ya know? Cause I'm an orphan and, and," his sentence died away but then he shook his head vigorously and continued to speak "But he always comes ta take me to a new orphanage whenever they don't want me anymore and he talks to me and he buys me lotsa Ramen!"

Nereid looked at him wonderingly as he mentioned moving to a new orphanage but as he continued to talk she held her tongue.

"And who is this Pollux?" Zen asked. He tried to remember all the places that may teach the ninja arts- an art that was old and uncommon- but he quickly drew his thoughts back on line and continued the questioning.

Naruto's eyes shone at the question; "He's a robot!" his tone reflected his awe that had yet to fade "I found him in this big house and he told me 'bout magic-"

"You didn't know about magic?" Nereid asked in surprise. Who didn't know about magic? Even those who lived in remote corners should have some clue about it. Maybe she just got his meaning mixed up. But when Naruto shook his head she was even more surprised.

"No. Cause all tha ninja use catchra see? But magic uses mana." He nodded in a sagely manner and then faced them with a huge grin "But I can do magic too! And Pollux says that my family used ta be able to do magic just like me-" he stopped suddenly and frowned before informing them, in a subdued voice, with his shoulders hunched, "But they're all dead now," Nereid reached out to comfort him but before she could he had perked up again "Pollux says that I've gotta be a great mage cause everyone in my family was. And I'm gonna do that- become the greatest mage ever- so that they can be proud of me!"

Nereid felt a small smile take shape on her lips at his declaration. She reached out and ruffled his hair, saying to him "I believe that you're going to be a great and powerful mage, Naruto; the best of the lot."

Naruto looked at her with wide eyes: a stranger was saying that they believed in him. No one but the Hokage had ever said that to him before. He beamed up at her; he was more determined than ever now to become the greatest mage out there.

Zen sighed as he watched the young boy. This child had somehow broken through the barrier: believing in his ability was not something so farfetched.

He walked to the child and held his arm, feeling as the child stiffened within his hold and his eyes were filled with a deep wariness that was disconcerting in a child. Not for the first time he wondered where the child had grown up. The child had mentioned having to change orphanages whenever they 'didn't want' him anymore. The way he had said made it seem like an occurrence that he had gotten used to, but what made them so hostile to him? If as he supposed the boy lived in a place where magic was not the norm then it might be explained by supposing that they had no idea how to deal with his small bouts of mana usage.

_Still, where could Arata have decided to settle down that this child receives hostility for his gift?_

Not to mention that he had heard of chakra before (that was no doubt what the child was referring to) and he was sure that while not as extensive it was still similar to mana. So what had the child done to be treated differently?

_But maybe I'm overthinking it._ _Not all orphans live sunny lives._

He looked into Naruto's eyes as he slowly and deliberately brought the boy's right arm into their view. Naruto's eyes quickly darted to his hand and he noticed for the first time a small ring around his middle finger. A familiar black stone cut to look like a lightning bolt sat on the metal band.

"This," Zen spoke slowly and deliberately, "is a very important ring. You are not allowed to remove it from your fingers for the next few days-"

"Why?" Naruto interrupted.

"It's keeping your powers in check- like a regulator." Zen answered him promptly and Naruto nodded as he remembered Pollux mentioning something like that to the old man. "You can remove it once you're custom fitted for your own regulator. But you might as well just keep this instead of wasting money on another. And whatever you do don't let the stone out of your sight- protect it with all you've got. This is something that a lot of people want and it could be dangerous in the wrong hands." He let go of Naruto's hands but not his eyes "It once belonged to a man who was both a great person and a great mage; now I'm giving it to you. Don't disappoint me."

Naruto's eyes grew to the size of saucers at his words and then his face was swallowed by a bright grin.

Zen nodded to himself. He had been right to say those words to the child. Before he could think on it further a small pair of arms was tightly wrapped around his neck, startling him.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Naruto repeated over and over again. "I'll take care of it and keep it safe. I promise!" Those who believed in him were few but it only made him more determined not to lose their trust.

Zen was momentarily taken aback by the child's enthusiasm but quickly recovered, and hesitantly, very hesitantly, raised an arm to pat his back. "I trust you." At his quietly spoken words Naruto's arms around his neck tightened. A small smile played around Zen's lips. The child really was not that bad.

* * *

Zen and Nereid stood together watching as Naruto was swallowed by the light, all the while waving at them and trying to hide the physical pain that his awkward movements betrayed.

"He has her energy." Nereid said quietly once all traces of Naruto were gone.

Zen did not say anything but agreed in his mind. The energetic boy really reminded him of Aerith. The enthusiasm and wish to be a hero were characteristics that made her, her. "Blond hair," he murmured but Nereid caught it and chuckled.

"Aye. The gene must be really strong to have showed up at all."

An amused smile made its way onto his lips. "I'm going back to sleep." And without waiting for her reply he made his way back into his cave.

The reason he had not immediately thought of Naruto's status as an orphan as being the sole cause of his wariness was based on a reactive line of thought. Something was different about him that it gave him enough power to find Zen through the barrier and Zen had immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was that difference that had set him apart. Perhaps his powers had reacted more strongly to any wrongs, perceived or otherwise, done to him and that had made the people around him more wary of him. At least the ring he had given to boy _should _be able to handle any irregularities with his powers given it had been designed by Arata. Zen was not too sure about it but he was not about to dwell on it; not right now when sending Naruto back home had required him to give more power than he was supposed to give to anything but the circle right now.

With that last thought he drifted back to sleep.

Zen's final words had sobered Nereid. In her happiness at seeing a descendant of two of her closest friends she had momentarily forgotten something important. He had broken through the barrier. It was worrying. She pursed her lips and looked back into the darkness of the cave where Zen had disappeared a few seconds prior. She sighed. Only time would tell what the consequences of Naruto's visit to them would be. As it was she hoped the consequences would not be too bad.

_If anything is going to happen it should happen soon. It may be selfish of me but I would prefer it to happen while Naruto's still alive. _

The child was an Uzumaki, related to Arata and seemed to be powerful enough in his own right. And that was enough for her. If the worst came to the worst then she would prefer if there was someone she knew she could trust taking care of the problem. And for whatever reason, Naruto, like his ancestor centuries before, had become that someone.


End file.
