Yo...

This story recently came to my mind. I have been a huge fan of the third great ninja war and have always wanted to explore it.

So this is my new AU story, I hope it will be as interesting and unique like my other Naruto stories.

Enjoy...

Chapter 1

The Guardians

The first thing he heard was the sound of a thunderous explosion.

The entire ground shook terribly, the house in which he was sleeping shook as well. It was enough to destroy any sense of sleep from his body. Bolting from his bed, he quickly made his way towards the wardrobe of his room. Opening the wooden door, he quickly took out a dark black colored shirt and blue colored pants. The shirt had a spiral symbol on its back.

He rapidly strapped the vest around his body, and strapped his kunai pouch on his thigh. Wrapping his green colored tough flak jacket around his chest, he tied his headband around his right arm.

Picking up a small, sharp tanto he placed it on the cover strapped on his back.

Stepping in front of the mirror, he was satisfied with the image he saw.

Name: Naruto Uzumaki

Age: 13

Rank: Chunin

Ninja Registration Number: 24401

Affiliation: Uzushiogakure (The Hidden Whirlpool Village)

The young shinobi was nearly 5 feet 3 inches tall. He had long, silky dark red hair. One of his eyes was concealed by a long bang, he was extremely fair and had piercing blue colored eyes. His body sported well built muscles. A fine black colored face mask concealed his identity.

With one last glance at his reflection, he made his way towards the window.

A moment later, the apartment was empty.

The young chunin was rapidly leaping through rooftops, his sensory powers clearly pointing towards a heated battle happening near the northern border of the village. The number of fighters engaged in battle were too many to count. That could only mean that they were under attack from another major hidden village...

Or several of them.

Nothing could be said for certain. The Third Great Ninja War had started a few months, while Uzu had decided to stay neutral it would be futile to deny the fact that it was on the hit list of every ninja village.

After all, theirs was the technologically most advanced village. While small in size and population in comparison to the other major villages, it had ninjas that were more stronger and talented.

But most of all, they had knowledge of many hidden arts that were not known to any of the villages. Particularly Fuinjutsu (Sealing Arts)

He didn't stop even when two more people arrived by his side. They easily matched with his pace and started accompanying him to the battlezone.

One was a short, red haired body who had dark purple colored eyes. He was fair skinned and was wearing the chunin uniform. The Uzu headband being proudly tied around his forehead. His hair were almost covering both of his eyes, and unlike Naruto who was carrying a tanto this boy was carrying a large scroll on his back. He had served beside this boy for the past 4 years, graduated the academy with him, was placed on the same genin team and went on to become a chunin with him. It was fair to say Nagato Uzumaki, was one of his closest and most trusted friends.

The other person was a girl.

Unlike the two redhead boys, she had light silver colored hair (A rare trait in a village such as theirs). She was fair skinned and had the body of a kunoichi. Her long, silky hair were tied in a ponytail. She was also wearing a chunin vest, with a special inisignia of "Field Medic" attached to her left arm. She had an angular face, and a smile that would make many young males fall for her. Yet despite her sexy looks, 13 year old Akeno Uzumaki was a deadly kunoichi. Like Nagato, she had also graduated together with Naruto, and had been on the same genin team. The trio had been promoted together to chunin, and had performed many successful missions in the past.

"Naruto, what's going on?" asked Nagato, the boy sounded quite worried. Even nervous.

"We're being attacked, Nagato. This should be clear enough for you..." scolded Akeno, clear irritation and tension visible in her eyes.

"Why? Our village has absented from participating in the war..." argued Nagato, sounding quite confused and a hint of betrayal seeping into his voice.

"I don't know. I just hope Konoha sends aid as soon as possible. There are just too many enemy forces for us to repel, and what troubles me is the fact that they managed to find the location of our village. Nobody in the past 60 years were unable to even get a hint of our location..." said Akeno, she took a rather forceful jump in frustration cracking one of the rooftops.

"Focus on the task at hand first. The time for making assumptions will come later..."

Both the young arguing chunin's stared at their last teammate, the one who had stayed silent till now. It was extremely hard for them to understand even now that Naruto was actually Kushina Uzumaki's son. Considering how loud, boisterous the redhead woman was...her son was an entire different person.

He was kind, friendly and deeply cared about his village and its citizens. Even went as far as calling each of them as his family...

And at the same time, he was quite reserved as well. Naruto was one of their talented upcoming ninjas and had rapidly rose through the ranks due to his power. While Nagato was shy, Akeno was a hothead, Naruto was the rational head of their team. Unlike his mother, he had an uncanny habit of remaining composed even in the most difficult situations. A trait which he possibly inherited from his unknown father.

Maybe it was the absence of a father in the boy's life that had transformed him into the person he was today.

Kushina had never revealed the identity of Naruto's father, and inside a village which greatly valued parental lineage it directly made Naruto an outcast. Akeno could still remember when Naruto was bullied on this fact by his fellow students, at first the boy was quite disturbed but overtime he stopped caring about the jabs. Instead he decided to prove himself by becoming the strongest ninja of their village.

An ambition he still followed till this day...

Graduating at the top of his class, performing the maximum number of genin missions (many of them extremely dangerous), acing the Chunin Tournament of their village; these were among the few notable achievements of the young boy.

Yet he was not famous for these facts, but for another reputation.

He never took prisoners.

Their thoughts were interrupted when Naruto suddenly stopped. Wordlessly he knelt down and placed one of his fingers on the rooftop, Nagato and Akeno stopped as well. It was not a defined thing, and even if they all shared the same rank it was a mutually accepted fact that Naruto was the leader of their team.

"I'm sensing several enemy platoons approaching from the east side..." reported Naruto, his voice still calm. Yet one look in his eye and years of staying by his side was enough for his friends to see even he was disturbed with this revelation.

"The Uzukage had personally booby trapped the entire area. I don't think they'll get through, we should focus on the north sector where the real fight is going on..." suggested Akeno, as Naruto shifted his gaze towards Nagato.

Despite being talented, he valued the opinion of his comrades who also happened to be his best friends.

"I think we should check the eastern side, just to be sure..." said Nagato, his voice uncertain as a bead of sweat rolled down on his pale face.

"I agree. Akeno?" asked Naruto, his piercing blue eyes asking the unsaid question. The silver hair girl sighed.

"Fine. I'll inform the Uzukage, then we'll go check it out..." agreed Akeno, receiving a faint thankful smile from Naruto. One which she happily returned with a grin.

A seal glowed on Nagato's right hand, as Akeno bit her thumb and wrote a coded message. A moment later the mark along with the blood disappeared leaving no trace of its existence.

"Done..." said Nagato confidently,

"Nice work. Let's go with D formation?" suggested Naruto calmly, receiving two affirmative nods from his teammates.

"Let's go..."

Naruto had an extremely worried expression on his face. Beside him, Akeno and Nagato were tightly clenching their fists; their eyes burning with anger. When they had arrived on the eastern borders of their village, they had not expected the enemy forces to be on the verge of breaking through nearly all the barriers.

No matter how skilled ninjas the enemy had, it would be nearly impossible for them to break through the Uzumaki defenses.

"It's as I feared..." thought Naruto worriedly, not expressing his opinion outloud in order to keep his comrades focused.

As right in front of him, he saw Matsuo Uzumaki standing ahead of the large Kumo forces, his hands slowly disabling the various traps set by his own village.

"Now we know why Matsuo never reported back to the village. He was captured by the enemy..." said Naruto frankly,

"We should save him..." said Nagato seriously, the boy sounding quite determined for a change.

"I agree. He's one of our own, the enemy has definitely placed him under a genjutsu. Otherwise, he would have never done something like this..." said Akeno passionately,

"How should we do this?" asked Nagato quickly,

"Stand Down"

The two chunin were surprised when Naruto gave that order in a painful tone. Despite his face mask concealing his face, they could see he was gritting his teeth. He was holding a sharp kunai strapped with an explosive tag in his right hand.

"Naruto..." said Nagato worriedly,

"What are you thinking?" asked Akeno uncertainly,

"We can't save him, there are simply too many enemy forces surrounding him. And then there is that man..." pointed Naruto,

His comrades glanced in the direction he was pointing at. They froze.

For there standing behind several Kumo soldiers was the Sandaime Raikage himself. The man was a beast, and was rumored to be the fastest and most physically strong ninja of their world.

"We maybe able to eliminate the ninjas, grab Matsuo, but we would never be able to outrun from the Raikage. All of us could definitely be killed..." said Naruto sadly,

"But if we don't do something, Matsuo will..." said Nagato in a troubled voice,

Akeno saw the kunai in Naruto's hand trembling. The young boy was in-taking sharp breaths, and in that moment she knew what he was going to do.

"We have to stop Matsuo..." said Naruto bitterly,

"What?No, he's our comrade. We can't harm him..." argued Nagato passionately, the boy seemed extremely shocked with what his friend had just suggested.

"There is no choice, Nagato..." replied Akeno compassionately, placing her hand over the shocked boy's arm.

"Naruto, we took an oath to protect our comrades..." said Nagato tirelessly, and saw Naruto glancing away from his piercing gaze.

"In the past, many of our shinobi have died for the protection of the village. Neither we or Matsuo are any different..." said Naruto sadly,

"No, we can save him. Don't give up so easily..." said Nagato furiously,

"Think about the village, Nagato. We cannot rescue Matsuo without getting ourselves killed, and that would just further weaken the village in this desperate hour. Try to understand the situation..." pleaded Naruto,

"But-"

"Do you trust me, Nagato?" asked Naruto calmly,

"Yes"

"Then follow my lead..." requested Naruto,

Nagato looked towards Akeno who gave a firm nod. He still had doubts, yet he trusted Naruto enough to do the right thing. He reluctantly consented, earning a relieved smile from Naruto.

Naruto focused his vision. A few seconds later he threw the kunai.

The weapon sped through the air at great speed, and landed several meters away from Matsuo. The Kumo forces became alert and took defensive formations, and it was that moment when the explosive tag attached on the kunai went off.

BOOM!

Matsuo was sent sailing away due to the shock-wave released from the explosion, he crashed in the nearby bushes with a small thud. Despite the injury, Akeno sensed the man was still breathing. Just completely knocked out.

The two of them stared at Naruto who had a satisfied smile on his face. Then the boy did something unexpected...

Rising out of his cover in the trees, Naruto suddenly made himself visible to the surprised Kumo forces. The boy gave them a straight middle finger...

"Worthless Jarheads!" taunted Naruto,

Akeno and Nagato stared at their friend in surprise. Naruto literally grabbed them by the collar the next second and started running away. There were several angry shouts from the now enraged enemy troops who had launched themselves in hot pursuit.

The Three Uzu Chunin smirked when the Kumo forces started getting hit by the hidden traps set by the Uzukage. With Matsuo completely out of commission, it would be quite time consuming for them to break through. And it would cost them many lives...

Nagato smiled proudly as he followed Naruto, with a grinning Akeno right beside him.

They may have been unable to rescue their comrade, but they didn't kill him and also bought time for their village to prepare further countermeasures.

"You upheld your oath of protecting your comrades and the village at the same time, Naruto..." thought Akeno fondly,

"Guys, we're being summoned back to the Kage Tower. Katsuro-sama wants to meet us urgently..." informed Nagato, correctly reading the message which had appeared through a seal on his arm.

Naruto and Akeno exchanged quick nods.

"Orders, Acknowledged" said Naruto seriously,

The atmosphere in the war room was extremely grim. Naruto, Nagato and Akeno crisply stood in a corner of the room along with several young chunin of their age. All of them seemed quite anxious, even nervous, their eyes fixed on the form of their Uzukage who was currently going through the situation assessment with the top Jounin of the village.

Naruto was not an expert in tactical warfare, but so far he could see three very large red pieces surrounding his village.

"Kumo is the first one, then Kiri will definitely be the second. They have always envied us, but who could be the third? Suna is too far to launch such an attack, Konoha wouldn't attack us or risk losing Kaa-chan's loyalty, and we all know how important she is to the citizens of the Fire Nation. That would only leave Iwa, I knew Ohnoki was crazy but would he really go this far?" thought Naruto worriedly,

It was quite difficult for him to accept that three rival hidden villages who had just started fighting against each other again, had suddenly united against his small nation.

"Naruto..."

He was brought out of his troubled thoughts when someone called for him. Akeno nudged him and he saw it was none other than the Uzukage himself.

Katsuro Uzumaki was a 50 year old veteran ninja. He had been through the first two great ninja wars, and had shared close ties with both Hashirama and Tobirama Senju. The man's prowess in Fuinjutsu was enough to even make the 5 Kages accept him as an equally powerful warrior. He was also the one who had helped in transferring the Kyuubi back into Kushina, when Mito Uzumaki (The First Container of the Nine Tails) neared the end of her life.

Naruto stepped before his leader and knelt before him.

"I assume you understand the situation, Naruto..." said Katsuro kindly, in a grandfatherly voice.

"The enemy forces have us outnumbered and surrounded. But we can defeat them, we are with you. All of us, Katsuro-sama..." replied Naruto confidently,

The veteran Kage and his aide glanced around the room and received proud nods from the young teen chunin's. It only lifted the Kage's shoulders proudly, as he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"This is the will of Uzu, which burns brightly in all of you. I want you all to carry it with you for the rest of their lives..." advised Katsuro kindly, and was not surprised when Naruto looked at him defiantly.

"We can fight. Send us to the front-line, and we will crush the enemy for the village..." promised Naruto, every young chunin nodded seriously.

"I have no doubt about your skills and bravery. But we are heavily outnumbered, and I won't send all young-lings to their deaths. It is also our duty to protect the civilians, if I send every fighter to the front who will protect them if the enemy breaks through?" asked Katsuro patiently,

"What about support from Konoha?" asked Nagato hopefully, and saw the disappointment in his leader's eyes.

"I have sent word to Kushina a few hours ago. But we are yet to receive response, but I know they shall come to our aid..." reassured Katsuro, he was satisfied when many of his chunin sighed in relief. Yet Naruto stared at him blankly.

"Please tell us the real situation, Katsuro-sama..." requested Naruto, making the older man smile a little.

"You were always too observant, Naruto..."

"How bad is it?" asked Akeno worriedly,

The Kage took in a deep breath.

"Uzu will fall..." confessed the Kage,

Shocked gasps were heard across the room, many of them chunin went pale with fear. Akeno saw Nagato was on the verge of tears, and even she herself was no better.

"Then I'll stay behind with the other veteran ninja. Katsuro-sama, you and the others escape as soon as possible..." said Naruto confidently, his eyes calm and determination burning brightly in them.

Before the touched Kage could even speak, almost every other young chunin stepped forward and knelt beside Naruto.

"We'll try to buy as much time as possible..." promised Akeno,

"Just get the civilians and our families to safety..." requested Nagato politely, the boy was actually calm for a change.

"Everyone..." said Katsuro, a lone tear falling from his eye.

"Uzu is not the bricks or walls of the village, but the people. We may lose our homeland, but as long as our people live on there can be a future for them. But they will need a leader like you to guide and protect them. We are expendable, and as long as each of us draws breath we'll fight to give you that future..." promised Naruto,

Pin drop silence prevailed in the war room, as the shocked Kage and his aide looked at all the chunin. Not even one of them backed away, all of them proudly standing behind the form of Naruto.

"That's where you're wrong, Naruto..." said Katsuro kindly, and placed his hands around Naruto's shoulders making the boy stand up. The other chunin also followed the action.

"I don't understand. We're just chunin, our lives are not as valuable as yours. We want to defend our people..." insisted Naruto,

"You're talented, Naruto. But you have much to learn, all of you are the best warriors in the elemental nations. But it does not change the fact, that the enemy has us outnumbered and surrounded. More than that, there are 3 powerful Kages leading the charge. Even all of you combined cannot face one veteran Kage..." explained Katsuro briefly, making many young teens flinch.

"But-" protested Naruto,

"The children are the future of any civilization. If I let our children sacrifice themselves, then I will be betraying our entire family and will never be able to face my ancestors much less forgive myself. I am proud to have soldiers like you, and it gives me hope for the future. I want you all to divide yourselves into small teams, each team shall take a small contingent of civilians with them. Old Men, Women, and children. You will take different routes and lead our people into Fire Nation, I've sent word to the Hokage. You all will be given shelter in Konoha..." explained Katsuro, and saw some tension vanishing from many of the teen's faces.

''Can we trust them?" asked Naruto skeptically,

"I know Hiruzen Sarutobi. Despite our differences, he is an honorable man. Kushina will help our people in settling down, when the situation is resolved and if I'm alive then we shall think about regaining our lost territory. Until then, we must protect our people at all costs..." said Katsuro seriously,

"I won't abandon you..." said Naruto stubbornly, making the old Kage chuckle fondly.

The Uzukage placed a firm hand on Naruto's shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Have some faith in me, son. Besides, Kushina will kill me if I let you participate in such a suicidal battle which is still beyond your league..." said Katsuro kindly, making the others chuckle. Naruto remained stoic.

"I am a shinobi and old enough to make my own decisions. Please, let me fight beside your side..." pleaded Naruto,

"Ah, the good old rebellious teen. What interesting lives they live..." thought Katsuro fondly,

"Try to look at the situation rationally rather than emotionally, Naruto. I'm sure you will understand, and if that is not enough to make you understand then consider this an order from your Kage. Protect the civilians and get them to Konoha, no matter the cost..." said Katsuro sternly,

Naruto's fists clenched tightly, as he glared at his leader. Much to the surprise of his fellow chunin, yet Katsuro simply smiled.

"I can't run away like this..." said Naruto aggressively,

"You're not running away, Naruto. You are simply making a strategic retreat to protect the civilians, once the situation is under control we will take the fight back to the enemy. Don't be so eager to die, son. You're still young, your time will come..." advised Katsuro patiently,

"I-"

''Kneel"

Naruto blinked. So did the others.

Regardless, they quickly obeyed their leader's orders and knelt before him. The old Kage's wrinkled face still shined brightly, his bright red hair flowing in the air. His bulky figure looming over them as the old man took out his sword and placed it on Naruto's shoulder.

"Be without fear in the face of your enemies..."

"Be brave and kind, so that our ancestors may love you..."

"Strive for truth and peace, even if it leads to your end..."

"Safeguard the helpless and oppose the wicked, that is your oath..."

SLAP

The old Kage inflicted a tight slap on Naruto's cheek, leaving a bright red mark behind as the boy looked at him in surprise. The Kage smirked...

"And that is so you remember it..." said Katsuro with a chuckle,

The old man slowly made Naruto stand up, with the other chunin following suit.

"Rise a Guardian..." finished Katsuro proudly,

He smiled when all the chunin gave him crisp, devoted salutes. Naruto included, even as a lone tear slipped from the boy's eyes.

One of the Kage's aide gave a scroll to a curious Nagato, and soon enough the chunin quickly started to exit the room in order to carry out their mission.

Naruto, Nagato and Akeno also started to run towards the exit, when the Uzukage's voice stopped them. Turning around, they were surprised to see the Kage giving them a crisp salute.

"I leave the Uzumaki to you. Protect them..." said Katsuro proudly,

In return, the three youngsters shifted to attention and looked their brave Kage straight in the eye.

"We will"

Naruto stared at the burning form of his dear village, and the hundreds of enemy fighters pouring inside his home. Beside him Nagato had tears in his eyes, while Akeno and a few other chunin had their fists clenched; anger and sadness burning in their eyes.

He blinked away the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.

Taking a deep breath and remembering his oath he made to Katsuro, he turned towards his ninjas and the nearly 250 civilians whom they were assigned to protect, and transport to Konoha.

Many of them were crying, several were trembling with fear and anxiety, some were just sitting defeatedly waiting for death.

All of them were surprised when Naruto stepped forward, his young, determined eyes staring right into their defeated gazes.

"You all think we're the unlucky ones, don't you? We have lost our home, our leader, our families. Limited supplies, limited people, and stranded deep inside enemy lines. Maybe it would have been better for us to die quickly, beside our warriors and our Uzukage instead of dying out here slowly. Where shall we go? What shall we do?" said Naruto loudly,

Akeno gasped in horror on hearing what Naruto was saying, Nagato flinched on seeing how further depressed the civilians and even their few ninjas were becoming.

"Centuries ago our forefathers founded our Uzumaki Clan. They too were attacked like us, they too had their homes taken away, yet they fought on. They never gave up, they never gave up hope, they gave us our future through their sacrifice. Look around you, at your kids, at the person beside you...if you want to die then I will gladly walk with you back towards the enemy forces and we can die a honorable death...

Or we can fight on. We can show our enemies that we are not defeated, that the Uzumaki can never be defeated as long as even one of us remains. On the memory of our ancestors, our beloved Kage, our martyred friends and families; I, Naruto Uzumaki, pledge to find us a New home..." declared Naruto,

The young chunin looked his people in the eye, and walked between them.

"The journey won't be easy, we shall face many hardships, but we will rebuild our home, our family. We will not give up..." said Naruto proudly,

The boy stood at attention and gave a crisp salute to his people.

"So say we all..."

Akeno and Nagato stepped beside Naruto, stood beside their friend shoulder to shoulder and saluted their people.

"So say we all..."

The remaining ninjas rallied behind Naruto one after another, and yelled in proud, determined voices. The civilians also rose back to their feet and proudly looked at their new leader...

"So say we all..."

"So say we all..."

"So say we all..."

"So say we all..."

The Uzumaki Chronicles had just began...

Author's Notes: End of chapter.

Hope you guys liked it.

The pairing of this story will be NarutoXKonan (Hopefully)

Reviews are welcome.

Until Next Time,

Blackwolf501