We Own Nothing

First off, Naruto and the other members of the Rookie Nine are the same age as Rock Lee, Tenten, and Neji Hyuga in Part II, which is 17. Because of this, they all graduated together.

This story will be unlike any other. We promise you this.

The Owl's Vengeance

The village of Konoha was quiet. The reason for this quietness was because of the fact that it was past midnight. Most of the Chunnin patrolling the wall were asleep on their feet.

A lone Chunnin was looking out over the forest when he was tapped on the shoulder by someone. Upon turning around, he was brutally kneed in the stomach. When he bent over, the attacker pushed his face into the aforementioned knee. The Chunnin slumped over on the stone walkway in pain.

The attacker motioned to one of his companions, who immediately flew through some hand-seals and used her clans trademark technique. The Chunnin's eyes glazed over, then he stood up and walked away.

"It's done, Naruto." said the girl. The attacker nodded, then turned to his other companions. He stepped out into the light. He had light blond hair and deep blue eyes. He was tall and muscular, already able to best most grown men. "Are you sure about this?" he asked. "Once we leave, there is no going back."

"YOSH! What Konoha has done is most unyouthful! Though it pains me to leave my most youthful sensei, I stand by my decision, my Eternal Rival!" This was given by a person wearing green spandex with black hair. The others quickly seconded his statement.

"As troublesome as it is, I agree with Lee."

"Anything to upset Forehead."

"I-I a-agree with S-Shikamaru and L-Lee, Naruto."

" (Munch) Yeah, same (Munch) here!"

Naruto Namikaze smiled. As he turned towards the forests created by the First Hokage, he looked back on all that had led to this moment.

As the son of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, one would think that Naruto would grow up in a privileged way. Fate, however, had different plans and threw his life into chaos when the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked the village. He watched from afar as his father fought the great beast. He watched when it was sealed within Yoko Namikaze, his newborn sister.

His father should have died then. The price for sealing the Fox was the soul of the sealer. However, for reasons unknown to anyone, the Shinigami turned his head and vanished with a smile. Naruto was happy, for his family would be together still. However, his happiness soon changed.

From then on, Naruto was abandoned. He watched as Minato and Kushina ignored him and his needs to fuss over his sister. Naruto remained optimistic that this practice would soon stop, and that his parents would see him again. As the years went by, he grew less and less hopeful. His hope was soon replaced by jealousy, which led to rage.

Naruto only had a small group of friends growing up, with whom he graduated from the Konoha Ninja Academy. He, along with Hinata Hyuga and Shino Aburame became a Genin cell under Genma Shiranui. For the first time in years, he felt happy. However, his family life continued to haunt him.

Finally, he could take no more and decided to leave. Naruto confided with Shikamaru Nara, one of his closest friends, and made a plan to escape Konoha and his family. When he left, he was surprised to find the rest of his friends there. They made it clear that they were his friends and that there was no way he was going off on his own, as "troublesome as it was," according to Shikamaru.

Naruto Namikaze, the brother of the Container of the Nine-Tailed Fox, smiled as he looked at the forest, which seemed to beckon him. He unrolled a scroll and smiled even more as he gazed upon the inscribed words and images.

Designs for a suit of armor were enclosed upon the scroll. This however, was no ordinary armor. It would take months to find all the components, and even longer to actually build the thing, but the results would be mind-blowing. Looking one more time upon the design for the owl-shaped armor, Naruto leaped of the wall of Konoha, his friends following. As they left, a name rose in his mind. A name that Konoha, that the whole of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, would one day fear.

Clockwerk.