Posted: May 9, 2012
Last Updated: May 9, 2012
Word Count: 3,180

Summary: When summoned to an alternate, amazingly not war-torn and half destroyed world, Namikaze Naruto immediately turned to his favorite shinobi rule: When in doubt, bullshit your way out. [AU, no pairings.]

This is a collection of story ideas, not a chapter fic. Each chapter is a different story.

Parallel: Naruto

Convergence

There should have been a sky above him. Or failing that, at least a ceiling. Instead there was nothing but darkness reaching up and up. It could have gone on forever for all he knew. He blinked, just to make sure that his eyes really were open.

It was then that his hearing started to come back. At first there was just a dull muffled sound buzzing in his ears, as though he was underwater. Slowly it became clearer, and then it abruptly became apparent that what he was hearing was the chanting of a dozen voices, repeating the same phrase in a foreign language over and over.

Namikaze Naruto shot up from where he'd been lying on his back, instantly balancing on the balls of his feet and staring warily at his surroundings. He was in a large cavern, the ceiling of which was so high that it disappeared into darkness above them. He was at the center of a seal array—a very complicated, glowing seal array that spread out around him for more than 15 feet in any direction. It was a crisscross of lines and symbols, the like of which he'd never seen. Surrounding the edges of the seal where dozens of lit candles and, between them, the chanting men.

Tensing further, Naruto eyed the seal carefully. His first instinct was to jump out of the seal, but without knowing what it was, that could have disastrous consequences. Before he even had the chance to make a decision on his next move, one of the men suddenly released a gurgling gasp and the fell over dead. The other men sharply cut off their chanting and jumped to their feet, yelling, but dark figures were already appearing among them and in moments all but one was dead.

The newcomers—and his saviors, Naruto supposed—were clearly shinobi. Konoha shinobi. That, of course, was completely impossible.

"Well this just keeps getting weirder," Naruto muttered under his breath.

One of the shinobi stepped over the seal array. It had stopped glowing now, deactivated. "Captain," the shinobi called over his shoulder as he stopped before Naruto. Even as he spoke his gaze stayed glued to him.

In a blur of black another, taller, shinobi joined them. And then proceeded to stare as well. "Naruto."

"Er, yes?" Naruto replied automatically. He did nothing to hide his surprised expression. "I think I might have gotten caught up in something…unexpected."

"It's a summoning seal," the new man calmly explained. His spiky silver hair momentarily distracted Naruto as it gleamed in the candlelight; Naruto hadn't seen a color like it before. "The Kamikaze—" He gestured to the corpses surrounding them. "—intended to summon the most powerful being they could. It seemed they summoned you."

"Oh." Naruto scratched his chin. "Huh, interesting. I didn't know summoning worked on people. Though…" Tilting his head to the side, Naruto asked, "Then where am I?"

"We're on the border between Fire Country and River Country," the silver haired man replied. Suddenly he frowned. "You don't know me, do you?"

"Eh, sorry, no. Should I? Speaking of which, how do you know my name?"

"The summoning was directed at worlds parallel to our own—"

"You mean this is an alternate dimension?" Naruto asked, perking up. "Cool! So in this world I know you?"

For some reason the man looked surprised. "Yes, exactly, an alternate world. My name is Hatake Kakashi. You're my student here. Our Naruto is about a decade younger than you though—twelve, to be precise."

The first man was shifting uncomfortably behind Kakashi. "Sir, the Hokage…" he began to say.

Kakashi nodded. "Would you mind coming with us, Naruto?"

The blond shrugged. "Sure, why not."

And that was how, four hours later, Naruto found himself jumping through the treetops of Fire Country at high speed as a large village slowly appeared on the horizon. It was surrounded by massive wooden walls that must have been at least five stories tall. As he took a particularly large leap over the treetops, he could see a sheer rock wall on the other side of the village.

"So that's Konohagakure?" Naruto asked aloud.

As Kakashi landed on the same wide branch as him, he sent him a sharp look. "You're not from Konoha?" he asked between breaths.

"Nah, it was destroyed back when I was just a kid, during the end of the Third Shinobi World War."

Kakashi was silent for a long time after that. Naruto focused on catching more glimpses of the village over the treetops. The other shinobi around them—both were Jounin like Kakashi, Naruto thought—hadn't said anything during the entire trip. It was all rather boring.

"Where did you grow up?" Kakashi asked suddenly.

"Here and there; I traveled a lot. Am I really your student here? What am I like?"

"Loud," Kakashi replied dryly. "And…different."

Naruto snorted. "That's an interesting description. Have I always lived in Konoha?"

"You've never been outside the village walls, to my knowledge," Kakashi said.

Humming thoughtfully, Naruto turned his gaze back onto the forest. The trees were taller and thicker than the ones he was used to. It had been a while since he'd last been in Fire Country, now that he thought about it.

They stopped in front of a gate that was larger than a house. Naruto stared up at it and whistled; it was even more impressive up close. There were two shinobi standing guard, but Kakashi merely flashed an ID at them and they were let through.

The village was even larger than it had looked at a distance and bustling with life. Naruto's head whipped back and forth as he took in the colorful buildings, packed markets, and the shinobi leaping from rooftop to rooftop alongside them.

"This is unusual to you," Hatake remarked.

"I've never seen so many people in one place before," Naruto replied, a bit awed. "How can you even find your way around this place?"

From the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Hatake exchange looks with one of the others. He ignored it and instead focused on the tall tower that they seemed to be heading toward. It loomed over all the other buildings in the village, presenting a rather intimidating presence. Behind it was the rock wall that he'd seen from a distance, only now he could see that there were four massive faces protruding from the rock and staring over the village.

Naruto squinted at the carvings. "I think I've seen that before," he said. "But it must have been a long, long time ago." It was only a faint impression on his memory, more like déjà vu than anything else.

They landed in front of the tower. There were several doorways opening higher up on sides the tower and Naruto wondered why they hadn't used them. Before they could go into the tower however, they were stopped by a loud yell from behind them.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

As one the group turned. There were two children running toward them. The one who had called out was a pink haired girl and behind her was a boy with black hair. As the kids stopped before them the girl was panting for breath.

"Sensei," she said, "Naruto—" She stopped and stared as she finally registered the blond man's presence. "Naruto? What the hell are you doing?" She stamped her foot and scowled. "You scared the hell out of us! And why are you trying to look older?"

"Sakura-chan, what happened to Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

The girl glanced between him and Naruto, confused. "Sensei? He's—"

"Sakura," Kakashi repeated and the girl drew back at his sharp tone. Behind her the dark haired boy was watching them all with narrowed eyes.

"W-we were training earlier when he disappeared," the girl said. "It wasn't like how shinobi usually vanish; one second he was there and then the next there was this bright light and he was gone." She shot another look at Naruto. "Sensei, what's going on?"

Kakashi sighed heavily. "You might as well come up with us."

He didn't offer any further explanation as they moved into the tower. The girl kept shooting Naruto looks as they walked and the boy was openly glaring at his back. Coupled with the shinobi that Naruto could sense moving in the shadows of the tower, it was a very strange experience. At last they came to a large office. Inside were a number of wide windows that granted a fantastic view of the village and, in front of them, was an old man sitting at a desk.

"Hokage-same," Kakashi said and all the shinobi bowed respectfully.

For his part, Naruto just looked on curiously. He'd seen a picture of Sarutobi Hiruzen before. He looked a lot frailer in real life. And older too, especially with those dark circles under his eyes. Eyes which were staring straight at him, Naruto realized suddenly.

"You're early, Kakashi," Sarutobi said. "Care to explain?"

"I'll hand in my full written report later," Kakashi said. "In the mean time, this is more important. We were too late to stop the Kamikaze's summoning—and this Naruto is the result. According to the rest of my team, our Naruto disappeared around the same time."

"'Our Naruto'?" Sakura repeated, confused.

Sarutobi continued to watch him with dark eyes. "Summoned from a parallel world…" he said.

"He says his Konoha was destroyed when he was young," Kakashi added.

The lines on Sarutobi's face deepened and he sunk back into this seat. "That is…very sad. I must say, I'm sorry that you're being thrust into our world like this, Naruto-kun. We will do our best to remedy the situation, but… Summoning is a very tricky art. I do not know if there's a way to reverse it."

"Wait, hold on," Sakura said. "I'm sorry, Hokage-same, but are you saying that this isn't Naruto?"

"He's Naruto from a parallel universe," the boy said while eying him.

"But that's impossible! But…" The girl looked around at the older shinobi with confused eyes. "If Sasuke-kun says it's true…"

"I'm afraid it is," Sarutobi replied. "You must be quite strong to have been called here, Naruto."

Naruto shrugged. "Strength may differ here. There are certainly a lot more shinobi around here. Where I'm from, none of the hidden villages are left."

Sarutobi drew in a sharp breath. "What? How is that possible?"

"War and the tailed beasts, mostly. A group called Akatsuki used both to destroy most of the world," Naruto said.

Kakashi tensed. "Akatsuki?"

"That is…very troubling." Sarutobi glanced toward the two children. "You are dismissed," he said.

They both looked like they wanted to argue, but quailed under the Hokage's serious gaze and swiftly left the office. Once the door had closed behind them, Sarutobi looked at Naruto again. "How did they get a hold of the Kyuubi? Any extraction should have killed you."

Now it was Naruto's turn to be confused. "What? What extraction?"

"Were you not the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki in your world?" Sarutobi asked with a frown.

Naruto slowly shook his head. "No, my mother was the last vessel for the Kyuubi," he said. "The Akatsuki captured the Kyuubi when she died giving birth to me."

Sarutobi's eyes flashed. He looked more like the powerful shinobi he was than an old man now. "And what about your father? Is he alive?"

"Yes, he raised me," Naruto replied. Then he grimaced. "He's dead here, isn't he?"

"I'm afraid so. He gave his life to seal the Kyuubi away into you. Or rather, into your counterpart."

Naruto sighed. "I can't say I like this world any better then. It is a cruel fate to grow up without any parents."

"It is not all bad though; here you have a village. I'm sure it's a very different life than what you're used to," Sarutobi said. "And…you may be able to help us. The Akatsuki exist here as well, though they have yet to make any big moves. Any information that you can give us on them and their members will be a big help.

"…There's not much to say," Naruto replied. A small part of him considered telling this Hokage the full truth—that part was them promptly squashed and buried. Instead he turned to his favorite shinobi rule: when in doubt, bullshit your way out. "I don't know much about them, just that they could control the tail beasts. I don't know who the members are either; they're all dead now, in my world."

"Still, any information will help."

Naruto shook his head again. "I can't help you. I think should go anyway; I'm not comfortable in big places like this. It's too open."

Narrowing his eyes, Sarutobi said, "You must realize that you can't leave. Though you're technically one of our shinobi, you're also a security risk."

The other shinobi in the room tensed as the atmosphere in the office instantly grew strained. Naruto's lips tightened into a thin line. "I'm sorry you feel that way, but I still would not feel comfortable staying," he said.

Sarutobi sighed. "Then I am afraid we'll have to take you into custody for now," he said. As he spoke Naruto felt hands grabbing onto his wrists tightly and pulling his arms behind his back. He glanced back and saw that it was Kakashi behind him, wearing a torn expression. The other two shinobi had surrounded him as well.

"This is what it comes to?" Naruto said. "I knew there was reason why I never liked villages. But if you'll excuse me, I'll be going now." Then in a flash of yellow, he was gone.

o-O-o

Rain Country was pretty much the same as Naruto remembered. The constant drizzle never lightened and the land looked dismal. From his perch on top of a rock outcropping, he could see Amegakure in the distance. It had been mere rubble the last time he'd seen it, but now it was full of tall, gray towers.

"What am I doing here?" Naruto muttered to himself. He turned his back on the village, having no desire to look at it. "I should be trying to find a way home…" Except he didn't know if that was possible.

And even if it was, he didn't know if he wanted to go back home.

Abruptly Naruto tensed. There was no actual change in the environment around him, but he could feel the sudden addition of another presence anyway. He shifted slightly to the side just a white piece of paper sliced through the air where he had been.

"Konan," he greeted as he turned. The blue haired woman was standing behind him several paces away, frowning heavily.

"Intruders are not welcome here," she said carefully.

"I'm surprised to see you here in person, instead of some guard," Naruto commented. "Though I guess it's not every day that someone with as much chakra as me comes along. Not to worry, I'm not interested in going anywhere near Amegakure."

Konan didn't reply. Naruto could feel her gathering chakra for another attack and her skin began to shift, revealing that she was made of paper. As he considered the bunshin before him, something suddenly occurred to him.

"Can you tell Uchiha Madara—or Tobi, or whatever hell name he's going by right now—that I'd like to speak to him about the Jūbi?" Naruto asked.

Instantly Konan stilled. For a brief moment Naruto thought that she might actually go back to Amegakure, but then there was a rustling of paper and he was dodging out of the path of thousands of pieces of paper as they shot through the air in a stream. He leaped back onto a higher cliff as the stream curved around to try to hit him again.

"Too slow!" Naruto said cheerfully. He took another running leap and then raced across the ground away from Amegakure at full speed, moving too fast to even cause a blur. He wrapped his chakra in a thin layer around his skin to protect himself from any debris and lower his wind resistance. Less than a minute later he was back among the thick trees and Amegakure was far out of sight.

Naruto didn't stop running until he had passed over the border of Rain Country into Grass Country. He was avoiding Fire Country for the time being, on the off chance that the Hokage had put out a bounty for him. He wasn't sure where he was going to go for now. For the first time in a while, he was beginning to feel lost and aimless.

He stopped a half an hour into Grass Country when he felt a sudden massive surge of chakra. Landing on a tree branch, Naruto stopped and looked back to where the surge had come from. Perhaps things were different here, but back home he could count on one hand the number of people with that much chakra, and he wasn't on good terms with any of them.

It took only a second for Naruto to decide to turn back toward the chakra source. Half a minute later he was crouching hidden in a large field, watching as a group of five older shinobi stood over the bodies of three young Genin, quietly murmuring amongst themselves. Naruto quickly zoned in on the shinobi with the most chakra, a tall man with long black hair and white skin. The man turned so that Naruto could see his face and his eyes widened in surprise as he realized he recognized him.

"Orochimaru?" Naruto muttered, barely daring to breathe. What was he doing out here?

For the first time, Naruto started to wish that he'd taken the time to find out about this world's history. He had no idea what this Orochimaru had done, or was doing for that matter. He didn't recognize the music symbol that the other shinobi were wearing either.

Still frowning, Naruto watched as the shinobi sealed the Genin's bodies into scrolls and then ran south, toward Fire Country. Curiosity won over any remaining wariness that Naruto might have had and he followed them from a distance, suppressing his chakra and using Genjutsu to hide his presence. His curiosity only increased when the group ran into other shinobi squads along the way, all wearing the same headband with a music note. Orochimaru was definitely the leader of the group—a Kage? Naruto wondered, disturbed by the thought—and the other shinobi seemed to be checking in with him while all moving into Fire Country.

It was pretty obvious that something was going on, and that it was going to happen in Konohagakure. Naruto told himself that he owed nothing to the village. His father may have been the last Hokage, but in his world it had been destroyed the day he'd been born. But… Orochimaru was not a man he'd ever liked, for more than one reason. Gritting his teeth, Naruto continued to follow them. Perhaps this wasn't 'his' Orochimaru, but it was still an Orochimaru.

o-O-o

A/N: To reiterate the note at the top, this is NOT a full story, but rather a collection of ideas. Each chapter of this fic will be a different story.

This one is about a Naruto who comes from a world where Akatsuki took action several decades earlier than in canon and wound up accomplishing most of their goals—destroying the hidden villages and becoming the premier power in the Elemental Nations, to be specific. The Naruto of this world was raised by his father, the ex-Yondaime, became a very powerful shinobi, and eventually gained control of the Jūbi and took control of Akatsuki. Or at least something along those lines; the idea is a work in progress, obviously. It's also worth noting that this piece was written about 6 months ago entirely offhand - meaning I was just making it up as I went, so it lacks any planning or polish whatsoever.

On that note, any of the ideas in this collection are open to be used by anyone. Please just accredit it and let me know when you post it, because I'd certainly be interested in reading the story.

-S.R.