01 - Waking Up

"You will live Naruto! Live and fight!"

Naruto gasped as he opened his eyes and sat up, clutching his chest. However he quickly tipped over to his side as he began coughing uncontrollably, understandable as he was surrounded by rubble and ash the latter of which must have been what he was breathing while he was out. After he cleared his lungs and brought his breathing back under control he began to take in his surroundings as well as checking himself over for whatever it was that put him there in the first place.

Spiky blond hair that stood out messily in every direction along with bright blue eyes and three whisker-like lines on each cheek, Naruto was wearing the remains of a nearly shredded orange jacket with blue shoulders and a red spiral on the back. Underneath that was a black t-shirt that hugged his form, though it too had a few tears and holes in it. Around his neck was a black cord with a green gem on it. For pants he had on orange colored jeans, though they were just as frayed and ripped as the rest of his clothes. Tied around his right leg was a dark blue pouch that held a couple of kunai and shuriken, but far less than he normally carried. On his feet were open toed sandals. Surprisingly, while they were dirtied and worn, they were easily the best looking clothing item on him. How durable.

Getting to his feet the blond looked around, seeing he was in some kind of cavern, the roof having caved in a long time ago to let light in. The rubble he had first noticed when he awoke were actually the pieces of the collapsed roof, which he counted himself lucky to see landed next to him rather than on him. From looking up through the opened ceiing he could see dark clouds across the sky, small streams of sunlight managing to break through the gray covering to bring a few bright patches to the world below. With another glance around him, Naruto saw the broken remains of a statue on one side of the cavern with what looked like crumbled hands digging out of the ground next to it, though he couldn't tell what it had originally looked like. Seeing nothing else around Naruto climbed onto the rubble and channeled chakra to his legs to leap out of the opening above and re-enter the outside world.

"What the...? Where am I?" He muttered as he came up to see where he was. As he saw from inside, the sky was dark and cloudy with only a few beams of sunlight coming through to reach the ground below. Falling lightly from the sky itself was a light sprinkling of ash coming from a nearby volcano he could see in the distance. The area around the volcano was bare of any vegetation and nothing but barren gray ash for miles. Closer to where he was came a few dead gray trees growing up, bare of any leaves or other signs of healthy life. The few trees thickened as they neared his location until a few hear and there began to show signs of life with a few leaves up until they actually reached were he was, where despite the light coating of ash they looked alive. A bit weak perhaps and struggling to survive, but alive nonetheless. Spinning around behind him showed that the farther from the volcaon things got the more alive they looked, as well as the clearer the skies got.

The blond couldn't see or hear any animals or life though, and that worried him. In fact he heard nothing at all outside of his own breathing. He channeled chakra to his ears to better his hearing but still had nothing, making him frown. Where had all the life gone? And where had the volcano come from as well? He remembered slightly from his history lessons that there were no active volcanos in Hi no Kuni. In fact, there were none on this half of the continent period. So where was he? And how had he gotten here?

The blond sat down with his legs dangling over the edge of the hole in the ground as he cast his thoughts back, trying to remember just what had happened to him before this. He was a genin of Konohagakure no Sato and almost fourteen years old. He had left on a training trip with Jiraiya of the Sannin to grow stronger over the course of two years after a failed retrieval mission to recover his teammate and friend Sasuke Uchiha. He'd only been out of the village for a week before some strange men had come to Jiraiya with some whispers that made the man get deadly serious in a heartbeat. He had ordered Naruto to stay in the hotel room and seeing how serious the man was the blond obeyed. Someone had knocked on the door and remembering the last time that had happened, Naruto had pulled a kunai out before cautiously opening the door to see... nothing.

Not that there was nobody there, Naruto was sure there was, but rather nothing in that he couldn't remember what happened next. In fact, thinking back as hard as he could, all Naruto could make out was pain and a voice shouting something at him before everything went permanently dark. Whatever had happened, he didn't know. The next thing he can remember is waking up a few minutes ago. Clearly something had tampered with his memories. Whether it was a side-effect to the pain he can remember or purposefully done through a jutsu, the teen didn't know. In fact, he didn't even know how long he'd been knocked out. It was night when he had opened the door back at the hotel, but it was obviously day now. That meant at the very lowest he had been out of it and missing for half a day. But that was only at the lowest. Considering how hungry he was and how weak he felt, it was far more likely he had been gone for a few days, maybe weeks at the worst.

"Well, nothing to do but try and find Ero-Sennin. Or get back to Konoha if I can't do that." Naruto muttered to himself as he stood back up. Looking down at his torn clothes the blond grimaced. "Maybe I better find some new clothes while I'm at it." He tore off what remained of his orange jacket and held it in front of him. "Damn... I really like this jacket too." However as he held it up he noticed something about it that he hadn't before. It looked... smaller. In fact holding it against his chest he was surprised to find that he had even fit into it. It seemed like it was a size or two too small for him. Looking down his body he could tell the same was true for his shirt, pants and shoes. They were very tight on his body, the pants were also only down to just above his ankle at lowest. It was as if he had grown while he was out. "I know I wanted a growth spurt before but couldn't it have waited until I was near a clothing store?"

Shaking his head Naruto glanced around again hoping to orient himself and find his direction, but failing that he shrugged and chose a direction at random. Eventually he'd find a road or a village. Then he could figure out where he was and from there he could find either his sensei or his home. Both worked for now.

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It was a few hours before Naruto reached a road and started following it. During that time the bond had occupied himself by trying to figure out what had happened or where he was. While he made no progress on either, he was also hoping to find some kind of life in the area outside of trees and a few small patches of grass. He had still yet to hear any other signs of life, though the trees surrounding the path looked healthy enough to him. Where were the birds, or squirrels, or other forest creatures he should've been hearing? The road he was on also looked as if it hadn't been traveled on in a long time, another suspicious thing to take note of.

"Just where am I? Where is everybody? Hell, where is anything in this place?" The blond muttered as he lightly jogged down the road. He could've taken to the trees like a shinobi normally would but he was hoping that by sticking to the path he may run across someone and be able to ask them where he was. Had he done so from the trees, he may have terrified the person into running or attacking. This way, they saw him coming so they wouldn't be scared. Hopefully.

It also let him pace himself for far longer. While tree hopping was second nature to any Konoha ninja, it still took more enrgy than the jogging pace Naruto was setting for himself. Well, jogging for a ninja. To a civilian, Naruto would be as fast as they were when they ran full out. Still, it let Naruto conserve his strength for when he needed it, something that was crucial considering how hungry and weak he felt.

"Is that a... Yes! A town! Finally." The blond cheered as his better than normal shinobi eye-sight picked out buildings in the distance. Now knowing he was getting near a town the blond let out a smirk and picked up his pace slightly. Hopefully he'd get his answers now.

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"What happened here?" Naruto gasped as he came into the town. Or rather what was left it.

The town was mostly worn down and broken buildings all around. He couldn't see a single one that wasn't at the very least cracked in multiple places. Windows were shattered or missing entirely, doors were kicked in more often than not, and roof were missing tiles or had gaping holes in them. It was as if someone or something had attacked the town and felt that destroying everything was the best course of action.

Another thing worrying Naruto was the lack of people. Just like out in the forest, there wasn't any life he could hear or see. There were a few tracks here and there, but they looked somewhat old and faded. As if the people who left them had left a few weeks ago had narrowed eyes as he looked around, hoping to find someone.

"Hello? HELLO?" He shouted, only to hear his echo return. With a sigh the blond started looking through the windows, thinking maybe he could find a clothing store or something else that could get him supplies. And if he found someone then maybe he could ask them his questions. Going through the streets he eventually came to the village square. Still having chakra channeled to his ears, Naruto froze as something other than his breathing or steps came to him. Standing still and closing his eyes, the blond focused as hard as he could before he was sure of it.

Something was nearby.

It sounded slightly like something brushing against wood. However it was too irregular to be cause be a breeze. There was also the fact there wasn't a breeze to begin with to move anything which only added to his certainty. Narrowing down the source of the noise was simple enough for someone trained in the shinobi arts and he soon found himself in front of one of the broken down buildings just past the village square. Naruto lightly opened was was left out of the door as he looked around and decided to call out again. "Hello? Anyone here?"

There was a gasp before a dull thud came from somewhere in the house. "Help me, please! They locked me up!" Naruto's head snapped to the floor underneath a large torn couch, letting him know the house had a basement. The voice also belonged to a girl that sounded to be around his age. The fear in it was so clear that one didn't need ninja training to identify it.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of there in just a sec." Naruto called back as he rushed over and shoved the couch out of the way. Underneath was some very worn and scratched wood with a small metal circle embedded into the floor. Grasping the circle pulled it up so he used it as a handle to life up a trap door to see a set of stairs leading down. The blond narrowed his eyes at how dark it was, only seeing a few specks of light below from tiny holes in the floor letting it shine through. Drawing one of his few remaining kunai Naruto held it in reverse grip in his right hand before descending the steps. As he reached the bottom he looked around to see a brunette tied with ropes around her wrists to a post in the center of the area. There were a few dirt smudges on her face and her clothes were a torn and ragged one piece torn off at the knees. The original color might have been blue but now was so worn and dirty it came off as gray flecked with brown. On the floor surrounding her were a few red smears Naruto took to mean blood. The girl herself looked to be around seventeen or eightteen, and he face lit up in a grateful smile as Naruto came into view.

"Oh thank god. I thought I was going to be stuck here until they came back!"

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked as he walked forward, still looking around for anything or anyone else but finding it was too dark to really see past the bright light let in from the stairway.

"I'm fine now."

"Are there any others around?" Naruto asked as he untied her wrists and she rubbed them a little to bring the circulation back.

"Maybe, there might be. I don't know for sure." Naruto nodded his head and made one more sweep around the area before turning back to her with a small smirk. He opened his mouth to say something but was surprised when the girl instead latched onto him with her arms around his neck and kissed him. The blond instantly blushed and stumbled back a step, though the girl held her grip on him so that the kiss wasn't broken and that he didn't fall. After a couple seconds she pulled back. "My hero..."

"I... uh that is... I mean..." Naruto stuttered out, his mind trying to reboot after getting such a passionate kiss from a stranger. The girl giggled and that seemed to snap him out of it as he shook his head briefly before looking to her smiling face. "Uh, right. Not a problem." He then glanced back at the stairs and jerked his head towards them. "What d'ya say we get out of here huh? I've got a few questions I need answered and maybe you can help me. I promise nobody's going to hurt you while I'm around."

"Oh thank you so much hero." She cooed in his ear making him shiver slightly from her breath on his ear. This was totally unexpected to the boy and a small part of him was even saying he shouldn't encourage her. Another part was whispering this was the kind of thing he'd always heard about in the childish stories; the hero coming in and rescuing the damsel just to wisk her off her feet and live happily ever after with her. While his heart was focused on his teammate Sakura, it wouldn't hurt to at least enjoy the company of the girl. Just so long as nothing major happened. If she wanted something like that, he'd let her down gently about it. Taking her arms off his neck she spun him around and gave him a slight push towards the stairs. "Well lead the way hero. I'll try to answer your questions when we're somewhere safe. This basement gives me the creeps."

"Yeah, me too." The blond quipped back as he started walking forward with her following. "By the way, my name's Naruto."

"I'm Akira." She replied as they headed up the stairs and exited the building. However Naruto froze at the door as he found his way blocked by four men with knives in their hands glaring at him. The blond readied himself to fight his way out when he crumbled to the ground from a hard hit to the back of the head, Akira's voice being the last thing he heard. "Sweet dreams Naruto."

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Conciousness returning for the second time that day, Naruto wearily opened his eyes to see that night had fallen. A few feet in front of him was a roaring fire, with the men and Akira sitting around laughing together at something that was said before he woke up. Trying to move made him see that his feet were tied together while his hands were also bound at the wrist. He hands were furthermore pulled up and tied to something above him as he was literally standing on his feet, having just enough slack in the rope so that his feet were fully on the ground but enough pull so that if he tried to pull his hands he'd lift himself up. Groaning at what had happened drew the attention of the present company before him, making them grin all the wider seeing he was finally awake.

"Welcome back, Naruto was it? How'd you like your nap?" Akira asked as she stood and he grunted slightly while drawing a glare on her.

"You tricked me. You weren't in any danger at all."

"What, you just now realized that? And actually, I might have been in danger. If nobody had come along, I would've starved staying tied up alone down there." She joked, both knowing full well she'd have been fine since her 'captors' would've fed her. Said men laughed at her joke as she waved a hand to quiet them down while she looked Naruto over. One thing that drew his eye though was the necklace she was wearing.

"Hey, that's mine!" He shouted as he saw the green gem around her neck and tried to move forward to grab it. Akira took a step back while mockingly tutting the boy and waving a finger at him like one might do to a smal child.

"Now now, I got it off you fair and square. Salvage rights and all that."

"It's not salvage if the person's still alive damnit!"

"And you're going to die, so what if I take my claim early?"

"What?" Naruto gasped as she grinned again and motioned to the fire.

"Been a while since we've all had a good meal. You look a little tough but I bet with a bit of time we can cook that right out." Naruto was now staring at her in shock as a few of the men behind her licked there lips while staring at him.

"Y-you're going to eat me?!" He cried in fear. While he had heard about cannibals before, even read a couple stories with them involved, he had never met one before. Trying to step back didn't work as he was tied practically to his spot as Akira walked back up and teasingly ran a finger over his cheeks.

"Oh don't say it like its a bad thing. Lots of people have turned cannibals after the world went to hell. Kinda had to to survive and all. Don't say you wouldn't have done the same thing had our positions been reversed."

"I wouldn't have! That's sick!" He shouted back as she shrugged.

"Eh, whatever. Now make sure you scream real loud okay? It helps us work up an appetite." She mocked before stepping away as two of the men came forward to grab him. Growling Naruto figured he had enough and decided to fight back.

When one of the men was close enough the blond jumped up and drop kicked him in the chest, making him fall back. The rope holding Naruto snapped as he fell back making him land hard on his back with a loud 'OOF!'. A strong but quick surge of chakra allowed him to snap the ropes binding his limbs and rip them apart so he quickly flipped back to his feet to see Akira staring at him with wide eyes. "KILL HIM YOU BASTARDS!" She screamed as the men rushed him.

"Not this time." Naruto muttered as he ducked under the punch from the first man to knee him in the gut. As he folded over Naruto's leg the blond linked his hands together to drive them both into the back of his head. The man collapsed unconscious so Naruto stepped up to take out the next two while the one he originally dropkicked was getting back up. Jumping up Naruto snapped a kick into a mans' jaw forcing him to stumble back and likely knocking out a couple teeth as he ducked the second he landed when the other man tried to grab him. Pushing chakra to his fist, Naruto snapped out a punch at the mans' knee, jerking it violently sideways with a loud crack to signify it's breaking. The man screamed as he went down clutching the limb while Naruto sprang back to his feet and grabbed the incoming fist of the first man he hit. With a twist he pulled the man in and rammed him in the chest with his shoulder before picking him up and tossing him at the man he had kicked earlier, knocking both out and down to the ground.

"Shit!" Akira cursed as Naruto took out her men. The blond then walked up to her and she stumbled back in fear, falling down on her back and trying to crawl further before freezing as he made a cross with his fingers and she suddenly bumped into something. Glancing up she saw an identical Naruto standing right above her glaring down making her jaw drop. "You're a ninja?!"

"Yep. Still wanna eat me?" The original quipped as he walked up. "My necklace." He ordered as he strecthed a hand towards her. Akira quickly pulled the gem off and tossed it to him so he slipped it back on himself with a sigh.

"What're you gonna do to us? To me?" She fearfully asked so while the clone stayed standing at her head the original crouched down so he was closer to her level.

"You're going to give me back my supplies and then you're going to answer a few questions for me. Got it?" She nodded her head and pointed back near the fire. Jerking his head the clone walked over and found his kunai pouch still filled with the weapons it had held before, even replacing the kunai he had taken out when he had 'rescued ' the woman. The clone tosed it back to him and he caught it with one hand before pulling a kunai out and spinning it slightly on his finger by the ring before flipping it up and grabbing it in his hand and pointing it at her. "Oh, and you had better not lie to me, understand?" Akira nodded so Naruto asked his first question. "Where am I?"

"This is all that's left of Totoma village." Naruto narrowed his eyes at that as that was the name of the village he had been in before everything had happened to him.

"What happened here?" He asked, thinking that may shed some light on things.

"After the monsters started showing up and attacking, people began running away or going insane. We're really all that's left and we had to turn to cannibalism when the food ran out and wildlife vanished." He really must've been out for a while for all of this to happen while he was gone.

"Last question; which way to Konoha?"

"East. But why would you want to go there? It's ruined and in even worse shape than Totoma. Rumors say that some of the monsters actually came from that place and all the other shinobi villages." Naruto shook his head and stood back up as his clone dispelled itself in a puff of smoke.

"I don't know about that since I'm from Konoha, but I'm pretty sure I can get all my answers there since I don't know where my sensei is." The blond muttered before glancing back down at Akira.

"What're you gonna do to me now?" She asked and he stared for a second before walking away.

"Nothing. You may be a bitch but I did promise you wouldn't be hurt while I'm around and I keep my promises." He told her as he walked away. The girl seemed to breakdown into tears at her good fortune for not getting hurt or anything else unsavory while Naruto ignored it and left the village. He had to get back to Konoha now. Her answers were more confusing than he expected and only brought up more questions. But perhaps in the village of his home, his fellow shinobi could explain everything better.

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Authors Note: This one literally came to me in a burst of inspiration while listening to Radioactive by Imagine Dragons. After the song played a few times while I was typing my other Naruto fanfiction, I just came to the thought of what if the Naruto world went through an apocolypse of some kind. What would the survivors be like? What would the world have become? How about our favorite characters? How would they cope and adapt? And then a small plot started forming in my head and I talked it over with a buddy of mine that's a fan of horror and apocolypse books and he gave me some input and suddenly I have the basics of this all thought up. Thus, I'm going to put it out there for everyone to read.

As it was originally inspired by the song Radioactive, I named the fic after it. Plus occasional things will referrence the song throughout the fic. Like for instance, the first line in the song is 'Waking up, to ash and dust'. Hence the title of the chapter and the fact Naruto woke up surrounded by ash covered rubble. Sometimes it'll be chapter titles, other times parts of the story itself; I'll make sure to referrence my inspiration every once in a while.

Now for pairings. Currently, Naruto is undecided. In fact, I'm actually willing to take suggestions on that. I'm not going to pair him with Sakura as I have other plans for her, just as I'm not pairing him with Hinata as my plans for her won't allow much more than a brief relationship before things change. So if there's someone you want Naruto with then feel free to suggest a girl and tell me why you think they'd work together. However I just have a couple rules. One is don't suggest a filler girl like Yakumo, or Koyuki, or Shion. None of them. If they never appeared in the MANGA then they are filler and I won't even look at them. The second is that you hae to actually explain your choice. Don't just say something like: 'Oh put him with Ino!' and then leave it at that. I want your reasoning as to why I should put Naruto with the girl.

Oh, and it will NOT be a harem. Ever. So don't ask.

I think that's everything so please review and favorite!