Naruto/Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time crossover

Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Naruto, that's an honor left for Masashi Kishimoto. I don't have anything to do with Zelda either. Nintendo are vicious.

A Hero In Time

By: Mage-Alia

Chapter 2

Summary: An earthquake shortly before the Chunin exam unearths a set of ruins from an ancient civilization and team 7 are sent to escort the investigators, but a simple scouting mission could turn in to something much more as the door is opened on a different destiny.

Something much bigger than the world they know.

No pairings

A/N: *snorts* Have a little more faith, yeah?

Don't worry.

This will not go the way you think.

No one had seen Naruto for a week and people were actually starting to become concerned by his absence as the Chunnin exams loomed closer. Iruka, who had been fretting since finding out team seven had been entered, was at his wits end trying to find him and was still doing so as the Genin finally came together from all over the elemental nations to participate and it was on the unusually misty morning of the first stage of the exam that found him standing outside the academy waiting for team seven to show up.

Naruto, while generally lazy and not very disciplined in a classroom had never failed a test by being absent.

Eventually, as the sun climbed higher, the first participants arrived, filtering into the building in threes until finally, Sasuke, and then Sakura appeared to wait beside him and just as he was about to panic and find an Anbu to help him hunt Naruto down, a green clad form came barreling around the corner and for a moment Iruka formed the horrified thought that Maito Gai was thundering down on them until the figure skidded to a stop in front of them. The Teacher and the two other squad members of team seven were treated to the sight of Naruto for the first time in a week.

"Hey! Hey! I didn't miss the exam did I? I came as soon as I knew what day it was!" Oddly enough, Sakura was the first to recover from the shock of his entry and let fly.

"What day it was?! BAKA! WHAT WERE YOU DOING THAT YOU FORGOT THE DAY AND WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?!" Naruto just took the shouting with a grin and scratched the back of his head as she vented.

"Sorry Sakura-Chan, I was training and I lost track of time, I didn't even have time to get changed!" A grunt from Sasuke reminded Sakura she had an audience and she reigned in her temper as the dark haired boy gestured to the doors.

"Come on, dobe." He grumbled and they all expected Naruto to yell at him but the boy just rolled his eyes and made to follow before Iruka stopped him.

"Just a moment, can I have a word with you Naruto?" The boy had shrugged.

"Sure thing Iruka-sensei! You guys go ahead, I'll catch up!" He waved his teammates on and turned to his teacher who gripped his shoulder and was surprised to find the blonde's muscles tightly wound beneath the material of the tunic.

"You've really been working hard haven't you." he said, somewhat surprised. Naruto gave a little laugh.

"Yep, I've been learning new things to help with the exam." He said gesturing to the sword and shield on his back. They weren't ninja weapons and they couldn't have belonged to a samurai, so where had he found them?

"Well I'm glad you're finally taking your training seriously, but next time, please let me know you're alright when you go training for a week. I was worried about you." Naruto had the grace to look at least a little sheepish.

"Sorry Iruka-sensei. I'll let you know next time, but I gotta go now. I'm going to totally kick ass and become a Chunnin!" Iruka let out a burst of laughter at that and ruffled the boy's hair, or tried to, only partially succeeding as the hat got in the way.

"Good luck!" He called after his former student as he ran into the building. He wasn't entirely happy with the brief conversation, but he was reassured that Naruto was safe and healthy, and that was the most important thing, even if he was confused over the boy's change in wardrobe and sudden growth spurt... He could only pray that Gai had nothing to do with it.

When Naruto finally caught up with his teammates, he found them getting into a fight.

Well, Sasuke was in a fight, Sakura was hovering in the background with a number of other Chunnin hopefuls while the Rookie of the Year showed off against two older genin. For the most part it was just clear posturing, but when he noticed it coming to blows he reacted on instinct born from the week he'd spent in the Lost Woods fighting for his life. Leaping forward he rolled to the group staying low, one arm going for his shield he came up, straightening abruptly and setting his feet to absorb the blow as a metallic clang echoed throughout the room.

And then came the howl of pain as the genin that had been about to punch Sasuke's lights out realized he'd gone and punched an inch think shield made of Deku Wood and Steel instead. It took a few moments more for it to sink in that the rush of air at his back hadn't been Sasuke pulling his kick to stop from hitting him, but another green wearing genin rushing to catch his teammate's leg.

"So much for being discrete." A boy with long hair and blank white eyes to one side muttered lowly under the howling of the bully that got the wrong side of Naruto's shield. The blonde ignored the chaos as he nodded to the other green clad figure and with a short glaring look at his teammate he made his way swiftly down the hall.

The boy from before had shouted after him, asking his name, but Naruto was tired and hungry, having been on his way to see Ayame and her old man, before realizing the day and rushing to the academy. Sasuke however didn't seem to have any qualms about stopping and the blonde was forced to wait with an obviously curious Kakashi near the doors for Sasuke and Sakura to catch up.

Eventually he made it into the exam room and was all but ready to fall into a seat when the rest of the rookies walked over and started to talk loudly, getting glares from most of the room and even inducing a fight with the Sound genin before the proctor's came in and settled them down, separating the teams and sitting them at desks before revealing the paper test. Naruto almost despaired at the announcement until he heard a voice in the shuffling silence of the room.

"Hey, you'd almost think they're being meanie heads."

The little voice came right out of the blue and his head shot up to look around for the owner.

"One plus one is two, things should be easy. Why would you need to know the velocity of a knife at that angle? Wouldn't a dart be quicker?"

Looking down at his sheet he realized the voice, whoever it was, was reading the exam questions before he noticed the glint of light from the corner of his eye and found what looked like a little glowing person with bright dragonfly wings on its back.

A fairy. It was a fairy. A Real Live Fairy.

He stared in disbelief, unable to comprehend where the thing had come from as it sat on his shoulder, reading the questions and complaining loudly at how hard they were.

"It's almost like they expect them to fail! That's it! No hero under my watch is gonna fail such a stupid test! I'm going to get the answers! Just you watch me! When I call them out you write them down okay? Big old meanies aren't gonna fail us on some test!"

The blonde could only look on stupefied as the glittering little creature pumped it's wings and took off from his shoulder, wobbling with an inexperienced air before it ventured off between the rows of the genin, keeping a running commentary as it did.

"Hey, look! They're cheating! They're all cheating! Nihihihihihi, I can hear the dog over there giving answers! And there are mirrors on the ceiling! And- hey?! Is that guy over there finished already? He didn't turn the page over! Does he think no one's gonna look at his answers or something? Hey! Write this down, Okay!"

The tinny shouting finally launched into an explanation of the first question and before Naruto could worry if it was audible to the rest of the room he hurried to write down the answers. Eventually though, as he finished all but the last question it- no She, came back and sat on his shoulder once more, looking smug as she read the answers he'd written and preened at how much of an awesome team they made.

It wasn't until after the tenth question had been asked that anyone made note of the little creature's presence.

A group of Iwa genin shuffled over to him as the exited the building and Naruto hadn't exactly noticed until he was surrounded by a wall of bulky humans.

"You've got a looooooooud little friend there kid." The green clad genin looked up and immediately went defensive as he hopped away from the taller male and straight into another. The one behind him laughed.

"Hey, don't worry kid, we just wanted to say thaaaaaanks. Your little friend really saved our asses yelling out all the answers for us... so just for that we're not gonna hunt you down in the exam. The rest of your team though? Geeze, how do you live with the pink one? She's reeeeaaaaaaally grating on the ears! Kinda sounds like my cousin in the middle of a tantrum. I remember this one winter where someone put out the fire near his room and he got so cold that he wouldn't sleep for Days."

Naruto blinked numbly as he was manhandled along behind the others stuck listening to the trio babbling along like he was an old friend.

Had the world gone mad in the time since he'd entered those woods?

It wasn't until they reached the edge of a familiar training ground that he noticed where they'd ended up and the glares that the other Konoha nin were giving the Iwa Genin surrounding him. One particular woman with purple hair and a fishnet body suit was doing the worst of the glaring before she threw a Kunai at the third genin with the intent of splitting them up however once again Naruto's instincts screamed and he brought out his shield, shrugging off an arm that weighed like a ton of stone, just in time to deflect it right at the face of a Kusa-nin who took the blow and promptly melted into a puddle of mud. They pulled themselves back out of the softened earth a moment later and retrieved the fallen kunai with a creepily long tongue, returning it to the purple haired proctor named Anko. She seemingly told her off before all but slithering back to her group and allowing the announcements to continue.

That's when he felt it.

In the last week he'd been exposed to all the horrors the Lost Woods had to offer, and after a time he'd learned their names, learned their weaknesses and most importantly, he'd learned how to feel them coming.

And right now he could feel a whole damned lot of bad something's coming his way.

As well as the fairy now shivering under his hat.

"We're going in there?"

He found himself looking at the Genin and then at the forest and knew without a shadow of a doubt that they were not prepared. When the magic of the Deku Tree had failed it had let everything out of the woods and into the places where they hadn't been allowed before. A little voice, not belonging to the fairy, told him that he'd have to do something. He'd have to find whatever had escaped the woods and put it back...

The Proctors however didn't give them a lot of time to dwell on it as they hurried them through signing the waivers and giving their teams the scrolls. When Naruto picked up the scroll for team seven he refused to hand it over to Sasuke and tucked it away into the back of his tunic where it was covered by his shield. Teams then proceeded to scatter around the perimeter of the forest, spreading out to the different gates that were cut into the chain link fence that restrained its inhabitance. A buzzer went off from sirens placed around the grounds and teams lurched foward, speeding for the safety of the treeline as they raced to get ahead of the others but Naruto grabbed Sakura and Sasuke by the backs of their shirts to keep them from following after and they fell still in his grasp a moment later when the first of the terrified screams echoed from the woods...

A few minutes later Naruto let them go and started to walk forward, the way now mostly clear.

It soon became obvious, even to the teammates who usually disregarded him, that he knew what he was doing when the first of the snapping Deku Baba vines leapt out from the underbrush to bite them. He bashed forward with his shield and stunned the head before pulling his sword and lopping the stem off close to the root, effectively ending the threat if not outright killing it. Deku Baba grew back if they weren't pulled out by the roots, but with the purple bulbous man-eaters being the least of the forest's inhabitants. Naruto let it be as he quickly directed everyone to a clearing where he heard the faint strains of the forest melody bouncing through the leaves. The sound was a good one, it meant that while it played, they were safe.

Sasuke and Sakura couldn't hear it though, they didn't even seem to care as they argued for a way to tell each other apart in the case of an emergency. Naruto tuned out the over complicated arguing and focused on the fairy shivering in his hair.

"Hey..." He started, reaching up to cup it loosely in his hands. She peeked up over his fingers and stared first at him and then out into the forest beyond the clearing.

"This isn't right." The fairy wailed softly. "Where's the Deku Tree? He was here not long ago. What happened to him? Why are the monsters out of the woods?" Naruto gave into the urge to stroke her head, his hands comically big against her tiny form.

"I'm sorry." He murmured to her. She broke into noisy tears for a moment before actively stomping down on her grief and then stomping on his hand as she got to her feet. Although the fairy's glow had dimmed while she cried it flared up again as she seemed to rally herself.

"Hey! Since... since we're still... We need to do something about it! You're a Hero! I'll help you!" She took to the air, fluttering around his head erratically. In spite of how desolate her future seemed, she appeared to be determined to make the best of it and it made Naruto smile. He knew that determination.

With uncharacteristic silence he pulled his shield and sword down from his back and turned toward his teammates, only to find the two reckless Genin gone and in their place the snout of a gigantic snake.

The fairy shrieked in alarm.

Now that he was paying attention he realized that the song in the distance had drawn away and he almost groaned even as he dodged to the side, the snake glanced of the shield as it lunged past him, making his arm go numb as the sheer weight of the creature inflicted damage.

"This isn't from the forest!" The fairy shouted as to darted into the snake's eyes, making it twist around, it's head in the air as it tried to follow the glittering ball of light. Using her as a targeting marker Naruto pulled out a couple of shuriken, aiming for it's eyes and grabbing the snakes attention before he had the bright idea to use a Deku Nut.

Deku nuts had been everywhere in the Kokiri Woods and they were some of the most useful items he's found so far. The unripened nuts were like iron. They hurt if they were hurled at you with enough force. Facing countless Deku Scrubs had taught him that much around their use as a weapon. He'd found a small and sturdy slingshot in the tree house along with the outfit he currently wore and had brought it along, but what he really liked was the ripe versions. A ripened deku nut did... something. Whether it was a chemical reaction or a tiny burst of magic, it lit up like the sun when broken and had the added benefit of temporarily paralyzing forest creatures.

It was this ability that Naruto used to stop the snake in its tracks. A faint sheen of blue light trapped the snake in a moment and he didn't hesitate, throwing himself forward he rushed the oversized beast and lashed out, sword digging into the scales. The momentum of his strike bled away quickly though and he found himself hurled away once more as it thrashed, hissing loudly. Still, Naruto was nothing if not determined, and now that he knew it could work, he lunged forward. His fairy friend lighting up weak points he could hit or had already hit, the fight took longer than average, but he managed at last to cut it open, his blade sinking in deep enough to hit something vital.

The snake thrashed, twitching in its death throes, before blinking out of existence in a plume of smoke.

Naruto felt the elation of victory turn into a sinking stone in his guts.

He remembered that his teammates weren't there and his blood all but froze in his veins. It was a distraction. He'd been caught up with the snake so long they'd gotten away from him and if he was under attack then it was a sure thing that his teammates were probably in worse danger.

"Damnit!" He yelled. The fairy nearly dropped out of the air, her shouts of celebration cut off abruptly at his cry.

"What was that?!" The fairy demanded. Naruto held out a hand, gesturing her back into the safety of his hat.

"This was a distraction!" He exclaimed... albeit, with less volume this time as he took off running. "The snake was strange, it might have been called by one of the other ninja in the exam. We need to find my teammates!"

The clearing where he'd left them was empty and silent, the song of the forest had long stopped playing and he knew for certain that something had happened. He looked around and his fairy spotted the tracks almost at the same time he did. They charged off into the underbrush, dodging the forest creatures that had crept out of the mist along the trail left there and burst into another clearing that definitely hadn't been there before in time to see a strange adult ninja dressed like the kusa ninja who's clone he'd accidentally killed earlier, going to attack Sasuke above him.

Naruto didn't even stop to think. He looked around, catching sight of vines attached to a nearby tree and threw himself at them, clambering up as fast as he could. When he reached a thick limb just above the height of the ongoing battle he drew his sword, only to see the enemy nin's neck stretching more than had ever been physically possible and bit his teammate on the shoulder.

Seeing red he charged, running along the branch and leaping into thin air, bring his sword to bear and slashing right through the extended neck. Sasuke yelled and passed out, the enemy nin dissolved into mud once more and before he could even think about the drop he was about to make to the forest floor the wind was knocked out of him.

The enemy nin. The real one this time, glared down at him with narrowed eyes, lit with something unholy in their depths he hissed at the Green clad Genin in his grasp.

"You!" poisonous yellow took in his whisker marks. "No wonder you're a pain in my side. The jinchūriki. It's a shame I'm not here for you today, but I'll have to make sure you can't work against me." His fingertips lit up with chakra and plunged into his stomach. Naruto grunted and cried out as he was thrown back to the branch he'd launched himself from and impacted with the trunk, but the last thing he heard as his vision started to go dark, was the fairy screaming out for him and before the world could go black, a tiny, rust colored figure with a skull like mask crouched down before his face.

"Oh... what do we have here?"

A/N: So. chapter 2.

I'm surprised I'm getting as far into this as I am honestly. It's been a long time since I've even touched anything Naruto related. It's a good thing I mostly had this mapped out before I lost interest. My reading material of choice is currently Attack on Titan. XD

So yeah. I'm getting my groove back.

P.s: Also, just in case I'll put a not here. I'm uploading my stories slowly to Ao3 at well as this site. Simply because I felt like backing them up somewhere. It'll be a really slow process cause I'm not going to do it all at once but they're under a new username. Auraion. It's a name I use in quite a lot of media and gaming platforms and I've kinda wanted to make the change for a while now to include my FF. net account in that. This account though will remain as Mage-Alia and my primary updates with occur here. So don't worry. I'm not going anywhere... I'm just making a backup. That said, toodles!

Don't forget to review!

Cya