"Not bad Chuck, not bad at all." Bryce thanked , rubbing the part which now had a bandage wrapped around his body, as Chuck helped him sit on the bed "Your first aid skills are truly top notch."

"Yeah...my sister taught me afterall." Chuck muttered dryly, putting the little medicine box on the table after cleaning his wounds. Leaning closer, Bryce really looked like crap with having bruises all over his body and bleeding profusely.

"Not that I really care but I don't think it's a good idea...that I don't take you to a hospital." He shrugged collapsing on the nearby computer chair.

Bryce's bloodshot eyes snapped wild open as he sighed depressingly. his voice sounding tired and raspy.

"...It's alright, Chuck. I am a dead man walking anyways."

"Geez, Bryce! what the hell is wrong with you?" Chuck had a bead of sweat roll down his head. Despite whatever animosity he held towards the man, he couldn't help but feel a little bit of pity seeing his former roommate in such a terrible state.

"You have a big heart, Chuck " Letting out a humorless laugh Bryce withdrew a small electrical device from his pocket and placed it on the table before getting back on his feet, slightly whimpering in pain, he looked more defeated than ever.

"That's why you are the only one I can trust to handle this."

The brown haired Ramen enthusiast dumbfounded, blinking in confusion. If this was some way he wanted to make up for ruining his reputation and nearly getting him expelled by accusing him of stealing his project, sleeping with his then girlfriend/ fiance(Though they already broke up some time before the whole fiasco began), it both confused and creeped him out at the same time.

Did he run away from a mental asylum or something like that?

However before Chuck could enquire any further, Bryce mumbled a silent apology and pressed a button on the small PDA like device he had been carrying with him. The moment he did though, it's "screen" started playing multitude of images, audio files and visuals. What amused him most was the image of Ryu from the street fighter. Another picture, a guy climbing a mountain, some sort of sparring match going between two individuals dressed in military uniform, probably Marines. Someone in a heavy suit of body armor trying to diffuse an explosive. It was hard to make sense out of these things. He tried to look away for moment, just to examine what the hell was happening but he couldn't. There was an comfortable tingle inside his brain, a sensation which felt both pleasant and stimulating at the same time. Before long, everything became a blur and his eyes remained glued to the small dial of the said device.

Until it clicked off on it's own. The screen now replaced with what appeared to be numbers displaying time and date.

He did the only thing he could possibly do at the moment. He passed out.

...xxxxxx...xxxxx...

A little kid , no older than seven or eight , who happened to have weird cat like whiskers on his cheeks, stared at the open book on his desk, blue eyes drinking in every detail of the picture. A silhouette of a young man with blond hair and a white trench coat was all that could be seen atop a massive toad with dark red skin. Facing the unlikely human/amphibian pair was a truly gigantic fox with orange-red fur and nine tails, its maw open wide in an imposing snarl. The creature appeared far too realistic, the artist capturing its hatred and viciousness in the sharp teeth and clawed paws of its frozen roar.

A shudder shook his body at the monstrous Fox's image, and he fixated on the bright colors atop the toad. To think that the fifth Hokage had the guts to deal with this monstrosity and even managed to defeat such sinister being whose mere image was enough to evoke nightmares even after so many years was truly impressive.

No that was beyond impressive or even awesome.

That was legendary.

"—which was when Yondaime-sama teleported the Nine tailed fox outside Konoha—"

"And kicked its ass, believe it!" The little kid interjected, rising from his sitting position with one fist pumped into the air.

"Naruto!" A scarred young man snapped, appearing to be a teacher of some sort , if him being in the whole class filled with children was any indication, "Sit down and watch your language."

The newly named "Naruto" reluctantly took his seat as his classmates started whispering amongst themselves in a muffled a voice

"He is such a nuisance!"

"Why the hell is he allowed in the academy anyways?"

"How terrible!"

"Disgraceful."

However instead of getting angry or depressed, the blue eyed kid flashed a brilliant grin towards his classmates,

"Name is Uzumaki Naruto , Bitches! And one day I will become as awesome a Hokage as the Yondaime was, while the rest of you will be left in the dust, Dattebayo!"

...xxxxxxxxxx...xxxxxxxxx...xxxxxxxxxx...

"WAAAAH!" Chuck screamed at the top of his lungs, falling in his bed with a terrible migraine filling his head.

"# $% you Bryce! That really hurt!" Chuck cursed to high heavens as he tried to muster his strength to get up only to feel weak moments then scrubbing the top of his head which was throbbing in pain thanks to the massive headache

His somber mood continued as he dragged himself inside the washroom. The headache had started to subside a little by little by now.

"Man! That hurt like hell." Chuck let out a groan while splashing water in his face, completely random blurry images he couldn't make heads or tails of filled his vision upon closing his eyes before disappearing once again in nothingness. "Make note Bartowski, Never ever trust Bryce Larkin again in your life."

"Damn! That was really sad dream. Everyone seemed to hate me even as a child." He thought sadly as he went in the kitchen, drinking a painkiller as he started to work on fixing himself.

"Yondaime was really awesome though. I really wish I could be someone like that."

Chuck immediately shook his head, realizing that in his own thoughts he had been referring himself as the kid he saw in the dream. Which clearly seemed very much wrong. He had weird dreams like that before but it never felt so much intense.

This time he didn't know why...but he felt truly "involved" with everything.

As if he was the one dealing with all these insults and jeers instead of that blue eyed kid.

It had to be thanks to whatever that crazy bastard Larkin put him through!

Perhaps, he needed to see a psychologist to set his head straight but that seemed too bothersome for the time being. If his sister saw any of these she would definitely end up grounding him like she used to back when he was in highschool. He also didn't want to go through the trouble of explaining everything to her.

Thankfully once he entered inside the shower, he started feeling a lot better. Somehow feeling stronger than ever. Flexing his fingers he felt strength surging through his body. Making him feel much more energetic than usual.

It was quite strange at the same time, very pleasant feeling. As if he managed to regain something which always belonged to him in the past. Like a natural part of him.

Upon listening to the news on the radio, he felt a strange tingling sensation inside his head. followed by a sharp tug, like an undercurrent in the ocean, at the back of his mind. His brain was flooded with a set of random images and video clips. When he heard the name of the former allied commander of NATO, General Stanfied on breakfast news, he immediately knew that they were lying , perhaps for the security purpose, the General was already in LA and was not arriving later in the evening as the news caster claimed.

What just...happened?

That clearly unnerved Chuck, where the hell did that knowledge came from?

And he was too scared to check if this was a one time occurence or not. He shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind. So far the past twenty four hours had been quite bizarre, Bryce's sudden reemergence in his life, that strange electronic device and last but not the least, those weird dream pertaining to the one called "Naruto."

What the hell was wrong with him?

Looking into his mirror , Chuck couldn't recognize the individual staring back at him. The person strongly resembled him but at the same time felt quite different. That individual wore a black uniform jacket with an orange zipper and buttons on the waist and sleeves, followed by a blue headband, composed of a metal plate and a band of cloth, flashing an insignia of a swirling leaf.

The person who looked back at him wasn't a mere man, but a legendary hero he always saw in his dreams.

Minato Namikaze

The Yondaime.

...xxxxxxx...xxxxxx...

"So you understand the gravity of the situation perfectly, Agent?" Director Graham looked across his desk at the agent standing at attention before him.

"Yes, Sir!"

She nodded at her superior, her voice gave away no emotion, nor did her stance. Out of all his agents, she was the supposedly one of the best when it came to hiding herself. Alongside that, she was probably the best at almost everything, which was why Director was always willing to compromise with everything else that went along with her.

She understood perfectly well. One of the sand worm operatives managed to infiltrate the group which breached the security of the facility belonging to Director of National Intelligence , securing the latest intersect moments after it was stolen but went AWOL due to some issues regarding the mission.

Entrusting the Intersect to a freaking civilian of all people.

If they didn't handle this with utmost subtlety and caution, this might turn out to be the greatest disaster this country had ever seen. Last thing anyone wanted to do in this scenario was to broadcast their failures to the whole world.

"If you don't mind me asking Sir, what's going to be our next step? Do I need to come in?"

Director Graham sighed, handing her over half inch thick manila folder containing the mission brief.

"Yes , you have a new mission."

"Cover?"

"Sarah Walker, a manager associated with Kotobuki Engineering and Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Wanting to hire an exceptional tech graduate for a grand project. "

"A grand project?" The blonde, now accepting her alias being Sarah, raised an eyebrow. Exactly the amount required to keep the conversation going. Even the instructors back at Farm weren't that much precise with their movements.

"Yes, evaluate the civilian, retrieve the intel, just the usual stuff."

"Sounds too easy Sir, What's the catch?"

"It might seem routine at first but it's extremely high priority. This intel in wrong hands would be catastrophic. Besides considering who this civilian is, it could be very interesting to bring him to our fold."

"I see. Very good then. May I ask if we know the identity of the person who initiated the sandworm?"

Director Graham was apparently caught off guard upon hearing this, obviously musing about whether to answer that question or not.

"Agent, you are cleared for this intel only due to your past association with Project Omaha. It was one of our own who went deep undercover six months ago. His name is..."

...xxxxxxxx...xxxxxx...