Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter length: 2,977 words

(A/N at the bottom)

Naruto was walking along the streets of konoha to his apartment. They had just gotten back from the sand, and the mission was positively draining. His stomach grumbled, and Naruto just now noticed he was hungry.

So, he took a right, intending to head over to his favorite ramen stand. He ordered two miso ramen; After all, he would fall asleep soon. no need for him to wake up in the middle of the night to puke.

He slurped up the noodles as fast as possible, at least, for a 15-year-old boy.

He then moseyed home, ignoring a sudden nagging sensation that something was about to happen. He could sense Kyuubi's restlessness, also, but he chose to not speak.

He was very near his apartment when a he saw a glitter in the corner of his eye. Not able to resist the urge to investigate, he looked down to see a ruby-like crystal. It was rugged and obviously not a piece of jewelry, but it was still pretty.

Don't touch it.

Naruto jumped, only to realize it was the demon's voice.

And why not?

I can sense some sort of strange power emitting from it. I've felt this before...It's dangerous.

Oh, is the great fox scared? Naruto said, thoughts dripping with sarcasm.

No. I, the Great Kyuubi no Youko, do not feel fear.

Sure.

Planning to take his advice for once, since Kyuubi didn't get scared often (Not scared!) It was probably extremely hazardous to anybody who wasn't nearly immortal.

So he walked away, when he...

slipped backwards on a piece of trash.

It felt like the back of his head hit the crystal, then his senses went haywire. Suddenly he was thrown into a space where his body was condensed, then expanded. his whole body sensed a million feelings he had never felt before...

Only to fall onto a hard, wooden floor.

"The hell?!" He shouted, getting up. He realized that no one answered him, and he was alone inside a room he had never seen before.

He shifted into fighting stance, looking around the area for any enemies. There were none.

That's weird. He thought. And for once, nobody answered him. Kyuubi?

Nothing.

Then out of nowhere, a girl that appeared about his age walked in the doorway. She had red hair that was somewhat long and pulled in a low ponytail. She wore standard ninja gear, and she was smiling.

"Hey, nice jacket. Since when do you have that, Naruto-kun?" She asked. Naruto felt like shouting "Who the hell are you?" but he kept silent.

"Uh, I just got it." He said awkwardly, wanting Kyuubi to answer him now more than ever.

"You have something on your face, by the way. kind of look like whiskers. But enough about that, are you ready for training or what?" she asked impatiently.

"Uh, yeah, just a minute..." He said, closing the door as she sighed and waited.

"Hurry up or Mom and Dad will be home soon! I don't like having a brother that practically sleeps half the day!" She shouted from behind the door.

That made Naruto stumble and fall on his face, with a small thump.

What the-- Naruto thought every curse word that he knew right then. Mom? Dad? Brother?

Urgh...that was a nice nap...

KYUUBI!

AH! What, Ki...You touched it, didn't you?

Yes, indirectly. But I thought you already knew that.

oh, god DAMMI-

What?

I knew I had sensed that power from before.

I'm not following.

It's like this: This is one of an infinite number of alternate universes, as was the world we came from. Somehow, that crystal had the power to transport you through the space between that universe and ours.

Well you're certainly chatty today, aren't you?

An act of self-preservation. You can be really stupid sometimes, you know.

Right.

The whole conversation lasted only half a minute before Naruto came back to his senses. Obviously, his 'sister' didn't recognize the jacket, so he took it off and looked inside a closet.

It contained a normal black jacket, and black pants. Deciding those were a bit too Sasuke-like, he tossed them aside. He found a plain orange shirt and black shorts, and he settled for those. He also picked up a pair of ninja sandals and a headband he found on a nightstand.

"Are you ready yet? for us being twins you sure don't act like me."

twins?

Fraternal. You were probably born on the same day.

Naruto supposed it was like having any other sibling. But, it wasn't like he had any to begin with, though.

Naruto opened the door, to reveal an impatient-looking sister.

"Okay, I'm ready." Naruto said, smiling, wishing he were anywhere but here.

His 'sister' kept a straight face. "Alright then, we get to work on your skills as a ninja." She inwardly frowned. That's a bit friendly for Naruto-kun. He usually adds something derogative to my name.

She decided to let it go, considering that he was rather unpredictable and not above pranking her.

"Just a question, what exactly am I working on?" Naruto asked as they walked down a hall. He mentally mapped everything.

"Well, considering you got in by the skin of your teeth thanks to Dad..." She said, rolling her eyes. "Of course, you could have just screamed 'I'll sic Yondaime on you!' and have it done with."

"Yondaime...?"He whispered quietly, so that only his super-sensitive hearing could detect it.

Huh. Little piece of interesting trivia.

What?

The Yondaime's your father.

WHAT?!

Well, you two do look alike, although he is the bane of my existence...

Seriously? The guy I idolized? That's just plain...wait, what if it's only in this universe-thing?

Think about it, idiot. You look like him. Nobody could look that similar and not be related. Be glad you don't look more like him, for I would've let you die awhile ago.

The red-head was looking at him strangely. "You know, Dad's gonna be pissed when he find out you have tattoos."

"Tattoos?" Naruto asked, then remembered. "Oh yeah, these..."

"So, are you going to hide it from them or what?" She asked, frowning.

"I'm not sure...I mean, couldn't Yon--Dad tell it was an illusion?" Naruto said.

"Well, it's not Dad I'm worried about. More like Mom would freak out, and that means trouble for Dad. You know how she is." she said.

"Yeah..." Actually, I don't.

"You could show it to dad, and then put up some sort of transformation juutsu so mom wouldn't find out." His 'twin' wondered out loud.

"I'll do that, then." Because you really know more about them than I do.

They walked to the training field in silence after that, and it didn't seem to bother the girl at all. Naruto found the best word to describe it 'awkward'. After all, he wasn't used to being led around by a stranger.

"Ok," she said. "We're going to have a warm-up spar, but don't come at me as hard as you can. You have to reserve strength."

She shifted into a loose fighting stance. Naruto knew that, from the stance, she was probably just a chuunin. And considering that she had told him he had made it through the academy by the skin of his teeth, he was still a genin. Not that he wasn't in his old world, but he was above the rank when it came to actual fighting skill.

"Begin," she said, before going into action.

Naruto quickly got the gist of her style as he dodged. He knew she wasn't giving it her all, but it still didn't look like much. Finally, he blocked her punch with his forearm, and grabbed her by the upper arm, and throwing his own punch. She dodged out of the way by bending backwards, lifting Naruto off of his feet, intending to throw him onto his back. Naruto easily countered by letting go as soon as she had him in a semi-upright position, and used her own move against her by grabbing her hands and flipping her onto her back.

She stared at him for a second as Naruto grinned at her, then smirked as she got up.

"Well done," she said, smiling. "You've improved."

Naruto grinned, knowing he could've done a lot more than that.

"What?" Tsunade's hands came down on her desk.

"He just disappeared, Tsunade-sama." Sakura said, getting nervous.

"He could be anywhere!"

"Not in this village. We've looked everywhere for him; nobody's seen him since last night. They say he was at the ramen stand, ate, and then went the direction of his apartment..." Sakura explained.

"Did anyone see him after that?" Tsunade demanded, her form tense.

"Well..." Sakura hesitated. "A man said he had been drinking, and he saw Naruto slip on something, and then he just...vanished."

Tsunade stopped, thinking about that. "Is...that possible?"

"It could've been a juustu, though one I've never heard of..." Sakura wondered.

"I wouldn't put it past Akatsuki." Tsunade said, but somehow she doubted herself. It didn't seem like something Akatsuki would do.

"Keep searching," The woman said, feeling her age now more than ever.

When Naruto was walking home, the girl reminded him to put up the transformation. to hide his "tattoos".

When they walked in, Naruto saw a red-haired woman that looked a lot like his 'sister' in the kitchen.

"Hey, mom." She said, passive.

The woman (Kushina, Naruto reminded himself, remembering something his 'sister' had said earlier,) ran and tackled her, to Naruto's alarm. What was she on, happy crack? Oh, wait...

"Oh, Kagami-chan! How'd it go, huh? Is Naruto-kun improving on his skills any?" She said excitedly, causing Naruto blink. She's just like me. Well, I'm not that hyper, anyw - wait, 'Naruto-kun'? And that girl, she must be...Kagami. Mirror. Huh...(1)

"Um, yeah, actually. Naruto's improved a whole lot since our last spar. In fact, he almost beat me this time."

Pft, I totally beat her. Guess she's too proud to admit it, though.

Watch your back, Kit.

wha-

"Oof!" Kushina collided with Naruto next, causing the blond boy to fall face-first onto the floor.

"That's awesome, Naruto-kun! I'm sure your Dad will be ecstatic!" Naruto had to briefly remember who, exactly, his father was. Oh, right. Yondaime.

After Kushina had gotten up, she went back to where she had been before - in the kitchen, preparing something that smelled a whole lot like...wait for it...yes, it was: Ramen! The salty, inexpensive and utterly innutritious snack that Naruto worshipped as if it was a deity. That was, until he heard her chopping up something. hoping against hope it wasn't what he thought it was, he peeked in, and almost sank to the floor in mourning. Vegetables. She was putting vegetables into a perfectly good stew of lunch.

Kushina caught his look. "I don't like them either, but they're good for you, apparently. And Kagami loves them, for some reason or another."

Naruto sighed, knowing what he had to do next.

"I'm going to my room," He said before walking away.

Tsunade sighed, feeling her migraine getting worse. She looked around, seeing no one, and reached into her liquor cabinet. She took a tantalizing sip...

"I see you took Sarutobi-sensei's advice, eh?" A horribly familiar voice said calmly from the window.

Tsunade sputtered and dropped her drink on the floor, hurrying to pick it up before someone came in. She then turned to her former teammate, and, sensing danger, he paled.

"Use the door like a normal person!" She yelled, and as he jumped inside attempting to exit 'as a normal person', she punched him. Hard. The next thing he knew he was stuck on the wall from the force of the impact, and prayed to the gods she was satisfied. Thankfully, she was.

"Besides, I wouldn't have this damn headache if Naruto hadn't gone missing, that brat. It figures. The only evidence we have of it is a drunk man's witness," Tsunade spoke frankly.

"I heard about that," Jiraiya said. "It worries me as well."

"You sure as hell don't act worried."

"I'm a ninja, remember."

Sakura kneaded her hands together, then apart again, wishing she knew what had happened. Most of the village was unconcerned. Sakura wasn't. She hated to admit it, but she thought of Naruto as a brother she had never had; Sakura hoped it wasn't misinterpreted by Naruto to be, 'I LUV U SO MUCH'.

Of course, she could never be sure. Sakura was sitting on a bench near a grove of trees, providing her shade from the ever-intense sun. It was a beautiful day, and Sakura felt it quite ill-fitting.

Suddenly she felt a presence behind her. She sat up straight, startled and whirled around, only to breathe a sigh of relief. Behind her was a pale girl with dark hair and lavender eyes, wearing a non-descript jacket. The girl commonly refered to as Hyuuga Hinata.

"Hello, Sakura-san," She said quietly and fearfully. Seeing no revenge forming in Haruno's eyes, she continued. "Something is wrong...Naruto-kun is gone..."

Suddenly Sakura felt a pang of sympathy. "He is gone. He was...He vanished yesterday afternoon. Everyone's trying their best to find him. No luck so far."

At this, Hinata was visibly horrified; She stuttered for a little while, then whispered, "But...why?"

"He has enemies, Hinata...I'm sorry, I really am...I just think...we're all upset right now, okay? Hokage-sama doesn't want all of our generation's teams to be looking for him, though...so...just don't tell the others, alright?" Sakura asked, and Hinata, looking upset, nodded. She ran off with a soft 'goodbye, Sakura-san'.

Sakura sighed. Knowing her team's concern for her, she'd be lucky if the entire village didn't know by the end of the day.

Naruto had to actually remember where his room was, first; The place was huge, as far as he was concerned, at least compared to his tiny little apartment he had grown out of awhile ago. Finally finding it, he shut the door, and sighed, sliding to the ground with his back against the wall.

It finally hit him. This was his family. He could hardly think the word, for all the questions it raised for his own universe; did he have a sister? What happened to his mother? And the Yondaime, good god, the Yondaime. The person people praised as the greatest ninja to ever exist. His Father. And he..he...

Naruto pounded his fist into the ground. Fate must really like screwing with his life. He was the son of a so-called hero. And yet people spit at him, verbally abused him, beaten him, hell, he had nearly been killed a few times on his birthday. Did they not even know?

Kyuubi? He asked the fox for some explanation, and only got a vague growling in response.

They couldn't have known, most of them, anyway. Unless their admiration of a hero was overshadowed by a hatred of him...of the demon.

I'm not in my Konoha anymore, Naruto thought. Which is just strange.

You're going to have to get used to the idea, at least until we can find another pathway back.

You're helping me?

When someone finds out about me, Kit, they're going to try and kill you. And I'm not ready to die just yet.

Naruto sighed. It made sense. He would just have to hide who he really was to everyone.

Suddenly he was very, very lonely.

It was late when Minato finally found himself walking home. He sighed and damned the man who invented paperwork to the deepest depths of hell, and wondered why the best ninja in the village had to sit in an office scribbling on paper. To him, it made no sense.

Finally reaching his house, he came in as quietly as possible, only to hear his daughter and wife talking. He decided to not interfere.

"I'm telling you, mom, it was so strange!" Kagami said. Kushina sighed.

"Listen, Kagami, I know you're concerned," Kushina said. "But people naturally progress in their skill, especially the way you drill the boy. And so what if he's a little nicer?"

"Hey," Minato said simply, coming into view. Kagami smiled and came up to meet him.

"Anything interesting happen today?" Kushina asked kindly, kissing her husband on the cheek. Minato sighed.

"Unfortunately, no," Minato said. "But it sounds like something interesting happened here."

"Kagami claims Naruto acted different today. Oh! And he beat her in-" Kushina was cut off by Minato.

"Wait, acting...differently? How?" He asked his daughter.

"For starters, he was nicer to me," Kagami said. "And he beat me in sparring, which he's never done. And then, when we came home, he seemed surprised at Mom and her...hugs. Like, family stuff."

"So where is he?" Minato asked, mind already at the worst possible conclusion. Kushina's eyes flicked to him nervously, knowing what was going through his head.

"He's in his room. But Minato, even if he is...well, you know, I don't think you should corner him. I mean, what if Naruto's just turned over a new leaf or something? You could...scare him or something," Minato's wife pleaded.

Kagami watched the goings-on, secretly worried for her brother. Yes, something was...off about him, but it was still Naruto. She had always been the one that could interpret her brother best out of their whole family.

"I don't think he's a spy," Kagami said out loud. Both parents turned to her.

"Why not?" Kushina asked.

"You said it yourself. I'm his twin. I've seen people under henge to look like him, and they all still...felt like their original forms. This is Naruto. He's just..." Kagami said, struggling for a word. "Off."

"I know you're sensitive to him, Kagami," Minato said gently. "But we still have to keep in mind it's a possibility."

As the Fourth walked to Naruto's room, Kagami stood by, helplessly watching.

I'm not even going to pretend to be satisfied with this. Honestly, I could've done a heck of a lot better.

BUT. Self-depriciation aside, this is my rewrite of Naruto's Dreams, which I shall rename because way too many of my fics have 'Naruto' in their title. as of right now, all chapter titles with the name 'being rewritten' are...well...old. And they Suck. so don't even go there. Those chapters are dark caves of bad grammar, short chapters, rushed events, and absolutely, positively, no character development. It's a bad, bad place.

I'm planning to come out with chapters once a month. So that's how long you have to wait.

By the way? Not NaruSaku. As far as I'm concerned, this is a gen fic. As much as I'd like to squish NaruHina in here somehow, it just ain't happening.

See you in March!