Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...(glares at lawyers)...so get lost.

Chapter 1: Shocking Truth

It was night time in Konoha, otherwise known as the Hidden Leaf Village. Unfortunately, it wasn't as quiet as it should be. Shouts and yells could be heard. The villagers were drunk with rage as they chased a young blond-haired boy in an orange jump suit through the streets, trying to end his life.

That boy is Naruto Uzumaki.

Why were they doing this? Because to them, he was the beast that made them feel so helpless 10 years ago – the Kyubi, AKA the Nine-tailed Fox. Ever since the boy could remember, the villagers were always trying to kill him. Despite the Sandaime's law and his protection, the villagers continued to ignore the facts: The boy was not the Kyubi and that the Yondaime asked that he be treated like a hero.

"Kill the demon!"

"Die, monster!"

"You'll pay for everything you've done to us!"

These were just a few of the comments the villagers screamed as they chased the boy through the streets.

'Why do they hate me?' Naruto continued to ask himself. He had been asking himself this question for years and for whatever reason, the villagers would always respond with, 'You know what you did, you horrible beast!' or similar comments. The boy was so caught up in his thoughts that he wasn't paying attention to were he was going, taking a turn into an alley – a dead end alley. Naruto froze with fear upon realizing his mistake. He started to turn around to head out of the alley when the villagers rounded the corner, trapping him. His eyes widened in terror as he looked at the faces of the villagers. They had grins on their faces. Very cruel grins.

"We finally cornered you, demon brat!" the lead villager cackled. "I would ask you if you had any last words, but we only give those rights to human beings. Now then..." The villagers began to walk towards the boy with numerous weapons in hand, ranging from pitch forks to actual samurai swords. There were even a few ninjas in the crowd, although they were very few and far in between since the majority of the ninja population didn't see the boy as the demon due to most of them having at least a basic understanding of sealing.

Just as the villagers were about to attack the helpless boy, there was a flash of lightning. The mob was caught by surprise. 'What the hell? Lightning? The skies are clear tonight...' Was the thought of most of them. They turned their attention back to the boy...only to find a man standing between them and Naruto. The man in front of them had what looked to be a yellow and black sports bike jacket with black pants made out of the same material. He had a goatee with an almost shaved head. That's not what got the attention of the mob, however. It was the forehead protector that he wore indicating that he was a shinobi. It had the leaf symbol, but also had a whirlpool-like design next to it.

"There better be a good reason why you fools are trying to hurt a 10 year-old kid." Came the man's low gruff voice. Most of the villagers looked into his eyes and froze in fear. They could have sworn that they saw his eyes glow, but not just from anger. The chunin in the crowd stepped towards him with kunai drawn.

"What are you doing here, Maelstrom trash?" the lead chunin demanded.

"...You didn't answer my question." The man responded, ignoring the insult. Seeing that the man wasn't going to answer his question without giving him an explanation, the chunin decided to answer.

"That boy is a demon. He must die!"

The man heatedly stared him down. The shinobi were sweating a little. It was obvious that he didn't like their answer.

"The kid doesn't look like a demon to me." He responded in a low dangerous tone.

"What would you know, fool? He's obviously the Kyubi in human for-" the chunin began to shout but stopped when he saw the man's eyes glow light blue. It then dawned on him what he just said and paled a sickly white color.

"You–" the man pointed to the now pale chunin with the big mouth. "–just broke the Hokage's biggest law, you stupid jackass. That now makes you an S-class criminal."

A stream of lightning shot out of his hands and hit the chunin dead on, dropping him to the ground. The other chunin leapt forward to attack him, only to find themselves struck with bolts of lightning and fell to the ground, their bodies completely numb. The man looked up at the mob of frightened villagers.

"Yeah, I'm well aware of who this kid is. In fact, I happen to know where half of his family originated from. Be thankful none of them are in this village, or you wouldn't live past this week. Now SCRAM!" He barked.

The villagers didn't need to be told twice as they scurried away like cockroaches did when the lights came on in a kitchen. Sensing that they were no longer in danger, the man went to each of the chunin and used a kind of restraint made of electricity on them. After he finished securing the last chunin, he turned towards the boy. The boy was a little scared of the man's appearance, but his fears were put to rest when the man kneeled down to his level.

"You OK, kid?"

Naruto hesitated for a moment before slowly nodding. The man smiled. The boy then remembered what he said earlier.

"Is it true you know who my family is, lightning-san?" Naruto asked with hope in his eyes. The man chuckled at the nickname the boy gave him and nodded.

"Yeah I do, kid. The name's Cole MacGrath by the way." At that moment, three ANBU agents showed up - one with a dog mask that had silver hair, one with a cat mask that had long purple hair, and one with a snake mask that had short purple hair.

"Are you alright, Naruto?" dog asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm ok dog-san. If it weren't for this guy, the villagers would have gotten me this time." Naruto said. Dog nodded and then looked at the downed chunin. He then turned towards Cole.

"Care to explain why these chunin are in lala land at the moment, Cole-san?"

"These bastards were leading the group of ingrates that were trying to kill the kid. That one..." Cole pointed towards the leader. "...broke Lord hokage's law pertaining to the boy.

"You think I care about that stupid law the old fool came up with? Every person in this village deserves to know who killed the 4th and the families of the ninja involved!" the lead chunin sneered. He was about to say something else when he felt the hairs on his skin start to stand up.

"What you're feeling right now is a prelude to a lightning strike. That's twice you have pissed me off tonight. Do it a third time..." Cole threatened in a icy cold tone. The chunin's eyes widened in fear. Cole didn't have to finish his threat as it was perfectly clear to the chunin what would happen. He then turned his attention back to the ANBU.

"I'm going to take Naruto to have a talk with the old man. I'm getting tired of hearing about what these idiots do to him. He deserves to know about his heritage and...his tenant." said Cole.

The three ANBU seemed somewhat alarmed. Telling the boy about his parents is fairly dangerous in its own right. However, telling the boy about the Kyubi he holds could have grave consequences for Konoha in general.

"I understand what could possibly happen, but let's not forget, that moron you now have in custody already opened his big mouth. If anything, not telling the kid and letting him find out on his own would be the worst case scenario for everyone...especially Naruto." Cole said. Dog thought about it for a while.

"Dog...he has a point." Cat finally spoke up. "He's suffered so much for something he never had a say in or had control of. He deserves to know what happened."

"I agree with cat, lazy ass." came snake. "The villagers and a few idiots in our ranks have no idea how a seal works. Sensei wasn't very happy when that bill on teaching civilians about seals got shoot down by that old fool Danzo and a few of his civilian toadies. I've heard what this kid wants to be when he grows up and he'll never accomplish that if he doesn't even know what the hell's in his own body."

Dog lets out a sigh, finally giving in. "Alright, Cole-san. You may go see Hokage-sama about this and request that the boy know...everything. However, make sure that no one else is around before you discuss this with the Sandaime. In the meantime, we'll deal with this trash."

Cole nodded, then turned to Naruto. "Alright kid. We're headed to the Hokage tower. There's some things that you need to be told by the old man." Naruto simply nodded as he and Cole took off.

XXXX

Sarutobi was enjoying a night of peace and quiet. He had finished his paperwork and was now reading his favorite smut. He let out a perverted giggle. His student really did write some kinky stories. He then heard a knock at the door. He stiffened a bit, but calmly put his book away and went into 'kage mode'.

"Come in." Sarutobi said with authority. The door opened to reveal two of his favorite people in the village.

"Old man, we may have a problem." Cole informed. Sarutobi looked at Naruto and saw that he had a few cuts on his body. He also saw the look the boy had on his face. It was the face a child would make when they discovered the truth about Santa Claus. Sarutobi put 2 and 2 together and sighed. This was going to be a very long night and for once, the paperwork wasn't the prime suspect.

"Somebody broke my law, didn't they?"

At this, Cole nodded. "Some moronic chunin blurted it out while I was protecting Naruto from a mob of ingrates that were trying to kill him. I know you're just trying to protect him, but he's heard too much. I think it's time he knew about...her."

Sarutobi rubbed the bridge of his nose. This was something that he had hoped he wouldn't have to explain to the boy until he became a ninja, but it seems that Kami has other plans. Sarutobi let out a deep sigh before he began to speak.

"Naruto-kun, what do you know about the Kyubi?"

Naruto simply looked at the kage for a few seconds before answering, "I know that the Yondaime killed the fox, but lost his own life in doing so. What's that have to do with me, jiji?"

"Naruto..." the old kage began, but paused to think about how to break this to the boy. He wanted to be sure that there was no misunderstanding. Sarutobi took a deep breath before continuing.

"...that story isn't entirely accurate. Yes, the Yondaime did face off against the Kyubi, but he didn't kill it. Since the Kyubi is a tailed beast, it can't be killed by conventional methods. He was working on a method to seal Kyubi inside himself, but because the attack came sooner than expected, he fell one month short of finishing that particular sealing jutsu. The Yondaime had no other choice but to seal it into another human." Naruto looked a bit sad upon hearing that.

"That must have been hard for that person to have to deal with a demon inside them. Still, I can understand why the Yondaime did what he had to do. It was either him and the human sacrifice or the whole village. I feel sorry for both of them." the boy said in a sad tone.

Sarutobi smiled sadly at the boys words and was mentally relieved. The boy will be able to handle what he says next. Granted, he will be shocked and a bit down on himself for a moment, but the old kage would make sure that the boy knew the truth and not that garbage that Danzo spewed out to the civilian population.

"Naruto...because that sealing jutsu wasn't completed in time, the Yondaime's alternate seal had some restrictions. The host had to be someone else as I mentioned before, but the other stipulation was that the human sacrifice had to be a new born baby...his son."

Naruto froze when he heard this. He knows that he was born on October 10, the same day as the Kyubi attack. Ever since he could remember, he had gotten hate-filled glares, shouts of 'demon' and 'monster', and was even attacked. He also noticed how much he looked like the Yondaime. Despite his hyper exterior and goofiness, Naruto was actually quite intelligent. Still, it was a shock nevertheless.

"That baby was me, wasn't it?" Naruto barely said above a whisper. Sarutobi was taken by surprise by the boy's answer. Granted, he felt that Naruto wasn't stupid, but the old kage didn't think that he was this intelligent, either. He made a mental note to give the boy a private IQ test before entering the academy. The boy seemed to be hiding his intelligence and he wasn't going to risk betraying the boy's personal reasons for doing so. Turning his attention back to the topic at hand, he responded to Naruto's question by nodding.

"Naruto...I know you are an intelligent boy, but let me make this clear to you: You are NOT the Kyubi. Those fools that keep calling you that have no idea how seals work. If they did, I would wager that at least half of them would respect your sacrifice. Also, you're father only picked you because he felt that only you would be strong enough to handle this power without letting it go to your head." Sarutobi exclaimed. Naruto seemed to ponder this for a moment before finally nodding, telling Sarutobi that he understood.

Naruto understood that he wasn't the Kyubi, but he did have one question. "jiji, if some of the villagers would have respected me if they had a basic understanding of seals, then why don't you make basic seal studies a mandatory course in civilian schools as well as the ninja academy?"

"I actually tried to do that, Naruto. Unfortunately, a man named Danzo and a select few council members on the civilian council vetoed my bill. I can tell you that the shinobi council wasn't very happy to see that bill go up in flames." Sarutobi explained with a frown upon mentioning the name of his political advisory. '

"They weren't the only ones, kid." Cole added. "Master Jiraiya and master Orochimaru were pissed off about that bullshit Danzo pulled. Unfortunately, master Jiraiya had to be sent out on a long term mission, but at least master Orochimaru stuck around to devote some of his time to teach part-time at the academy about seals to students who were even remotely interested."

Sarutobi nodded in agreement. He couldn't help but be proud of Orochimaru. He was on the verge of darkness, but something caused him to give up his controversial experiments and walk back into the path of the light. He even turned down the position of Hokage, believing that he wasn't deserving of such a title.

"How do you feel about all of this, Naruto?" Sarutobi asked.

"To be totally honest, I'm not entirely happy about what my dad did, but I don't hate him. In fact, I think he's a hero for what he had to do." Naruto responded, meaning every bit of it. Granted, he would probably punch the guy in the gut if he ever met him for sealing a demon fox inside him, but right after that, he would give him a hug. The boy was happy that his father had faith in him to be the Kyubi's jailer. The blond haired hokage was and still is the reason he wants to attain that very same title one day.

"I am glad to hear that, Naruto-kun. I will say that not many people could handle the kind of information that you just learn tonight. When it comes to becoming hokage, you have the right attitude." Sarutobi said with a smile. Naruto gave the old kage his trademark fox grin. That's when the boy noticed an exposed wire sticking out of the floor.

"Hey old man, why do you have a wire sticking out of the floor." Naruto questioned as he reached down to pull on the wire a bit to see what it lead to. Sarutobi and Cole look to see what the boy was talking about and were stunned at what they saw. Naruto had what looked to be a barely noticeable electrical current going through him. At first, they thought he was being electrocuted, but after a few seconds, they saw by his facial expression; It looked like he was trying to make sense of something. After a short moment, a small 'ZAP' could be heard. Naruto let go of the wire and slowly looked up at Cole and the Sandaime.

"Uhh...jiji...I don't know how to explain this, but I think you need to confront that Danzo guy about putting spy equipment in your office." Naruto explained with a slightly confused look on his face.

While Sarutobi was still a bit stunned at what just happened, Cole had a good idea what was going on. 'So...he did inherit it after all. Based on what he just said and that look on his face, this is probably the first time he's used his power or it's the first time he's ever noticed it. Looks like the kid is going to have to know about his mother, too.'

"Naruto..." Cole spoke up, breaking the brief silence. "I know you're confused. Trust me...I've been through what you are going through right now."

'Although in my case, discovering my powers cost thousands of people their lives.' Cole thought sadly. Seeing that the boy and even Sarutobi were waiting for him to say more, he continued, "Naruto, the power that you have...is what you guys call a kekkei genkai."

This shocked both the young and the old. Sarutobi was the first to recover. "I...I don't see how that's even possible. Minato never showed signs that he had a kekkei genkai."

"That's because it doesn't come from Minato, old man..." Cole responded, leaving the rest for them to figure out.

"My mom..." Naruto whispered. He turned to Cole and gave him a pleading look – a look Cole assumed meant 'please tell me about my mother'.

"Naruto, what do you know about Uzushiogakure?" Sarutobi spoke up. Naruto was silent for a moment before finally answering.

"I read a brief history about it in the shinobi archives. It was a village on the verge of becoming the 6th great shinobi nation when it was destroyed by the Hidden Rock Village. What's this have to do with my mom?" Naruto asked.

"Trust me kid, the Hidden Maelstrom Village has everything to do with your mother...because that's where she is from." Cole explained. Seeing that he had Naruto undivided attention, he continued, "As I mentioned earlier, the Hidden Maelstrom Village was invaded and destroyed by Rock during the 3rd ninja war. What makes it worse is that it was an unprovoked attack since the Maelstrom had made it clear that they wanted no part in the war whatsoever and stayed neutral."

"So why did Iwa attack if Uzushio didn't side with anyone?" Naruto asked.

"...Because the ruling tsuchikage during that time was a war monger. Hell, the Leaf village only entered the fray near the end of the war when the Rock sent Minato a scroll declaring war against the leaf for no other reason than that the leaf was too peaceful."

Naruto didn't verbally respond, but it was clear to Cole that he was upset. 'If he thought that was bad, he's really not going to like this next part.'

"The Leaf finally managed to help end the war, but it came at a price. The tsuchikage felt that the Leaf wasn't being aggressive enough so they did the most deplorable act that any military could do: they invaded a town close to the edge of Fire Country that had no military might whatsoever and killed everyone in the village."

"...you...you mean...?" Naruto gasped in horror. Cole nodded sadly.

"...yes. Everyone. The sick bastards even broke in to the town hospital and killed everyone there. Even two rooms filled with newborns were..." Cole couldn't even finish. Even after all of these years, it still made him sick to his stomach. It was one of the reasons why he swore to kill the 3rd tsuchikage and anyone loyal to him if he ever got the chance.

"...Those inhuman bastards..." Naruto hissed, he voice dripping with venom. If it was one thing the boy couldn't stand, it was people who attacked innocent and defenseless people.

"No argument there, kid. It was one of the most horrible things that I have ever seen and heard. That reason is why Minato decided to stop playing nice. The second he found out which battalion invaded that town, he hunted them down."

"Wait...dad went after them without backup?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Believe me kid; he didn't need backup. Once he found their camp, he offered them one chance to surrender since they were still in Fire Country. The leader, who just happened to be their head jonin of the Rock village, spat in his face and told him that his battalion was going to raze one village every three days until the Leaf surrendered and force them hand over all of their civilian women and kunoichis."

Naruto was beginning to hate the 3rd Tsuchikage and any people who were loyal to the bastard, which was saying something since Naruto doesn't even hate anyone. Even the villagers that abused him haven't even made it on to his shit list.

"Don't worry, kid. Those bastards got what they deserved. Minato used the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, killing almost every ninja in that battalion in less than 20 seconds flat, but I'll have to tell you the entire story another time since we are getting off track here."

"Back to the destruction of Maelstrom, Rock didn't just send a whole bunch of ninja in there. Remember, Hidden Maelstrom was on the brink of becoming a great shinobi nation since they already had more military might than most of the great 5 except the Leaf. The Rock decided that it would be best to use something to cut their numbers down dramatically. Something I never expected to show up in this world."

"What?" Naruto asked. Cole didn't say anything, but Naruto and Sarutobi could tell that he had some strong emotions for whatever this weapon was. After a silent moment, Cole finally answered, but his voiced was dripping with hatred.

"...The Ray Sphere."

"The what?" Naruto inquired with a raised eyebrow. Even Sarutobi looked slightly puzzled. Seeing that the boy and the old kage had no idea what he was talking about, he elaborated, albeit reluctantly.

"The Ray Sphere is a device that is designed to infuse a person with powers well beyond the capabilities of most humans. It's...the reason I have my powers."

"If this thing does that, then how could it have destroyed half a village?" Naruto asked.

"The Ray Sphere grants random powers to whoever activates it, but at a very high price. Once activated, the device levels anything within a 3 mile range. It took the energy of all of the people caught in the blast radius and transferred it to the person who activated the sphere."

"Cole-san, if I remember correctly, the Uzukage tower was at the center of the blast." Sarutobi stated.

"You're right, old man, it was. The Tsuchikage sent the damn thing to the Uzukage as a 'peace offering'. Technically, the Uzukage took the lives of most of the Maelstrom ninja, but the Uzukage was unaware of what the thing could do. However, we all know that the Tsuchikage was the one responsible for what happened so the remnants of Maelstrom and pretty much nearly everyone else in the ninja world never blamed our leader." Cole explained.

"If I may ask Cole-san, where was my mother during all this?" Naruto asked. Naruto saw Cole tense up a little at the question. Something told the boy that the lightning user's answer was going to be a doozy...and he was right.

"Your mother, Kushina...was in Uzukage tower." Cole said in somewhat grave voice.

Naruto froze, his eyes going wide with shock. At that moment, all of the puzzle pieces came together, giving him the entire picture.

"My mother...was the Uzukage." Naruto nearly whispered still in shock over hearing who his mother was. Despite the situation, both Cole and the Sandaime continued to be impressed with Naruto's intelligence.

"That's right, Naruto-kun. Your mother was one of the strongest ninja alive." Sarutobi confirmed. Naruto came out of his shock enough to continue to listen.

"Was? Is she..." Naruto began to ask, but stopped short of saying the word he didn't want to say. He just found out about who his parents are. He was ready to admit that he was truly alone.

"We don't know, kid." Cole answered somewhat unsurely. "After the war ended, she married your dad in secret. During the Kyubi attack, she gave birth to you. She was in good condition when we left her to go defend the village. After the battle, however, we found her hospital room in complete ruins with blood all over the place. We weren't able to identify any of the blood at the scene, but there is one thing that we are sure of: none of it matched your mother's blood."

"So you mean...?" Naruto said with hope in his voice.

"I do believe that she's alive, kid. However..." Cole paused. It was obvious that even he was having a hard time with explaining this. "...her whereabouts are unknown. Almost every Maelstrom ninja that I've talked to have no idea where she is either. I suspect that a couple of them know something, but if they do, they've refused to tell me."

"Naruto-kun." Naruto turned towards the Sandaime, who hands him 2 scrolls. "Your parents instructed me to give you these when you learn the truth about the Kyubi. I would image that there are some private things in there so please read them when nobody else is around. Your heritage must be kept a secret for as long as possible until you are able to defend yourself effectively." Naruto nodded, putting the scrolls in his pocket so that he could read them later.

"Is there anything else, jiji?" Naruto inquired. The hokage shook his head.

"That should be everything, Naruto-kun. Go on home and get some rest."

"Ok, jiji." the boy then turned his attention to Cole. "Will I see you again, Cole-san?"

Cole nodded. "Yeah, you'll see me again, kid."

'Sooner than you think if things go right, kid.' Cole thought. Naruto bowed to both men and jumped out the window. Sarutobi could only shake his head.

"I swear, the boy is like the two of my students – they never use the door." Cole could only chuckle. 'That's funny, because Lady Uzukage always used to complain why most of her ANBU came through the front door when they were suppose to be black-ops members.' After a moment, he moved past the thought and focused on the old kage in front of him.

Sarutobi gave Cole a odd look. "You didn't tell him about..."

"...I know," Cole said in a low voice. "but if I tell him, it may lead to...certain things that he's not ready to learn at this time. In all honesty, some of it is still weird even after all these years."

Sarutobi nodded in understanding. Cole should have actually been dead back in his 'world'. He had, in fact, activated the Ray Field inhibitor, a device designed to remove the conduit gene from a living person, in order to stop the beast. The device was suppose to kill all conduits on the planet, but instead, he ended up in this world.

That's when he had been found by ninja from Uzushio. Seeing that he had no other choice, Cole went to see Kushina, the Uzukage of Uzushiogakure. After he told his story, Kushina believed that he could be a valuable asset to the village and let him become a shinobi of Uzushio. However, half a decade later, Cole was sent on a mission to investigate a strange phenomenon near a small village on the boarder of Whirlpool and Fire country. When he had arrived, he was told that the strange invent was coming from a lab on the far end of town. When he arrived at the lab and entered, he was unprepared for the person that he saw.

Kessler.

At first, Cole was about to nearly fly off the handle since Kessler was the main reason for most of the problems he had experienced. However, that changed when he realized the state his old enemy was in – he was dying.

Flashback

"Just how the hell did you survive, you bastard!" Cole yelled as he began charging up a magnum bolt. Kessler noticed this, but instead of taunt Cole like he head done in their past encounters, he gave a deep, but sickly sigh.

"Don't bother, Cole. I don't have long for this world...or any world for that matter."

"You've died before, Kessler." Cole shot back, still on guard.

"To be perfectly honest, I was suppose to die after our battle. Obviously, that wasn't the case. When you defeated me, my particles scattered before disappearing, I presume."

"...yeah, that did happen." Cole carefully replied. "That still doesn't explain why you are alive."

"In a way, it does. That said, I honestly didn't think it was possible to end up across dimensions." Kessler then narrowed his eyes at Cole. "Speaking of which...how did you end up here? You didn't lose to the beast, did you?"

"...No, I beat him. In fact, it was your Ray Sphere that created it in the first place!" Cole yelled. However, to the young conduit's surprise, Kessler's eyes widen considerably in shock.

"...No...that's not possible. The beast showed up in my timeline as well..." the old man muttered.

Despite his extreme dislike for the man in front of him, Cole took in what Kessler told him and gave it some thought. He then decided to actually ask about the man's past. "Was there anything like the Ray Sphere your first time through?"

Kessler gave him a nod. "Yes, there was. The first time I heard of it's existence was when a company based in Boston called 'Massive Dynamic' began developing it."

"Who the hell is 'Massive Dynamic'? I've never heard of that company before in Boston." Cole responded, slightly confused.

"I know, and there is a reason for that, but I'll get to it in a minute. To answer your question, Massive Dynamic was a tech research facility...but not just any tech research facility...they researched things that most consider to be nothing more than theories – you know it as fringe science."

"The hell?" Cole raised an eyebrow. "They were THAT open about what they did? Was the government involved?"

"Not really. The general public thought they were just a regular technology research facility – which isn't a lie. They researched things like the average number of concussions NFL players sustain and help develop the helmets to reduce or prevent them."

'And to think, I was actually offered a football scholarship to play at Empire State. Too bad nobody in my timeline was researching that sort of thing...' Cole silently mused.

Kessler looked right at him and slightly smirked. "Yes, it was too bad. You would have been their most celebrated running back since 1967."

Cole looked a bit creeped out, but Kessler waved that off. "I'm 'you', remember? Not to mention that one of my powers allows me to read minds, in a way. The difference is that where I came from, Empire City was called 'New York City'. I played for Syracuse before I was drafted in the 1st round by the Jacksonville Jaguars. You wouldn't know them, since in your "timeline", you know it as 'New Jackson City'.

"To a degree, yes, the government knew about it, but they believed that there was a higher priority at the time – that priority being a supposed invasion by extraterrestrials."

"...the government believed you guys were going to be invaded by aliens?" Cole asked incredulously.

"Yes. In fact, the FBI had a division that spear-headed that issue known as the X-Files Division, but, again, I digress. Despite that, the FBI felt that what Massive Dynamic was researching was worth investigating, so they opened a division to look into it. It was known as the Fringe Division.

"...they opened up a division because they believed that stuff like teleportation was possible?"

"I thought that as well. That all changed when I found out that one of my old professors was one of the key players in the Fringe division. His name was Dr. Walter Bishop – and if you thought I was crazy..."

"I do..." Cole deadpanned. "What's your old professor have anything to do with all of this?"

"...before the world fell apart due to the beast, he was the owner and CEO of Massive Dynamic."

That got Cole's attention.

"With Massive Dynamic's ridiculous resources, Dr. Walter Bishop managed to do something that most thought was impossible – he founded dimensional science and theory." that's when Kessler stopped. Cole had wondered if something was wrong, when he spoke once more, but he sounded more...fragile.

"I'm afraid that I might have been wrong about the beast in general." Kessler admitted, causing Cole's face to twist in total confusion. "Don't get me wrong – the beast was quite bad and needed to be stopped, but I believe that the deterioration of my world was due to Dr. Bishop incorrectly opening a portal between my world and one that almost mirrors it. Parts of my world became unlivable due to a substance we called "Amber", which was used to keep black holes from forming and destroying our world. While the beast in my time was stopped due to being incased in it, my world was already in ruins with a population of less than 1 billion left on the planet."

"Wait, you mean to tell me that this world, and possibly mine, are different dimensions?"

"For me, yes. For you, where you were born is your home dimension. This world, on the other hand, is a much different beast. It's so different, that I doubt that the exact point of divergence will be discovered in our lifetime. I am certain of one thing: the sage of six paths of this world knew about dimensional travel and may have kept records of his thoughts and observations somewhere. If you want all of the answers to this world, seek it out."

Cole nodded, surprised that some of that made sense. Then, without warning, Kessler doubled over in what looked to be excruciating pain. Cole was about to ask what was wrong, but Kessler's hand suddenly shot up to his forehead, grabbed, and held on.

"Cole...my time among the living has come to a close. However...I will do …..what I should have done years ago... I will... transfer all of my knowledge to you." Kessler said weakly, in between horrible coughs.

"What? Are you crazy? There's got to be a drawback to this!" Cole argued.

"Yes...there is. This process...will kill me...but how would that ….have been any different ….than what was going to happen to me in a few days? At least I know...that my knowledge...will be put...to good use. There is...one more thing...do not...under any circumstances...allow this knowledge to fall...into the hands...of the Uchiha clan."

As Kessler's hands began to glow, he gave Cole one last look and said, "Farewell...Cole MacGrath. Please...learn from my mistakes...and make sure that this world doesn't suffer the same fate as mine."

With that, Cole felt a massive load of information explode into his head before blacking out.

End Flashback

The amount of knowledge Cole received was beyond anything that he had ever experienced. He suddenly knew how to build anything that their worlds had built themselves. It was that knowledge that led to Uzushiogakure becoming the most technologically advanced shinobi nation in this world before it seemingly met its end.

Another thing that caught his attention was that he aged very slowly. He was just over 40 years old, but for some odd reason, he still looked just as young as his days in New Marias. Kessler did live well over two lifetimes due to his electrical powers. He and Naruto could possibly end up living that long since they had the same powers. Speaking of Naruto...

"Lord Hokage, there is one more thing that I would like to discuss." Cole spoke in a serious tone. Sarutobi nodded, indicating that he was listening.

"It's about guardianship of the kid. Why hasn't Naruto been adopted?"

Sarutobi let out a long, tired sigh upon hearing that question. "Unfortunately, Danzo and the civilian council pulled a fast one the night after the attack. They created a law forbidding any Konoha-born ninja or Konoha clan to claim guardianship of Naruto. Technically, any Konoha civilian can adopt him, but Danzo made sure that no civilian would be willing to do so. It is one of the very few laws that I don't have the power to overrule."

"That old bastard probably wants to make sure that he is isolated enough for him to come and induct him into The Foundation." Cole spat.

'Indeed, Root has been a problem over the years. Unfortunately, I can't touch Danzo until I can prove that he ignored my order to disband that organization...'

"I agree, Cole-san. Danzo doesn't see Naruto as a human being. He sees him as a weapon. I'm doing what I can to make Naruto-kun's life as bearable as possible, but I'm afraid it won't be enough. As tough as the boy is, he is still human."

Cole went silent, thinking about what the old kage just told him. 'Damn it! What do I do? That old bastard and his cronies have made it impossible for anyone born here to adopt Naruto. How the hell am I going to get around that-' Cole then froze in mid-thought and went back over what he just said to himself. After a moment, the Empire City native grinned.

"Lord Hokage..." Cole spoke up. Sarutobi saw the grin on his face and wondered what the man was up to.

"Yes?"

"You said before that ninjas or clans native to Leaf couldn't adopt Naruto, right?" Sarutobi was a bit confused as to why Cole was bringing this point back up, but nodded anyway.

"What does the law say about ninjas like me who aren't born here?" Cole smirked. Sarutobi paused and began to think about what Cole just said. After a moment, the kage's eyes went wide in realization...before his lips formed a grin that practically said, 'I see what you did there'.

"I think it can work, Cole-san. We'll need to move quickly, though. If Danzo and the civilian council find out, they will quickly pass a law to close that loophole." Sarutobi said as he reached into his desk and pulled out a form. An clan creation form.

"Uh, Lord Hokage?" Cole asked in slight confusion.

"In order for ninjas, regardless of where they are from, to adopt, they have to get the approval of the both councils, the elders, and the Hokage. While I would certainly approve of the adoption and I'm sure that the ninja council would as well, Danzo and the civilian council would vote against it, leaving my two former teammates to decide Naruto's fate as your guardian. Should they rule against the adoption, Danzo and the civilian council will close up any remaining loopholes, which would effectively destroy any chance of Naruto ever getting adopted in this village."

"However, as hokage, I have the power to approve the creation of a clan. Anyone you list here would be included in the clan. The only stipulation is that the clan must consist of at least 6 people; two of whom must be female. Do you have anyone in mind who would want to be in this new clan?" Sarutobi asked.

"I'm pretty sure that Lord Jiraiya is more than willing to be apart of the clan. Lord Orochimaru and his apprentice Anko will also likely agree to join. The problem comes with finding another women..." Cole mused. Getting the other three to sign wouldn't take long since all three shinobi were in town. It was finding another women who wasn't part of a established clan that was an issue.

Sarutobi also went deep into thought. After a moment, his faced formed a wide grin. "I may know someone who is willing to join. It will take some convincing, but she did say that she owes Kushina and her family a life dept. You may be able to use that to your advantage. She has chosen to use her hermit status and leave the village, but she still has to contact me once a year and come back to the village every 3 years. It just so happens that she arrived in the village this afternoon and is suppose to be arriving any moment..."

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. 'That would be her...' Sarutobi cleared his throat before answering, "Enter."

The door opened as two women walked in. One had blond hair while the other had brunette hair. The brunette was carrying what looked to be a pet pig.

"I'm reporting in as you requested, sensei." the blond woman informed.

Sarutobi smiled. "Ah, welcome back. You're timing couldn't have been better...Tsunade."

As you can see, this chapter was the first of my re-writes. It seems a bit longer than before, yes, but it is important. If anyone has read the latest chapter of the Naruto manga, know that a lot of those characters will make their way into my story. Chapter 2 will also see a redo, so expect that to follow shortly after this chapter is re-posted. Read and review please, and thank you for being patient!