Naruto's head was leaning against the cold glass. He was curled up on the windowsill, the broad frame giving him a good view of the inner courtyard. His eyes were fixated on three figures standing in the middle of the trainingfield.

"That's right ! Just like this !", the tallest figure out of the three started praising the boy who had his arm stretched in front of him, in his hand a blue swirling vortex. That was his brother Menma. He was grinning like a madman and waved the hand with his new accomplished jutsu in front of his mother's face. This was a view Naruto came to despise, he saw it on a daily basis. Menma and Naruto were both the kids of the 4th Hokage Minato Namikaze, but somehow his parents simply forgot that Naruto existed. When it first had happened Naruto talked to them, asking if he could perhaps train with his older brother. But he would always get the same answer: "Sorry dear, but we need to help Menma, after all he's the child of the prophecy." And then Naruto was ignored again.

He had learned to ignore the feeling of utter hurt and betrayal, he accepted the situation. He knew that Menma was going to enroll in the academy this year, he was pretty sure that, in contrast to his brother, he would need to beg. It was a fact, that he was almost completely untrained, the most he had ever done was secretly working out in his room.

With a last look at his family he hopped off the windowsill and sprinted to his room. He had a plan and he would pull through, even if it meant sneaking off without his parents knowing.

Slowly Naruto opened the door to his parents' room. It didn't take long for him to find what he searched for: the drawer with the kunai and shuriken inside. With a triumphantly smirk he shoved a small amount of the weapons inside his bag, just so it wouldn't be obvious that a few were missing. As he shut the drawer again he hesitated, did he need anything else ? After debating with himself Naruto decided against taking other things with him. He slung his bag over his shoulder and peaked into the hallway, eerie silence.

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A relieved sigh escaped Naruto's mouth after he shut the last door of the Namikaze-compound behind him. Excitement flooded through his body, now that he was free, he could finally start training. He quickly glanced back before he took off, only one destination in mind.

Dodging people on the roads of Konoha he ran straight to the Forest of Death that towered in the northwest over the village. He couldn't help but grin: he could finally prove his parents wrong, he could show them that he wasn't just a failure. Lost in his thoughts he didn't even realise that he already reached the forest, he didn't stop running though, straight past the huge fences. When he decided he was deep enough inside he came to an halt, taking in his surroundings he desperately tried to catch his breath. That was one point he needed to work on: his stamina.

His bag slipped from his shoulders and landed with a thud on the ground next to his feet. The clearing he had found seemed almost made for his training, there were enough big trees that could easily work as a target, a small lake could help him in case he tried water jutsus. Overall it was a great spot. He sat down next to his bag and closed his eyes briefly, this short moment was enough to give him the strong urge to go to the west. Blinking he opened his eyes again, what was that ? Suddenly the clearing didn't look fitting for his planned training anymore. He needed to go to the west, deeper inside the forest. Naruto's hand shot to his head, holding it as if it was going to break at any moment. He didn't understand his own thoughts anymore, this clearing was perfect, but he needed to go so desperately. Shaking his head he tried to get rid of all the confusing things that were swirling in his head. His eyebrows furrowed and he felt an invisible force pulling him up, automatically he grapped his bag and stomped off into the woods. Like a fox he chased through the forest, the feeling in his guts was leading him.

When he came to an halt again, he had completely lost his orientation. Tall trees blocked his view and the whole ground was overgrown by moss. Carefully he took a few steps forward, that turned out to be a mistake: The moss under his feet gave way. With a startled screech he fell into the hole, landing hard on his knees. A small whimper left his throat. The weird feeling, that had led him, started to disappear. Bolder than before Naruto started searching the ground in case there was another weak spot that would break if he stepped on it. What he certainly didn't expect was the necklace his fingers touched. He grabbed it and held it in front on his face, his curiosity sparked. Six black magatama beads hung from the string that held the necklace, it was quite pretty.

So he did what everyone would've done. With a small smile on his face he put the necklace around his neck. But as the beads touched his skin he felt like they were burning him, he hurried to get it off again, but it was as if they were grown onto him: the necklace didn't move. His vision started to blurr, his consciousness slipped.

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When Naruto woke up again he wasn't in the forest, instead he was laying in ankle-deep water in what seemed to be a sewer. The necklace was still around his neck, though it didn't hurt him anymore. Confusion made itself known, how did he end up here ? The last thing he could remember was putting the necklace on and the unbearable pain that came with it. Groaning he sat up, he felt like he was hit by a full-blast jutsu. He didn't even came to look a bit around as his necklace had started to glow and now the light gathered in front of him, it was forming a silhouette. And when the light dispersed a man came into his view. He was pale-skinned and had deep wrinkles on his face that spoke for his age. His hair may have been brown when he was younger, but now it was an odd shade of grey. The long spikes of his hair were covering something that looked suspiciously like horns. Right in the middle of his forehead was a weird red dot, Naruto couldn't tell if it was drawn or if it really was part of his skin. His body was mainly hidden by an overly large grey kimono and to his own surprise he wore the same necklace Naruto was wearing.

He felt intimidated, the man's aura rolled in waves off of him and he had to use all of his will to stay standing. With a deep, rasping voice the man started to speak. "What are thou doing here ? And how did thou get hold of my sacred necklace ?" Naruto's mouth was hanging wide open, his jaw almost hitting the floor. "I- I'm sorry, I don't even know where I am... And I didn't steal your necklace or anything ! I found it and I tried to put it off, but then it somehow stuck to my skin and I really di-" He cut himself off before he started to ramble again, it was an old habit, if he was pressured or in distress he often started to ramble. "It stuck to thou ?" Hastily Naruto nodded. "Could it be the prophecy ?", the man mumbled rather to himself than to Naruto. "Young child, I'm known under many names, but thou can call me Rikudou Sennin." Smiling Naruto held out his hand. "Hello Mister Rikudou Sennin ! I'm Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki." When he realised that the man wasn't going to shake his hand, he retreated it quickly and rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin. His smile quickly faded when he came to mind that his family must've noticed his absence by now. "So... Can I go now ?"