A/N: So it's been a while since I've updated anything and that's mostly because I haven't enjoyed writing or anything really, for a long time. But here I am trying to start a new story, a cross over no less. I've been watching walking dead over and over and now I just have this urge to write about just because I can't get enough from the show and reruns. So what compels me to do a cross over between walking dead and Naruto? Simple, they're my favorite shows and I think it would be awesome. But enough about me let me shed some light about the premise of this cross over universe. While at the height of the fourth Great War, clashing with the near god like sage power of Madara, Naruto barely comes out victorious. However, the combined power of that final confrontation tears apart the very fabric of space and time, sending Naruto into a strange, dying world. Exhausted with minimal use of his abilities, Naruto must learn how to survive in this dangerous place, all the while trying to figure out how to get home. So that's the summary, and for the sake of argument that won't really be explained in the story itself, Naruto can't read English but he understands it and can speak it and Japanese. So, time and place; Naruto arrives in the walking dead universe around the time Rick and the group made it to the farm. He finds Sophia and keeps her safe and does what he can to make her a little stronger while they travel together. They don't cross paths with the group at the highway and they don't find the farm so they're on their own for quite some time. But things in life tend to go full circle and for the first time, everyone is reunited… at the prison.

It's been months since Naruto arrived in this world, though it feels as if it were years with no real way to know what day of the year it is. He's keeping count of the days gone by as best he can, but knowing it's the least of his worries, for the time being he focuses on keeping his young traveling buddy safe. Finally getting a feel for his new surroundings, he's given serious thought to leaving the girl in a position where she can be safe without him. She saved his life with the intel she gave him when they first met and with the little strength he had, managed to survive his first night in this world. Tired as he is, he will not abandon a small girl in such a harsh world. Every day he gains just a small amount of his strength, and he now feels it is time to make a move for the win. While this world is not his home, while he misses his friends and longs to know what has become of them, being hero comes with his personality and anyone that needs it; he'll be there for the rescue. He can tell that most people would have lost hope by now, resulting with most survivors being dangerous as they are desperate to survive. That's why he simply can't leave Sophia with just any group. The worst of the worst, he knows that's most of what's left. So what is he to do? What he does best of course. This world may not be his home, but for the sake of humanity, he can be a beacon of hope, and if he can't be that beacon, he'll make one.

They have been walking since the sun came up, which was about five hours ago. They only stopped to relieve themselves, if Sophia gets tired Naruto carries her, which he hasn't done for her for months. "Are we in a hurry Naruto?" Sophia asks, knowing that while he may slow down a bit for her, he won't coddle her anymore.

"Not really, but I am looking for good place to hold up for a few days. We've had a few too many close calls sleeping in the woods. We can't get our strength back like this if we can't get a decent nights rest. I don't mind carrying you, but try to keep an eye out, I'm gonna start moving a lot faster now." Sophia has only seen Naruto perform incredible feats of strength when it was absolutely necessary, so she knows that the he's moving with urgency, and that she has to hold on tight. Clearing about ten feet with every step, they move quickly through the forest. At this pace there really isn't any need to look out for walkers, if they cross paths with them; they're gone before they even realize what happened. They came across a rail road a few days ago and have been following it ever since. Getting to know Naruto over the past few months, Sophia figures that he must feel close to whatever it is he is looking for, and for the first time in a while, Sophia feels a glimmer of hope she hadn't felt since she met her new friend.

"Are we giving up on looking for my mom and the rest of my friends?" Sophia was told some time ago that it would be unlikely that they would find her group, but even still Naruto assured her that she shouldn't give up hope.

"What did I tell you before? I never give up! That's my nindo dattebayo! I'll explain later, but I got an idea, big plans really." Sophia giggles feeling the level of excitement from Naruto, which is the only time he slips those kinds of phrases out.

"What does that even mean Naruto?" obviously the people of this world would know nothing of his world or his people, his way of life. So even from Sophia, he keeps his ninjutsu a secret. Though there have been a few times he when he is forced to use them. Normally Sophia would try to get Naruto to elaborate more on what his plans were, but for now she is simply enjoying the rare ride while she can.

"Haha don't worry about it, just keep your eyes open, don't get distracted." Naruto hasn't been anywhere near full power, and he has found that doing his trademark shadow clone technique in excess would prove fatal, given that it involves dividing his chakra evenly, so even if he only made a single clone, he would lose half his chakra. He doesn't regain his energy over night like he used to, and his chakra level had gotten so low that he was able to control it enough to make an ordinary bunshin, which has proven useful on occasion, but still alarming how he must exercise caution doing something that was almost second nature to him. His physical stamina wasn't up to par, but with a few bites to eat, he could regain his strength a little better than his he could his chakra. With his survival skills, it was more than enough to handle a few walkers, especially considering he still had plenty of kunai, which he had taught Sophia to handle and even through them accurately. Naruto came across a few spare guns, which he had seen different versions of in his own world but knew little about them. He's practiced with them enough to be a rather quick draw and accurately place a bullet between the eyes of moving walkers, even at fifty yards away. But the thing he hated about them was simply how loud they were. While he wasn't the stealthiest ninja by any means, he knew the importance of being silent. It wasn't an issue when dealing with these walkers with his level of skill, but using a gun could land them in more trouble than if he were to go in hand to hand. Using a gun was always a last resort, which was why he never carried one, he taught Sophia how to use them as well and specified that it should only be used if they were ever separated somehow, so that he would be able to find more easily and have a reasonable chance to survive until he arrived to save her. Ammunition was always hard to come by especially since they always kept their distance from other groups, so Naruto made sure that he would keep Sophia disciplined with her kunai.

After about thirty minutes of travelling at this pace Naruto nearly misses the very thing he didn't even realize he was searching for. It barely passes through his peripheral vision, and it takes a split second before it registers in his mind. He comes to a halt by sliding his feet against the boards of the railroad, tearing them apart. "What's wrong Naruto?" Sophia doesn't get an answer; Naruto just walks retracing his steps. When he comes to a stop, Sophia gets off and gazes upon what had caught Naruto's attention. Across a small ravine and a stones through away, there are fences. Behind those fences is a lush green field. Past that field is the sanctum of hope that Naruto has been looking for. A million and one different ideas are currently running through his head. Different things he could do with this place. It's beat to hell, that much is seen with the naked eye. But he knows this place is diamond in the rough. But most importantly, it is secure. There was just a small matter of pest control, which was nothing more than a trivial inconvenience in his mind given the trade off for a little bit of exerted energy.

"I think this is it. It's practically perfect really!" Naruto can't help the grin that spreads across his face, but this does little to convince Sophia of anything other than the possibility of Naruto finally losing his mind.

"Perfect for what exactly? This place is overrun with walkers! You can't seriously be thinking of trying to set up a camp there. How are we going to get rid of them?" the greatest ability Sophia has learned that was taught by Naruto was the ability to be silent. While she still needed practice moving without making sound, she no longer screamed when she saw a walker, or anything for that matter, even when she was caught by surprise. She could react just fast enough to decide whether she would be able to take out the walker herself with the kunai Naruto gave her or runaway and escape until Naruto finds her. But by no means is she confident that she could be at all useful going in hand to hand, and she only had a single clip left for her five seven.

"You leave that to me Sophia. We'll go in after we eat up a bit. I got a plan in mind; you won't have to worry about a thing. You can trust me, I'd never put you in any kind of danger intentionally." Sophia knows it's true, but she hasn't gotten rid of her fear of walkers completely, Naruto told her not to. But she trusts Naruto more than she is afraid of the walkers nowadays, so she just nods her head. They take out some of the food they had gathered over the past few days, they don't cook any of the meat knowing it would just attract walkers, or other uninvited guests, so they only eat the nuts and berries they have. They always feel more confident after eating but Sophia just can't shake the unsettling in her stomach, so she looks over to Naruto who is fixated on the prison, their new home. Once they have finished their snack, they get ready to move. Naruto takes a count of the shuriken and kunai he has in his holster and pouch. He's lost a few of them along the way but he has more than enough to go in for the mission. Keeping in mind that closing the inner gate will be his main objective, he picks up Sophia and jumps to close the distance to the most exterior gate. Sophia struggles not to giggle, Naruto had only done this a couple times before, and told her he wouldn't do it again if she asked how he does it, or if she ever mentioned his strength to anyone they met. Naruto jumps up again and lands in between the two fences which Naruto then takes the time to make sure were secure; the walkers would not be able to compromise these two fences, no matter how much they growled at them. "Alright, you're going to stay here, don't pay any mind to the walkers outside the fence, they can't get to you I promise. If you see anyone, any real people, give me a shout out and I'll come running. Do you trust me?" Naruto gives her his trade mark grin but kneels down so he's eye to eye with her. That's all the convincing she needs.

"Yes, I trust you Naruto. You'll win." Naruto stands back up, never breaking eye contact, and takes out the executioners blade, the very one that Zabuza had carried as one of the seven swordsman of the mist, and responds.

"Damn right dattebayo."

Rick and the group have been traveling somewhere between seven to nine months. They have been going door to door raiding houses that have already been raided by other groups that have already passed through the town, leaving next to nothing but dog food. Daryl finds an owl in one of the rooms and shares it with the rest of the group, hardly enough for ten hungry people. Carl was ready to open up a can of dog food to eat, but Rick snatches it out of his hand and throws it away. He will not have his own son reduced to that. T-Dog spots walkers out the window, signals the rest of the group, and they all file out of the house back to the cars. Maggie spots a couple of axes on her way out, and takes the time to grab them before getting in the car with Glenn. The group drives off down the road, and Rick starts thinking of their next move.

They come to a stop on the road once they see the area is clear. Rick and the others, with the exception of Carl and Lorie, get out of the cars and gather around to take a look at a map of the area. "It's like we spent the entire winter going in a circle." Hershel states.

Rick nods, "Yea I know, but we just have to find a place where we can hold up for a few weeks." Hershel agrees knowing Lorie cannot take much more of this traveling; she will be ready to give birth soon. The group continues to discuss various options, but finally decide that they won't figure it out just yet and feel it best to take care of a few necessities.

"I'll gather some water, we can boil it later, and I'll be back soon." T-Dog says as he leaves to do just that. Daryl decides to go hunting given that the owl they had earlier was far from being enough to eat. Rick joins him for support, leaving the rest of the group to look out for Lorie and Carl.

As they walk through the woods Rick stresses the fact that Lorie will be giving birth soon and that the group must find a place that is secured to the point where they can breathe easy for a while, without fear of attack from walkers or being exposed to the elements. Over the past few months, Daryl has been Rick's right hand man, ever since he had to kill his best friend Shane. The two have gotten along far better than either expected to, finding a good deal a mutual respect; they trusted each other's abilities and instincts. "We've been looking for awhile now, every time we scout we keep our eyes open for just that, that kinda place probably doesn't even exist." Daryl is typically more realistic than anything, but he has his doubts simply based on past attempts to do exactly what Rick is talking about.

"Even if it doesn't, we'll have to figure out how to make one ourselves, one way or another. It doesn't need to be perfect, just good enough so that we can fortify. We may need to get a little creative about our approach." Just as rick utters those words he hears a young girl yelling and begins running to discover the source. With Daryl close behind they come to the clearing and are amazed by what they see, a fortress surrounded by fences and gates. Thick walls and heavy doors and wide open spaces. But they then focus their vision on a little girl, positioned in between two of the fences safely away from the walkers. "What is she trying to do?"

"There's someone else there in the field, taking out all the walkers, and doing a damn good job at it too. She must be doing what she can to grab their attention, but it doesn't seem to be working much at all."

"Come on, this is the chance we've been looking for! Let's get to the others and move on to the prison!" the two make their way to their group , explain the situation and they all move together towards their new home, and possibly a new ally.

They fall one after another, it's almost too easy. With his massive sword he takes down two and sometimes three with a single swing. Not being two concerned at the moment with actually killing them he cuts them down so that they will be nearly immobile and by no means any threat. After cutting down the last one, he calls out to Sophia, "I told you there was nothing to worry about!" he laughs as Sophia cheers for him, giving him all different kinds of superlatives as praise. "I'll get you in just a second!" He waves and turns around to finish up his task. Only a few walkers were left to actually kill, driving his sword down into their skulls one after another, he's done in no time at all. He has successfully cleared the area and more importantly managed to close the inner gate, effectively sealing off the area from the walkers that are deeper inside the prison grounds. Before going back to Sophia he takes a quick walk around the perimeter to check for any areas that may be compromised. Seeing that the fences were all structurally sound, he heads back for Sophia. He opens the gate near one of the guard towers by breaking off the chain and pad-lock.

"I can't believe you did it! This place is huge we should be safe for a long time now!"

"What do you mean you can't believe it? You just saw me do it!" Naruto laughs as Sophia punches him in the arm lightly.

"You know what I mean Naruto." Sophia starts jumping up and down, doing cartwheels, tumbles and frolics about the field, completely enjoying her new found freedom. Naruto laughs and indulges in the revelry as well, doing a few back flips of his own.

"Let's start setting up a camp, and then I'll see what I can do for food."

"Sure thing-wait, Naruto it looks like a group is coming up on the prison fast." Naruto turns around and verifies Sophia's discovery.

"Alright, that guard tower on the left is clear, go hide in there until I give the okay." Sophia takes just a second to look at Naruto, who has an uncompromising look. She doesn't question his judgment, but up until now Naruto had never killed a live person, at least not that she knew of. She would have voiced her concern but she knew better than to talk about one of Naruto's orders right there on the spot. She does just as he says and runs towards the guard tower.

Closing in on the prison, the group couldn't believe what they saw. "How many walkers did you say there were Rick?" questions T-Dog.

"Fifty at least, and it hasn't been more than fifteen minutes since Daryl and I spotted this place."

"How can one person take on that many walkers by themselves?" Carol asks, concerned that this person could be an even bigger threat than any horde of walkers.

"We saw some else was with them but it was just a little girl, maybe there were others with him that we didn't see, sniping from the tree line. They could be using silencers, which would explain why we didn't notice them before." Daryl explains.

"If that were true wouldn't the walkers around the prison be down too?" Beth weighs in.

"Could be trying to conserve ammo, the ones outside aren't a threat once you're inside." Glenn explains, but this only prompts a question another question which everyone soon realizes, but Hershel voices out first.

"How did he get in then?" as they approach the front gate, the man that Rick and Daryl spotted greets them. Subconsciously they are ready to draw their weapons when need be, but they do not raise them. Only the man on the other side of the gate notices that they held their breath the moment he made eye contact with them, so he takes it upon himself to speak up first.

"How can I help you guys?" The blond stranger asks, with his arms folded and his impressive sword on his back. His look is not hard but it does not show any signs of naivety, or any room for stupidity.

Rick and Daryl are slightly taken aback, only due to the fact that the blonde man is far younger than they thought now that they have a better look at him. "My friend and I saw that you were trying to clear that field, so we regrouped with the rest of our friends so we come and lend you a hand, but it seems you didn't need it in the end." A pregnant silence follows. It is as if Naruto does not feel to the need to a statement of the obvious. "Did you do all this yourself?" Naruto looks over his left shoulder, then his right, and when looking back he raises an eyebrow and says,

"You see anyone else out here?" Rick and his group don't take his sarcasm as sign of things going well, but Daryl presses on.

"Do you have others in your group? Do you have them waiting for you somewhere?" Naruto doesn't glare but still gives a hard look at Daryl.

"No, there is no one else; I cleared this place out on my own as you can see."

"We saw a little girl waiting in the fences, is she part of your group?" Rick questions, which puts Naruto on guard.

"Yes… and no. I found her, and I've been taking care of her, making sure she survives. Can't say that we're much of a group. I cleared this place with that purpose in mind though, I take it you see this place in a similar light?" A small wave of relief overcomes Rick and his group thinking that they may see eye to eye with this stranger after all. That moment is short lived as walkers begin moving in on the group. Daryl positions himself on Ricks right while Glenn and Maggie take the left side, ready to fight.

"Please, let us in, we've been traveling on the road for a long time. My wife can't take much more of this and I need to get her and our son to a better place." Rick pleads desperately while Naruto has an almost passive look in his eye. However, Naruto takes notice of Lorie for the first time standing next to a kid with an oversized sheriff's hat, and notices her stomach.

"I take it that would be your wife standing next to the kid in the hat?"

"Yes, that's my wife Lorie; she's due any day now. Please we can't keep running, we need a place to stay." Naruto had no reason to say no, he knew these were good people from the start. Given that they know nothing about him they could have easily thought that they could over power him, even through the fence and force their way in. But seeing Lorie made up his mind entirely and he wasted no time opening the gate for the group. As they file in Naruto counts how many there are, ten in total. "Thank you… my name is Rick Grimes; this is my wife Lorie, and our son Carl, nice to meet you." Rick extends his hand and Naruto takes a look at before shaking it. Lorie and Carl do the same.

"I'm Daryl."

"Carol."

"I'm T-dog."

"Glenn."

"Maggie, nice to meet you."

"I'm Beth."

"And I'm Hershel, these two are my daughters." After the new group finishes introducing themselves they look to their new host expectantly. Naruto nearly forgets to introduce himself.

"Oh that's right, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. It's nice to meet all of you. In case you couldn't tell, I'm not really all that used to being around others. I haven't been for a while now." The group shares a light chuckle but Daryl is the first to point out the obvious.

"Looks like Glenn has a new Asian buddy."

"Funny Daryl." Glenn lightly punches him in the arm.

"Well we should get to setting up camp; we can swap war stories then. But just so you know, I plan on moving inwards tomorrow."

"Not by yourself I hope." Rick planned on doing the same thing, and is surprised that the young man had not only thought to do the same but planned on doing it on his own.

"I'm not gonna ask a bunch of strangers to risk their lives following one of my crazy ideas. So yea I do plan on going in alone."

"That's suicide though; even with a group it would be difficult." Hershel chimes in but Naruto waves him off.

"Suicide runs are a sort of specialty of mine, which is why I cleared the field in the first place. I figured that this place would be a good place to start up a small community eventually, though I had no idea that I'd be having company so soon. We can't stay outside forever, so the sooner the better right?"

"It would seem like we're on the same wave length so far. As thanks for letting us in, we'll help you clear out the court yard and a cell block, where we can all stay." Naruto gives Rick a thoughtful glance.

"You know what, I've been thinking. If anything happens to me I'll need someone to look after my friend. I don't know you guys very well, but given that some of you are parents I don't think it's a bad idea. You guys are a strong unit; you'd have no problems making sure she's safe. I take it you'd have no objection to that right?"

"We'd be more than happy to look after her, though it would be nice if we could meet her at some point." Lorie says chuckling a bit, getting the rest of the group going as Naruto realizes he had forgotten that he told Sophia to hide. He turns around to the guard tower and shouts

"That's right, let me introduce you. Sophia you can come out now, its safe!" the group stops laughing in disbelief, not sure if they heard Naruto correctly.

"Sophia?" carol says barely above a whisper.

"Yea, that's right." Naruto says, but it falls on deaf ears as the door to the guard tower opens, and his traveling buddy steps out into the sun. Sophia puts a hand up to block the sun's rays and can barely make out the faces of the group. It takes a moment to register, but there is no mistaking it. Once her eyes adjust she can see Rick and Lorie standing next to her friend Carl. She sees T-Dog, Glenn Daryl, and a few other faces that she isn't familiar. But they all disappear into the background when she sees Carol running towards her.

"Sophia!" Carol cries out with tears streaming down her face, running as fast as she can towards her daughter, the very one whom she never thought she would see again. The very one who she had thought had perished by the hands and teeth of a merciless walker. The very one who she had given up on. In this very moment of shock and disbelief, she would not recognize her own daughter were it not for the memory of her maternal instincts.

"MOM!?"