The Narutimate Lantern

(Summary: The prophecy of the Brightest Day and the Blackest Night has come to the Elemental countries and only those chosen to bear the powers of the emotional spectrum can combat the great evil that's coming. Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Green Lantern though I wish I did)

Chapter 1: First Flight

It felt wrong.

Even though Iruka Sensei had practically ordered him to escape with the Forbidden Scroll, Naruto knew in his heart that he shouldn't have left his surrogate father to deal with a psycho like Mizuki.

And yet he left him anyways. Why?

Was he simply following orders? Or was he just truly scared of what Mizuki might do to him? After all, the man was a chunin and that much more skilled then him.

And then, there was the traitor's revelation that he was Kyuubi No Kitsune's jinchuuriki which threw him for a loop. Maybe he was also scared of what might happen if he ever lost himself and allowed Kyuubi to take over. He would probably destroy anything AND everything in his path, INCLUDING people whom he held dear in his heart. At this point, Naruto had stopped running as he thought about what he was going to do.

"This isn't like me." Naruto mutters to himself. "How can I be the Hokage if I let that traitor scare me with what he said? So what if I have Kyuubi sealed into me? Screw anyone who can't deal with that and I'll be damned if I let that thing control my life."

Naruto then turns around and starts running back to where he left Mizuki and Iruka. "I need to go back. I need to help Iruka Sensei." He said resolutely. But before he can go any further, something erupts from the ground in front of him, prompting the blonde to jump back in a defensive position.

"What the hell is that?" Naruto wonders as he stares at what seemed to be a strange, green colored lantern floating in front of him. A few moments later, a glowing ring emerges from the lantern and flies towards him. Instinctively, Naruto reaches out and allows it to slip into the middle finger of his right hand.

"Uzumaki Naruto of Earth. You have manifested the ability to overcome great fear. Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps. Now recite the oath." A voice spoke in his head. At the same time, Naruto somehow gains knowledge of what to do and instinctively points the ring on his hand on the strange lantern's opening while reciting the oath.

"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight, let those who worship evil's might, beware my power... Green Lantern's light!" As Naruto finished reciting the oath, he suddenly found himself floating in a stark, white space. And floating in the middle of the space was a brown haired, masked figure wearing green and black armor (modified Parallax armor w/o the cape) with a lantern like insignia on his chest.

The green armored figure who seemed to be waiting for something, smiled at Naruto.

"Greetings. My name is Hal Jordan and I'm the Lantern Prime of the Green Lantern Corps which is a intergalactic police force tasked to maintain peace and dispense justice wherever needed in the universe." The figure identified itself. "If you're seeing this recording, then the ring has deemed you worthy enough to wield it's power so congratulations and welcome to the Green Lantern Corps."

The Lantern Prime's features then turns grim at his next words. "But, it also means that I have to tell you the real reason why the ring even exists in your world. While we normally do not interfere in another world's culture, circumstances have forced us to suspend our law of non-interferance for the greater good.

The elder Lantern pauses as if to collect his thoughts before continuing. "The reason for this is an ancient prophecy from the Book Of Oa which essentially speaks of the end of all life as we know it. An ordeal known as the Blackest Night. Though I am forbidden to tell you the full details of what will transpire during the Blackest Night in, I can say that the experience took us to our absolute limit before we were able to defeat the source of the darkness."

If possible, Jordan's tone turned even more serious. "Unfortunately, things didn't really end there. Recently, we have uncovered evidence indicating that the Blackest Night phenomenon has spread to other time periods, even to other realities and it's starting to wreck havoc on the space-time continum."

"So me and the other guardians decided to send rings like the one you wear to different time periods and realities in order to combat the effects of the Blackest Night and prevent any more damage to the continuum. Each of these rings represent a color of the emotional spectrum. Green for will, yellow for fear, red for rage, blue for hope, orange for greed, indigo for compassion and violet for love. Each has it's own special ability and respond to the emotional spectrum it was assigned to."

Jordan points to Naruto's ring. "Your ring is powered and at the same time limited by the strength of your will and imagination. In short, it has the potential to do almost anything if you've got the willpower and imagination to do it."

"But the power you wield also comes with the responsibility of maintaining peace and justice in your sector, even against other agents of the emotional spectrum. Quite a few of them have been my enemies in the past because they've used the power of their rings for their own selfish gains and I can tell you now, they can be equal or even stronger then you are depending on the strength of their emotion."

At this point, Jordan's face breaks into a smile. "The ring does NOT choose it's wielder randomly though. Every Green Lantern that has been chosen to wield one of those rings have shown great willpower, courage, integrity and strength of character and you're no exception. You may not realize it but you also possess all these qualities within you."

"My time grows short. I have programmed everything you will need to know in the ring's database. Remember what I have told you about the prophecy of the Blackest Night. You may also seek out other ringbearers of the emotional spectrum for assistance though a few may prove to be difficult to deal with. But I have every confidence in your abilities. Good luck new Green Lantern and godspeed." Only when the individual known as Hal Jordan wink out did everything go back to normal. Naruto found himself looking at the ring in his hand while thinking about what the stranger had said.

"Any feat huh?" Naruto mutters before making a decision. He grabs the charging lantern and focused his will on the ring, commanding it to take him to where Iruka and Mizuki were fighting. And before he knew what happened, he was flying through the air at breakneck speed towards their battlesite.

He hoped he wasn't too late.

(Elsewhere)

"Why the hell are you protecting the demon Iruka? It killed your parents didn't it? You should be helping me destroy it!" Mizuki shouted as he searched the surrounding forest for the scarred chunin.

"Naruto is NOT a monster Mizuki. He's also just a victim like I am." Iruka shouted back from his hiding place as he nursed the various injuries he sustained during their battle which included a rather deep puncture wound on the back from one of Mizuki's giant shurikens. "You on the other hand, are a traitor. You used Naruto to steal the Forbidden Scroll for you so you can kill him and take it for yourself when you abandon our village!"

"I'm just doing what should have been done years ago. It just so happens that he was a convenient tool in my 'retirement' plan." Mizuki retorted, finally detecting where Iruka was hiding as he unlimbered the huge shuriken on his back. "And I'll finally have a bright future which is more then I can say for you!"

Iruka manages to leap away from the bush he was hiding in to avoid the giant shuriken Mizuki throws at him. But that was just a feint because as soon as he left his cover, the traitorous chunin appears behind Iruka and purposely batters him on his wounded back and knocking him back down to the ground. And as he struggles to prop himself up to better defend himself, Mizuki plants a foot on his chest.

"You're a fool Iruka. We could have had everything in our grasp but you threw it all away when you defended that demon." Mizuki said with a sneer as he drew a kunai.

"And I don't regret that one bit." Iruka said with a bloody smile as a final act of defiance. "Naruto is more of a shinobi then you can ever hope to be and I am proud of the person he has become."

"Then I'll make sure he joins you in hell!" Mizuki said with an insane grin as he holds up his kunai. But before he can do anything, a large, glowing green hand slaps the traitor away from Iruka. The scarred, academy instructor looks to where the attack came from and sees Naruto surrounded by a green glow and floating up in the air.

"Get away from Iruka Sensei, Mizuki Teme." Naruto growls as he placed himself between the silver haired chunin and the wounded Iruka. "You're not doing anything except get locked up for treason."

"Treason? TREASON? I didn't betray the village! The village betrayed ME!" Mizuki ranted. "What has the village done for me lately, huh? I gave it a lifetime of service and what do I get out of it? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I don't owe this stinkin' village a damned thing for what it HASN'T done for me! A village which lets a monster like you run free doesn't deserve my loyalty so I'm going elsewhere where my talent can be appreciated! And I'll kill ANYONE who tries to stop me!"

But instead of freezing up at someone calling him a monster like Mizuki was banking on, Naruto looked relatively calm,alert and even a little annoyed.

"Is this what it's all about? The damned fox sealed inside of me? If I were really Kyuubi as you say I am, then why haven't I destroyed you or the entire village yet?" Naruto asks.

"You're just biding your time! Waiting for us to let our guard down before you strike!" Mizuki replied contemptously. Naruto shakes his head at the traitor's stubborness.

"Fine! It seems like you don't wanna listen to reason." Naruto said before raising up a hand with a glowing green ring on it. "And since you seem to be so eager to kill Kyuubi, why don't I let him out for you?"

Iruka pales at what Naruto said. While it was true that Mizuki was now a traitor, taking him down didn't neccesitate the releasing of the strongest biju of the Elemental Countries. "Naruto... I don't think that's such a good..."

"Don't worry Iruka Sensei. It'll be alright." Naruto assured his academy instructor. And looking into his student's eyes, Iruka could see the sincerity there and slowly nods his head. Naruto then turns his attention back to Mizuki with a malicious grin on his face. "Say hello to my little friends, teme."

Before Mizuki's horrified eyes, not one but a whole pack of green colored and wolf sized versions of Kyuubi appears all around and starts walking towards him. Screaming in terror, Mizuki tries chucking a large shuriken at the threat but the projectile was simply batted away as the horde of mini Kyuubis continue their advance.

"S-Stay away from m-me! I-I'm warning you..." Mizuki shrieks as he drew a kunai and hysterically starts swinging it around. But instead of backing off, the green Kyuubis leap towards Mizuki, transforms in mid-air into emerald colored versions of Naruto and dogpiles the traitorous chunin while savagely battering him into unconsciousness. Even Iruka had to wince at the beatdown his former colleague was receiving from the emerald Narutos.

"That should teach you NOT to mess with Uzumaki Naruto. Future Hokage." Naruto said to the unconscious Mizuki as he dispelled the constructs made by his ring. He then turns his attention towards Iruka. "Iruka Sensei! Hang in there. I'll get you to the hospital in no time."

"I-I'm fine for the moment Naruto." Iruka said as he sat back in weariness against a tree. "What was that power you used against Mizuki?"

"It's kind of a long story. Maybe we should wait till you're better before I tell you about it Iruka Sensei. We do have to get you some help after all. And I also have to bring Mizuki to ANBU."

Iruka was about to protest but found that he didn't really have the strength to do so. "Fine then. You owe me an explanation. But for now, can you kneel down here for a moment and close your eyes?"

Naruto cocks his head quizzically but complies nonetheless. He could feel his goggles being removed but it was replaced by something else. "Ok. You can open your eyes now." Iruka stated. Opening his eyes, he can see Iruka sans his hiate and when he touches his forehead, he discovers the headband was tied to his own forehead.

"Congratulations Naruto. You've earned the rank of Genin and I'm very proud of you." Iruka said with a wide grin. He soon found himself engulfed by a hug from the blonde jinchuuriki.

"I'm just glad you're ok Iruka Sensei." Naruto sniffled before stepping back and using his ring to surround both men in a protective bubble of green energy with Iruka's having an additional construct which stemmed the flow of blood from his wounds and Mizuki's having shackles to restrain him. "Now let's go drop Mizuki Teme off to ANBU and see a doctor about your injuries. After that, I'm going to go have a little chat with Jiji." And with that, Naruto rockets off with his cargo in tow back to Konoha.

(Hokage Tower)

Unknown to the blonde, the Sandaime Hokage had been watching the entire thing using his crystal ball and had been surprised by what he has seen.

"So another ringbearer is born, eh?" Sarutobi mutters to himself. "Granted that it's not his father's ring. But it's still damned impressive." He then frowns as he considers his next move. "If that ring is anything like the one Minato wore, then that means I can't hide anything from him anymore."

The Hokage then retrieves a scroll from his desk and summons an ANBU. "Deliver this message to Hatake Kakashi immediately." The ANBU nods his assent and leaps off to accomplish his task, leaving the old Sandaime to his thoughts as he looks over his village.

"I suppose the time has come reveal everything about his heritage. I just hope he can forgive this old man for keeping it from him all these years."

Author's Notes: Don't worry folks coz I haven't abandoned any of my current stories yet. I've just been having a Green Lantern trip these days, especially with the Blackest Night storyline coz're it's a damned interesting read. So here's the product of my overactive imagination folks and I hope more authors would consider writing fics about it this. I also want your opinion on wether or not I should reveal his identity as a lantern to the public now or much later in the story. As usual, R&R please.