Infinity

Chapter One

In many religions, there are beings known as angels, devils, and even fallen angels. These beings make up the very inhabitants of what is known as Heaven, Hell, and Limbo. Each race has their own abilities, flaws, characteristics, and even laws.

What many humans fail to understand is how they play a role with these beings. The truth is that humans make up a large number of these races' populations. It just depends on how the human lived, what they believed in, and sometimes external influences.

But, enough about religion. You're all here to experience my story, aren't you? Well, to be honest it doesn't even start with me...at least not right away. No, it actually starts in a realm separate from our very own where two beings of legend reside. I was just lucky enough to be included in their immortal lives.

Deep breathing could be heard throughout the endless realm as a reptilian creature so massive it could span a country slept. With scales a deep crimson and wickedly sharp, it really made an intimidating sight to behold; even as it snored away.

To many inhabitants among the various realms, this being was merely a myth; a legend only heard in hushed tones and whispers. However, to the very few who knew the truth, this massive being was known as Great Red, one of the Infinite Two and a dragon as red as blood.

Another deep exhale left his lips as he slept lazily. However, there was another being sharing this realm with him. To the eye of an observer, the second being looked to be humanoid in shape. Not only that, but it looked female and no older than a preteen - possibly teenage - girl.

She had long and wavy ebony locks that fell down to her ankles, stormy gray eyes, and a visage of total calm, if not apathy. Her attire was most interesting. Covering her form was a black, long sleeved cloak that was left open and had a white trim similar to that of the stereotypical maid. Underneath it, she wore loose white shorts that stopped below her knees and had the leg ends held together with pink ribbons. Her abdomen area had two purple ties that were closed together in the centers while her chest was left bare save for black "X" markings covering where her nipples would be. To the observer, they would look like black pieces of tape, but it was unclear.

This girl, to the shock of many, was actually the Yang to the Yin that was Great Red, the second member of the Infinite Two, and the only one to match Great Red in power; Ophis the Infinite Dragon Goddess. (1)

She sat in silence with her back resting against the rough scales of her only companion in this place. Truth be told, she couldn't have been more bored. At least Red had his laziness to rely on to help him sleep for decades; centuries if he really pushed it.

But Ophis? She just couldn't be bothered to try and sleep. Don't get her wrong; she did try and sleep every decade or so. However, it wasn't so much a necessity as it was a way to pass time. She didn't need it, so she didn't get much of it. It was a simple fact of her endless life.

A sigh escaped her lips as she conjured up a small sphere of light and color before she rested her chin in her left hand and changed the view of the sphere with her right with a bored expression. World after world passed through her gaze, yet nothing of interest showed up. She checked the world of Spirits, the world of Dueling Monsters, the world of Science versus Religion, and yet still found nothing.

Another sigh left her as she began to get frustrated in her ever increasing boredom. It was only after she switched to her 999th world that something finally made her pause. The view showed a city that seemed sorely lacking in the technology of most modern times in the cover of night. However, what made her pause was the sight of a rampaging vulpine beast that sported many tails; nine to be specific.

She absently thought about a creature with a similar build before the answer came to her; the Kyuubi no Kitsune. It was one of nine beasts that originally made up a single entity that matched that of lesser gods and travelled worlds.

"Interesting," she idly commented as she watched the fox ravage the city. "It seems Shinju was forced to stay in a single realm."

"Sucks for that old root," commented Red who cracked an eye open to see what she was watching. "The Elemental Realm, huh? Been awhile since either of us have been there. Wonder how those cousins of ours are doing? Anything interesting besides what happened to that walking tree?"

"Not yet… Wait, there's something happening," she said as the sphere showed a man with spiky yellow hair taking a blast of pure power shot from the fox and sending it away with a space/time technique. It then showed the man use the same technique to transport himself, the fox, and a woman holding a bundle to an open area in the surrounding forests.

A conversation was held between the man and woman and their movements allowed the two dragons to see that the bundle was another human; a newborn male with vibrant red hair and deep blue eyes. The unique feature about him was his whiskered cheeks that made him resemble the fox that was rampaging in a way.

While Red focused on everything else, Ophis paid a closer look to the child with a slight narrowing of her eyes. Given her status as one of the highest beings of the Multiverse, it was as simple as taking a breath of air to sense the potential in others; human or otherwise.

Now, as she sensed the child being cradled by the weeping redheaded woman, she actually blinked at the potential he held. Only a rare few had that much, and it usually came with much suffering. She was brought out of her musings by the man summoning forth a stone altar surrounded by several torches before he placed the child onto it.

The man then continued with a flourish of hand gestures before he released a great output of power that flickered away from his body and took the form of a creature she and Red knew well.

"Well, well, well... Not many mortals could pull that off. He just summoned one of Death's Avatars," commented Red with slight praise.

"True, but for what purpose? His life is nowhere near enough to compensate the removal of that Kyuubi. And that altar is curious as well."

They fell silent as the spectral avatar of Death reached a ghostly hand through the human before it latched onto the fox and ripped out an ethereal form of energy that was sucked into the human and formed a strange spiral mark. The fox itself shrunk incredibly after the loss of half of its power and the avatar still continued to seal away the energy into its form.

Suddenly, the woman coughed violently and blood escaped her mouth, making the man pause in concern. The dragons saw the fox take advantage of this and aim one last desperate strike against the baby resting on the altar. Ophis heard Red sigh behind her, making her assume that he had given up on the boy already. However, she wasn't one to simply disregard rare potential and she kept watching.

Sure enough, the child was spared death by the timely intervention of his parents who took the claw strike from the Kyuubi. The claw tip was inches from the sleeping babe with a single drop of the parent's mixed blood falling on his whiskered cheek. They spoke their final words to the child, both in tears of sorrow, before the man performed more of those hand gestures and the fox was sealed into the boy. The proof of this was a marking strikingly similar to that of the one on his father.

The man was the first to lose the light in his eye as he fell lifelessly. The woman however had the faintest bit left. Ophis watched with a critical eye as the woman desperately struggled to drag her bleeding form to her child. A look of pure determination was seen on her face despite the pain as she inched closer and closer before her single arm dragging her finally gave out and she fell to the ground face first.

Seeing enough, Ophis stood up and touched the sphere before she left in a swirl of light, surprising Red. He turned his gaze back to the sphere and saw Ophis form in the vicinity near the dying woman and sleeping child.

'What are you up to…?'

Gray eyes surveyed the scene before her as the female dragon appeared. As soon as she fully materialized, she began to head for the woman.

Said woman took notice of the tremendous power heading toward her before she weakly turned her head to face the dragon goddess. While confused as all hell about her attire, she couldn't deny the raw power the girl gave off.

"W-Who…are you?" she asked, growing weaker by the minute. She couldn't be more grateful for her people's longevity than this very moment.

Ophis merely stopped right in front of her before she crouched down and placed a single dainty finger on the woman's shoulder. A faint light glowed from it as the woman felt herself growing lighter...but began to lose feeling in her legs. Confused, she turned to her lower body and nearly choked on her blood in shock at the sight of her legs fading away into flecks of light.

Before she could panic, Ophis stated, "Calm yourself, mortal. I'm doing you a service right now, so be grateful."

"Service?" asked the woman.

"Hai… Your body is much too weak to do anything for your child other than watch him helplessly as you die." That made the woman cringe before Ophis continued, "I'm taking a gamble with this actually. That boy has potential, and it's higher if you are'alive' in a sense."

"W-What do you mean?" retorted the redhead as the fading had spread to her abdomen and worked its way further upward.

"You wish to see him again, correct?"

"Yes, more than anything!" was the immediate answer.

"Then be silent and let me explain. What I am doing is simply changing your body's human characteristics and reforming them into something that will help your child in the future. In order to do that, your body must fade before it can be remade. Understand?"

The fading had reached her neck as the woman used what little strength she had to nod.

"Good. Now, even though you will no longer be classified as human after this, you'll still be able to raise the child. However, how you do that will be up to you to figure out."

The fading finally finished consuming the woman before the flecks of light took the shape of a tiger-sized reptile with rough black scales, a glowing yellowish red underbelly, and vicious looking wings. (2)

"However, you'll find it quite difficult to do so in your new form. Think of this as a test to see just how far you'll go for your son."

The new dragon lifted her wings as her snake-like neck moved her head to inspect her new body. It then turned back to Ophis and gave a small roar in protest.

"Oh, stop whining, mortal. It was either this or I simply let you die. Be grateful I decided to aid your son at all. Now, I'll leave him in your care, but be sure to expect my return in the future. After all…"

She gently placed a hand on the boy's forehead and the new dragon was surprised to see a faint azure glow come from the boy's heart. Turning to Ophis, she saw that the goddess had a smirk on her face.

"...this boy is already gifted with one of those items. You'll need someone who is knowledgeable in their workings in the future."

She removed her hand and heard the sound of many humans closing in with her enhanced senses. Giving the boy and new dragon one last glance, she left in a swirl of light that was similar to how she had first arrived, vanishing without a trace.

By the time Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived on the scene, all he saw was a dead Yondaime, a sleeping child with the seal of the Shinigami, and a winged red reptile standing next to the boy protectively and glaring at both him and the ninja next to him. With a heavy sigh at the loss of one of the people he had respected and had such high hopes for, he gently lifted the child and carried him away with the reptile following and the ANBU with him gathering the dead Yondaime.

As soon as Ophis returned to her realm, she noticed Red looking at her curiously. "That was unexpected; especially for you, Ophis."

"I realize that, but I have a feeling about this one. I received the last memories of that woman as I reformed her into a dragon. I believe that young Naruto will have a much better chance with his mother in his life still; even if she isn't there as a human anymore."

"Still… To actively interfere with what is happening in other realms… This won't be without consequence, you know."

"I know," she replied before she smirked and reverted back into her natural draconic form. "But you and I both know that this is the most interesting thing that's happened ever since the establishment of the Evil Piece System back in the Elysium Realm."

A chuckle was her reply from Red. "True…"

Hiruzen Sarutobi liked to think of himself as a patriot of his village; a man who put his heart and soul into the welfare of the Leaf. He had done everything in his power during his first time being Hokage to make sure that his home was well fortified, well protected, and well respected. Many shinobi, and even some civilians, saw his actions as beneficial to their home.

However, said actions were also highly militaristic and seemed to rely heavily on the shinobi forces being consistently filled with potential recruits. Some families had even had their children who showed high aptitudes for the ninja life taken to be trained.

Hiruzen saw nothing wrong with this since many villages had done the same to rally their ranks. The way he saw it, his actions would forever bring about a golden age for the Leaf.

Unfortunately, that all went south when Minato Namikaze took the hat from him. The blonde was far too concerned with the welfare of the people and how forced inductions into the ninja corps would actually lower morale and even trust in their ninja.

The Namikaze had set forth many laws that restricted such militaristic methods and the people loved him for it. While it annoyed Hiruzen and his partner Danzo, they couldn't deny the benefits of having the people trusting in Minato. Many Genin hopefuls entered the Academy still with dreams of being well respected and revered like the Yondaime. It surprised them how many children had entered compared to the ones they "influenced" to join.

But now the Yondaime was dead and his only child was currently sleeping in a small crib with the strange dragon coiled around him protectively and its violet eyes ever watchful of any threats. It surprised him when the dragon's eyes darted to every spot where a hidden ANBU was standing guard.

He shook his head out of his thoughts and focused on the crib. The child was the son of two incredible ninja, housed the feared Kyuubi no Kitsune, and was now being watched over by a dragon of all things. The gears in his mind turned furiously as idea after idea formed.

Most of the ideas circulated around having the boy gain trust in him when he "saves" him from "hostile" villagers. However, he dismissed that idea since the boy would only be loyal to him and not the village and would sooner leave than stay after the Sandaime eventually passed.

Another idea was to have Danzo take him under his wing into ROOT. But that idea was also scrapped. He may be allied with Danzo on most manners, but he knew the crippled old bastard was out for the Kage Hat and leading the village under a delusion of him as their ruler.

The last idea was to have someone he trusted take the boy away from the village populace, yet still remain within the Leaf's walls. He had to make sure that they would train the boy without the risk of getting attached to him or else they could post a problem to the wanted result. He also had to factor in someone who could train the boy into fighting alongside that dragon of his.

The problem was that there were no dragon summoners since the last he heard of anyone that could have helped with that, only those dragon-worshipers, the Ryū clan, fit the bill. The Ryū clan were blessed by the power of the five Genryū, five legendary dragons, each Genryū representing the five elemental natures:earth, water, wind, fire, and lightning, who together fertilised the land belonging to the clan around They terretory of Mount Koryū. However, due to their clan's history as Dragon Guardians, all members of the clan were bound to the Genryū, signified by small horns on their heads, pointed ears, and, in some cases, facial markings. Because of their appearances, others recognized them immediately as those who had the power of the Genryū on their side, and persecuted them out of fear of the Genryū, exiling the clan and nearly driving them to extinction some time before the First Shinobi World War.

That was only only natural that people fear what they don't understand; and they despise what they fear, as well as the desire for power above all else, such was the way of the would. Besides, on top of everything else, supposedly, if all five of the Genryū were merged together, they form the Light Genryū, a very powerful dragon capable of destroying the world. What the old man wouldn't give for that kind of power to be put to Konoha's use…

He pushed that thought aside as he pulled out some profiles from his desk and sorted through them all before his eyes landed on the perfect teacher. The man was incredibly faithful to the Leaf and he was always in control of whatever situation he found himself in. He could even teach the boy how to handle traitors to the village and captured enemy ninja.

A smirk came across his wrinkled face as he had one of his ANBU fetch his intended man to teach the boy. He would explain the situation to him before sending the boy to live in an orphanage for a couple of years. The person in mind was a good choice for a teacher, but not the best when raising someone if that little hellion Anko Mitarashi was anything to go by.

The first night sleeping next to her child was the hardest for Kushina Uzumaki. Her precious boy fussed about all night and reached his tiny hands out for the warm embraces of his parents and she wanted so desperately to hold him in her arms.

But she couldn't do that. This form had no arms for her to use and her scales were far too rough to comfort a child. Her heart clenched with every whimper the baby made in his sleep and it nearly shattered when he began to cry and not a single matron of the orphanage came to check on him.

Hiruzen had given a village-wide announcement of her son's new status as the Kyuubi's vessel and she couldn't have been more horrified. Her own status was always kept a secret to the populace and here was the old man spouting out her baby's new burden to a village full of grieving people.

Their reactions of outrage and anger didn't surprise her; neither did the cries for Naruto's death. Jinchuriki were a feared bunch after all. What made it even worse for her to bear was that her child was going to be raised under circumstances that were meant to ensure absolute loyalty to the Leaf.

They were going to use her precious baby for their benefit! Such a discovery brought forth a rage unlike any other to the dragon. She wanted nothing more than to burn the old bastard to ashes and take her Naruto somewhere safe and away from hateful eyes and desires.

But once again she came to the horrible realization that she couldn't do those things. How was she, a human-turned-dragon, supposed to raise a human child? The strange girl's "test" for her was growing more difficult by the minute.

And then, as if said girl was hearing her depressing thoughts, she appeared in the room Kushina and Naruto were placed in. A smirk made its way to her face as gray eyes met violet.

"So, having trouble deciding what to do, ne?"

Kushina growled at her as her underbelly scales glowed like magma. Using her new form's natural speech of growls and hisses, she retorted, "Of course I am! You made me change into this form and now I can't do anything for my baby! I'm nearing my wit's end at figuring out what to do! Plus I have to find out how to keep him safe from that bastard Hiruzen!"

Ophis nodded absently as she gently picked up Naruto and cradled him, letting the redheaded babe fall asleep in her arms and making Kushina growl much more fiercely. "Yes, quite the situation, isn't it? There isn't much a dragon can do for a human baby, after all."

Kushina's blood was boiling at the sight of her only child resting peacefully in the girl's arms instead of what should've been hers."What do you want from my child?! Why are you doing this?!"

"Truthfully?" asked back the Dragon Goddess, making Kushina nod. "I was bored and I needed a new project to keep me occupied. You have no idea how incredibly bothersome and boring an infinite lifespan can be."

A glowing veil of dark purple light shimmered into existence to block a blast of molten rock as soon as Ophis finished her sentence. Her eyes calmly turned to Kushina who had smoke coming out of her slitted nostrils while her eyes gained golden slit pupils in them.

"You're doing this to my son because you were bored?! You're toying with his life to keep yourself busy?!"

"Now see, you can't possibly understand why I'm doing this until you've experienced the sheer boredom my never-ending life gives me. It may seem cruel to you, but I won't lie to you when I say that I'm going to help you keep Naruto alive."

"Why, so that he can keep amusing you?" she bit back angrily.

"No," was Ophis' calm reply.

She then set the baby down in his crib again and waved a hand around the room, making the walls shimmer into various images of the life of a certain redheaded boy. As Kushina looked to each moment with wide eyes, one in particular making her jaw drop, she turned back to Ophis who was holding up her right hand with the faintest of smiles.

"I'm going to keep him alive because his life will eventually be bound to my own. Your child and I have been connected."

Kushina's shocked eyes locked onto a shimmering line that connected from Ophis' right pinkie to her child's head of crimson hair.

Four years had passed since that long and eventful night and a now four year old Naruto was sitting calmly on his bed in his small room with Kushina resting in his lap. He had a book in his hands that was about the basics of reading and writing.

He was quite smart for a mere four year old and Kushina hadn't wasted a single moment when she discovered a way to speak to her child. Apparently, the connection that had formed between Naruto and Ophis was because of the goddess' direct interference in his life.

As a rule, deities were not allowed to directly interfere with the lives of mortals or else consequences occur. The consequences usually depend on the seriousness of the interference as well as both the level of the deity and the number of times they had interfered.

Seeing as Ophis was one of the Infinite Two and this was her first time using direct interference, her consequence was much more extreme. As such, she and Naruto were now bound together.

This bond held no benefit for the goddess; however it was incredibly helpful to Naruto since it gave him three gifts. The first was perfect understanding of other dragons in their natural tongue equal to his understanding of his natural language. In short, the more he learns how to communicate normally, the more he can understand draconic speech.

The second gift was discovered when the boy was able to hear a faint noise that Kushina figured out to be small mouse footsteps. The human-turned-dragon found out the reason when she saw her son's ears slowly gaining a pointed shape like Ophis'. His other senses were soon to follow, though the only other change was his eyes gaining a slit pupil within his azure blue irises that gave his gaze a slight fierceness.

The final gift was a stronger layer of skin than that of regular humans. While nowhere near as protective as dragon scales, his tougher skin allowed a higher level of protection that relieved Kushina immensely.

Now that the boy was able to understand her enough to hold conversations with her, she spent as much time as she could talking to him. One of the first things she had told him about was how she was his mother and that she was changed into the dragon she was now to help him.

At first the boy was skeptical; not that she could blame him. However, as the days went on, he eventually began to call her "kaa-san" before it slowly changed to the more affectionate "kaa-chan". Kushina was doing back flips in the air with her wings in happiness that day.

The next thing she had told him was about how he was in danger, but she couldn't explain much more since he was not at a level to understand the implications. So, she settled for telling him to only listen to her and that she'd tell him if someone else could be trusted.

What concerned Kushina was that Ophis had not visited at all unless Naruto was asleep and even then she did nothing to wake him. On the contrary, she merely watched the boy sleep and occasionally ran a hand through his wild hair.

It confused the dragon as to why the goddess was being so distant, but she said nothing. To her, it seemed as if Ophis was having her own troubles in understanding the link that had formed between her and Naruto. The human-turned-dragon saw confliction in the eyes of the gray-eyed girl as well as hesitance every time she reached a hand out to Naruto; almost as if he'd disappear before her very eyes like a mirage.

In truth, Ophis was conflicted. The visions she had seen and shared with Kushina were both intriguing and worrisome to her and the bond between her and Naruto only made the confliction deepen.

She had never had to deal with something like this before. The most she had ever done in regards to interfering in the lives of mortals was leaving blessed items for them to find and use. Even then, there were still plenty of them yet to be found.

But this current bond she had? It was hard to understand since she was able to sense his emotional state. She found herself unconsciously smiling whenever she felt that Naruto was happy and getting upset when she felt him depressed. What made it worse was when she swallowed her pride and asked Red for his advice. The damn lazy sack of scales did nothing more than tell her that this was her problem since it was caused by her interference.

She still scowled every time she thought of his "advice" to her. But, she knew he was right. This was her problem and she had to deal with it on her own. So she did by visiting the boy at night, but only when he was asleep.

She was tempted to wake him, but she felt such peacefulness coming from him that she couldn't bring herself to do it. So, she settled on just watching him sleep. Every now and then, an impulse to brush a hand through his hair came up and she gave in every time. Although, there were times when she hesitated and mentally questioned what she was doing before resuming her actions. Whatever it was she was doing, it felt nice and she enjoyed that feeling.

As for Naruto, he listened to his mother like a good child and learned to live with a dragon raising him. It was strange, but he accepted it and he was happy. So he didn't question it anymore. So far, he was reading at the level of a child a few years older than his current age of four, so his understanding was constantly growing.

He was brought out of his reading by the door opening and the youngest looking of the many matrons stepping into his room with a kind smile. Out of all of the matrons, Hitomi Hyuuga was by far the nicest to him. Of course, her real identity was always unknown to him while Kushina couldn't help but be relieved at the luck her son had.

Seriously, how lucky was it that the very woman she had once had as a student would just so happen to get a job working at the very orphanage her only child was staying at?

"Ohayo, Naru-chan," she greeted with her smile never fading. Kushina had immediately told Naruto he could trust her when the two first met, which was why he returned the smile with a small one of his own.

"Ohayo, Hitomi-san," he greeted her in a soft spoken tone.

Her smile disappeared in exchange for a pout at the greeting before she playfully pulled at his whiskered cheeks. "Mou, Naru-chan what did I tell you about calling me 'san'?"

Naruto playfully whined at her antics before he gave up. "Gomen, Hitomi-nee; gomen."

Pleased at his response, she let him go before she sat next to him on his bed and smiled at Kushina. "Ohayo to you as well, Ryū-san."

Kushina simply nodded before she resumed her position of laying close to Naruto. Naruto then asked, "So, did someone come to adopt me, nee-chan?"

While Hitomi smiled, she couldn't help but mentally frown at the person who had brought forth the necessary paperwork. She may have retired from her time as a kunoichi due to an old injury, but that didn't mean her senses had been dulled that much. And from what she felt from the infamous Ibiki Morino, she knew that there was something at work here that concerned her little Naru-chan…and she didn't like it one bit.

"Hai, someone is here to take you, Naru-chan. Get your stuff and I'll walk you to see them."

Kushina easily saw the worry in the Hyuuga's pale eyes, and her own narrowed suspiciously. It seemed as if the old man was making his move now.

"Sochi-kun, I'm sure that whoever came to get you is one of those bad people I told you about. Or at least, they're working for the bad man."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at that, but that was all he showed externally. Instead of speaking, he kept packing what little possessions he had into a burlap sack and allowed Hitomi to lead him through the orphanage halls.

"Naruto," whispered the woman, making Naruto tense at the serious tone. "Whatever happens, I need you to be strong and not let anyone try to keep you from being who you are."

"Who am I, nee-chan?" he whispered back, confused and concerned.

She stopped before she stood in front of him and crouched down to his height with a warm smile. What made Naruto even more confused was how misty her eyes were as she hugged him. "You are Naruto Uzumaki, a boy destined for great things." She pulled away and kissed his forehead, pouring the love she had grown for him into it. She pulled back and a tear fell as she finished, "Never forget that, okay?"

He couldn't help but feel as if this was his last moment with her as he nodded. "Okay…"

He then embraced her again, making the rest of the tears she was holding back fall. By the Kami, she couldn't stand this feeling of foreboding. This was her little brother; the only child of her old sensei and the only link she had to her. She felt like she was sending him to his death and it was heartbreaking. She'd rather suffer the effects of her clan's Cursed Seal than continue to feel this sense of guilt and betrayal.

'Kushina-sensei… Please forgive me. I don't know what's going to happen to your son and I'm not sure I can do anything to stop it.'

They finally let each other go and recomposed themselves before she took his hand and resumed leading him to the front room. Her hand gently squeezed his while his fingers interlaced with her own. All the while, Kushina observed the scene sadly. Hitomi didn't have a clue what was happening and she would never blame her for leading Naruto to the source of his future struggles.

When they reached the front room, Naruto was already worried at the sight of a man dressed in all black that he had never seen before. The bandanna styled headband and the facial scars only made him look more intimidating.

"This him?" the man asked in a gruff tone.

"Hai, Morino-san," answered the eldest matron.

The bear of a man stepped up to the boy before he towered over him and looked down into his bright blue eyes with golden slit pupils. The boy was dressed in simple black sandals, tan shorts, and a white shirt with the Uzumaki Swirl on the front. His ears were strangely pointed, his whisker marks as visible as ever, and his hair was unkempt and wild,

"You are coming with me, boy. I'm going to take you somewhere away from the main populace to prepare you for your future. Am I clear?"

Naruto, while scared of the practical giant before him, nodded slowly. "H-Hai, Morino-san," he replied with a stutter, feeling dread in his gut.

The man grunted in approval before he took the boy's sack and made his way outside. Hitomi took this time to slip something into Naruto's hand before she kissed the top of his head and gently pushed him forward by his back.

"Good luck, Naru-chan," she whispered.

He turned and gave her a small smile before he took off after Ibiki, squeezing the necklace in his hand tightly while fighting back his tears. He just hoped he'd see his nee-chan again someday.

Little did he know that the same day, Hitomi was killed. The "official" story was that it was done by an "infiltrator" who was making an "escape" and killed her due to "being in his way." The ANBU patrolling the streets watched her slowly bleed out before all but one left.

The single ANBU moved to dispose of the body and the blood before he was suddenly set aflame by dark purple flames that reduced him to ash in seconds. From the shadows of an alleyway, Ophis stepped out with a frown on her usually stoic face as she approached the dead Hyuuga.

"To go this far to forge him into a weapon for their own gain...there shall be a reckoning. Worry not, Hitomi-san, they will not have him, that much, at least, I will see ensured." With that, Ophis was gone, taking the corpse with her.

1~ I don't care if it says she's "genderless" in the series. In this story, Ophis is female

2~ Kushina's dragon form is a volcanic dragon from the Dungeons and Dragons series