A/N:First fic basically so keep your pants on if there's some grammar mistakes or parts that don't make sense. If you guys don't understand something, just PM me if you want.
Disclaimer: I don't see the point in doing this. If I actually owned Naruto, what the hell am I doing here then.
Always And Forever
The era of warring states.
A period of time where almost 80% of the world was in constant war. There was no country, just clans occupying a small territory all around the world making the world extremely divided. There was some villages here and there with the most dominant clan as the leader but other than that, the world was far away from being good neighbors with each other. It's either you're fighting a neighbouring clan, or you are teaming up with him to fight an even greater enemy. That was technically the universal philosophy of the elemental nations during this era.
But even before that existed a time where a part of the world was fighting and was in constant war and the other part full of peaceful people hating the other part of the world because of the collateral damage that the peaceful people were sometimes. The part of the world that was in constant war was called the Dark World. All because of the hate and destruction that surrounded it. The other part was called the Elemental nations. That was how the Elemental Nations first came to be. The Elemental Nations despite being peaceful knew Ninshū, the teachings that the Sage of Six Paths tried to spread around the world. It worked in the beginning, but then came along the era of warring states where Ninshū was perverted into something of mass destruction and chaos.
Ninjutsu.
Ninjutsu was originally Ninshū but the humans corrupted the Sage Of Six Paths' teachings and instead of using chakra to understand each other and bring forth peace like he intended, they weaponized chakra for war and bloodshed. And chakra derives from what is known as the God Tree also known as the Shinju. The Shinju is a being which landed on earth several thousands of years ago as a see and grew into its gargantuan size by absorbing the blood from the countless battles between humans. Kaguya Ootsutsuki, mother of the Sage of Six Paths, ate its chakra fruit that grows every thousand years. She then lost control and started going mad with the power, putting people asleep in Infinite Tsukuyomi to perserve the "peace" she created. When her sons tried to put a stop to her tyranny, the Shinju inside of her retaliated.
Kaguya transformed into this massive, brown colored beast easily the size of a extremely large country with ten tails and large razor sharp teeth. Whenever the beast would crush a village under its weight, the blood soaked village would seep in the beast's body like its bloodthirsty and it would look like it gained even more strength if that was even possible. The beast was an extremely agile creature for something of that weight. It also controlled people with a simple gaze of its eye making them do whatever it wants. Whether it's luring them to its domain so it could drink their blood or make them its slave.
So when Hagoromo and Hamura were fighting the creature herald as God by some cultures, they had to pull out their A game. Fighting a creature as bloodthirsty, as fast and as strong as the Shinju was the most dangerous battle any human would ever participate. The battle lasted a week at least, all three combatants reshaped the Elemental Nations almost completely with their God-like battle. Fortunately Hagoromo and Hamura came out the victors but just barely. Hagoromo ended the battle by sealing the beast into a place temporarily so he could figure out what to do with it whilst Hamura took his mother's body and sealed him, the Ootsutsuki clan and his mother inside a spherically huge rock that's known as the moon today.
A few days later, Hagoromo came up with the solution of dividing the Ten-Tails into 9 parts called Bijuus.
"Think about it, this beast will surely break out of its confines in a few decades give or take. We can not possibly risk the chance of letting out so how about if it's divided into 9 parts? That way it won't be as strong as it is and if the 9 parts decided to retaliate, we will be able to put them down." Hagoromo seemed proud of his theory. His smug smirk turned into a confused frown when he saw his brother's own confused face.
"Would you like me to repeat what I said? It seems like either the battle took away your hearing or that part of the brain which helps you understand." Hagoromo tried to chuckle but ended up hurting himself by slightly moving his body. His brother frowned at him even deeper at his ridiculous joke.
"It's called the frontal lobe and I'm pretty sure if it got damaged, I would still be smarter than you." Hamura knew without looking up from his fiddling with his fingers that his brother was attempting to do a mock hurt face but ended up hurting his facial muscles with those expressions.
"But about what you said, it's a good theory. But I'm afraid you need to think deeper. I'm pretty sure you saw enough of its prowess during our battle against it, so I suggest we divide the entity into four parts. One: it's frightening visual prowess is even more deadlier than ours. Two: it's unnatural speed and agility and strength for its size. Three: its proficiency in every single technique and Justus that we know. Four: the immortality and knowledge it has over everything in this world. And let's not forget the insane amount of chakra it has." Hamura concluded his theory looked up to see his brother struggling to process what he just said.
After several minutes, he responded with a loud and nervous "Yeah. That's what I said about the parts... I guess."
"Yes and you're right but all I'm saying is that we strip away these four parts away from the Juubi, leaving an empty shell full of chakra. And before the chakra explodes out of it trying to get away, we divide once more the shell full of chakra into the 9 things you were speaking of."
"Good enough but unto more personal matters." If Hagoromo had a laid back attitude before it was certainly gone now.
"Like I've said, I'll be taking the branch house with me to guard mother's body while you stay here with the main branch, dealing with problems down here."
"Still I'm worried about what happened to mother. How did she turn from such a kind and benevolent woman into the monster she became? And how are you not affected about what happened this past couple of months?" Hagoromo questioned his brother, wanting to know that he was not the only one between the two of them who wondered what happened to their mother.
"The mother I knew and loved died a long time ago. She let herself succumb to her deepest desires to get back all chakra like the selfish person she was when she saw us quickly mastering our chakra and I saw it coming elder brother."
Hagoromo frowned at this but did not respond. Uncomfortable silence sank between them as they thought about how their mother became like this.
Hamura was the first to break the silence." At any rate, we should rest hurry up and get our chakra back. The sooner we do it, the less chance there is that Juubi will break out." Hagoromo meekly nodded and went back to resting.
The next few months were spent on trying to create a seal that would divide the Juubi into the many pieces they thought of. The seal had two parts. First part would rob the Juubi away from the four aspect that makes it dangerous. These four parts needed to be put away in fitting vessels. And Hagoromo decided to put away the part with the visual prowess and the part that knows every single jutsu there is into his sons. The other two was sealed into two different group of people who fitted the characteristic of said aspect very much.
Then came the Bijuu part. That was harder because of the massive amount of time it took to separate the Juubi's almost infinite chakra in a ascending manner. But at the end of the day, all was done and good. Hamura left with the branch house to guard Kaguya's to the moon and Hagoromo sealed the nine bijuus he and his brother created inside of him while training his sons with the power they just acquired.
The story went on with Hagoromo having to chose his youngest son to continue his legacy leaving the elder brother raging and jealous. Little did the Sage know he just started a long cycle full of hate between his sons and consequently the world by just choosing between his sons.
570 years After SSP(Sage of Six Paths)
Two women sat on the large rolling, forested hills that surrounded the village of the Uzumaki Clan. One of them had crimson red hair that cascaded down her simple white gown and her fair skin. The other had dark hair that matched her dark skin and she wore a brown gown. The crimson hair lady supported a frown on her face, slowly feeding the child in her hand.
"Naori, what are we going to tell your husband about your eldest son?" The dark haired woman said. Naori's frown deepened even further when her longtime friend brought up the situation about her son.
"I don't know Koyuki, how am I supposed to tell my husband that his son died from the unknown disease that plagues this village?" She replied sourly. Naori's husband, Hikaku, was a strong shinobi and a former nomad. He met Naori when he decided to take shelter in a village for the night. He was out strolling and admiring the village until he passed by a run down house and heard a soft yet loud whimper. Curious, he broke down the door and the whimper led him to a door that looked like it was the door to the basement. Imagine his surprise when he saw what looked like a bunch of bandits who were about to rape a dozen or so of the red haired women in front of them. Being the kind of shinobi who protects others, he slaughtered the bandits for their vile attempts at the women. Later on when he was escorting the women to Uzushiogakure, he conversed with one of the women who stood out for him. That woman was Naori and it seemed like he instantly fell in love with her despite looking almost identical to the other Uzumaki women.
Later on, they got married even though the village didn't like it. The village was separated by a apparently mystical fountain. One side was the normal villagers and the other the Uzumakis. And the old councilors of the leader of the Uzumakis thought that an Uzumaki woman should stay with an Uzumaki man so they can continue their pure line of Uzumakis and the villagers should stay with the villagers. But Hikaku and Naori didn't care about their opinions nor if they would be shunned. But to ease off the tension between Hikaku and the rest of the village, Hikaku decided to do what any other man is doing. Whether it's going to war with another clan or doing labor work, he didn't care. As long as his children and wife wouldn't be shunned for the rest of their lives.
Right now, Hikaku was away in a war with a neighboring clan, the Terumi. When he returns, all he probably will want is to be with his two sons and wife.
"Maybe he'll just break down and take some time to recover. You know how he is." Koyuki stated. Even though she knew that wasn't true.
"Koyuki, have you not met him? Even though he is kind, Hikaku is an agressive man to his enemies. So imagine his reaction when I tell him about Kaito." Naori finally broke down and mourned for her son. Suddenly she heard leaves rustling behind them and she quickly wiped her tears but her face still looked like it was tear stricken. Imagine her surprise when she saw Hikaku.
"Why are you crying Naori?" Her husband came out from behind them. All that was going through both Naori and Hikaku's head were "how do I tell him?" and "Who made her cry?" respectively.
"Why are you crying?" He asked once more sternly. It seemed like years later she started to come up with another answer.
"H-he's d-dead...Kaito was infected by the disease."
Wind blew over the hill as silence dawned on the three adults and baby. Hikaku turned around and walked away silently. His brain turned off and he ignored his wife's tearful screams of his name, begging him to stay with him. He continued walking while his lips started bleeding from how hard he was biting it.
Today was the end of whatever peace the Uzumaki family had.
The Uzumaki family started to grow apart after the death of the oldest child of the small family. Hikaku started drinking a lot at the local bar and most of the times not even coming back home. He became cold and distant, barely looking Naori in the eyes anymore. He sometimes brought up the subject about his dead son and blamed her even when they were having a conversation that had nothing to do with it. So in return Naori treated him the same way he was treating her. It seemed like the only reason why they still lived under the same roof was because of their son, Eiji.
Koyuki seeing the people she called family grow apart decided to find somewhere where they can all start over go back to how they used to be. Imagine her luck when she overheard a conversation between to old Uzumaki women about a land where everyone was abnormally strong and healthy. The Namikaze territory.
So Koyuki rushed to the small family with this news and talked to them about. It was pretty easy convincing Hikaku since this village wasn't exactly his home and he didint want Ryuunosuke infected either like Kaito so he easily agreed to it. But the problem was Naori. She didn't seem like she wanted to leave her home for some other unknown village. But all Koyuki reminded her was her child and his safety and she reluctantly agreed to it.
So they traveled east of the whirlpool country towards this alleged paradise. And it was really a paradise. No disease plagued the village, everyone was friendly to each other and most importantly there was multiple clans and they got along really well. So Naori, Hikaku, Ryuunosuke and Koyuki decided to make this place their home.
But one month after they've arrived, the Uzumaki's plus Koyuki discovered that their promised land wasn't as peaceful as they were told. The leading clan, the Namikaze, had an abnormal pattern in their DNA that made them transform into hairy, quadruped beasts that were were insanely fast and strong although they can only transform during a full moon. Luckily, the Namikaze weren't heartless and actually cared for their villagers. So they built an underground cave that kept the villagers safe when the beast version of the Namikaze's roamed the territory during full moons.
A few years later, Naori had a child. Hikaku was so overjoyed that he named the child himself. Naruto. "Maelstrom". He was born with dirty blond hair and surprising electric blue eyes but none of them wondered about it since they were all happy about the newest addition to the family. Hikaku vowed that he would be in his children's life until he dies and he would make them strong to prevent what happened to their dead older brother to them. Ryuunosuke, now seven years old, also vowed to protect his baby brother from those scary monsters that come out during a full moon. It seemed that peace was brought back to the Uzumakis because of Naruto.
As the years went on by, Naruto grew and his mother bore three other children. The oldest of the three was named Reina and she was three and a half years younger than Naruto and he is now around ten so that would mean she's around 6-7. She had long crimson red hair and violet eyes just like her mother. She was born fierce and loving, as all Uzumaki women were born.
The second child was named Katsuki and he's 2 years younger than Reina. Just like Ryuunosuke, he got his father's flat dark hair and black eyes. But unlike his older brother who was discipline and noble, Katsuki was wild and mischievous. And the third child was named Kyoya, he got his mother's hair and his father's eyes.
As the kids grew, Hikaku stayed true to his word and trained the children to be warriors except for Kyoya and Reina whom he thought she should help her mother around the house but every now and then, he gave her tips on how to wield a sword and Kyoya was just a child currently. He taught the children any type of weapon they wanted to use only because he knew how to wield almost every weapon known to shinobi but he preferred that they learned swordsmanship. So Ryuunosuke decided to learn how to wield a sword just like his father and Katsuki decided to copy whatever Ryuunosuke was learning. Naruto decided to learn archery and when his father asked why he, he said because his siblings already know how to fight close ranged so why shouldn't he helped them from long range just in case. His father merely grunted, not understanding why his second oldest son was so...different from the others. Nevertheless, he taught his children what they wanted.
Hikaku then started to teach his children how to use chakra when Ryuunosuke reached the age of thirteen. He used the old method that now became tradition for every aspiring shinobi. The Chakra Induction Paper. Hikaku's affinity was lightning and earth and Naori's was water and also earth, just like most Uzumaki. So it was only natural his kids got his or their mother's affinities or a mix of both of them. Ryuunosuke got lightning and water, two of the best affinities for his strongest son Hikaku thought. Katsuki's affinities leaned to his father's, getting lightning and earth. It was said that a Kekkei Genkai can come out from mixing lightning and earth. The explosion release. Even though Hikaku himself didn't get the explosion release, it doesn't mean his son can't. Besides, an explosion release suits Katsuki perfectly.
Naruto although was a different case. When he poured his chakra into the paper, the paper wrinkled in blue lightning compared to when Ryuunosuke and Katsuki did it, yellow lightning wrinkled the paper. After blue lightning wrinkled the paper, the paper was shredded into pieces. The two brothers and father looked at Naruto weirdly even Naruto stared at his hands weirdly. He silently wondered why was he different and so did Hikaku. When Hikaku told Naori about his day with his sons, she quickly asked him if she should seal away his wind affinity which he just rose his eyebrows wondering what she meant by that,
"Why was that the first thing you said about Naruto's wind affinity? I mean, he could learn how to use it with his blue lightning too. I am pretty sure he will become an exceptional shinobi if he learns how to use them both correctly." Naori was lately acting weird when Hikaku started training the boys, especially when it came to Naruto.
"Y-You're right. He will be strong. After all, he's our child." She replied, but slightly stuttered when she said 'our child'. If Hikaku wasn't getting suspicious about Naori and Naruto, he sure is now.
He started to look at Naruto with a judging eye from now on, criticizing everything he did. Whether it was his stance in archery or whether it was his table manners which were perfectly normal. Naruto was slowly noticing his father's odd behavior but didn't give it a second thought. These days Naruto started to take a liking to anything that was art. Painting, listening to the birds sing or the villagers, sculpting. He started to admire it. Katsuki called him a girl for it, Ryuunosuke was happy that his little brother found a hobby other than training day and night, Reina and Kyoya looked up to him even more if it was possible and his mother just smiled at him. His father although was getting angry that Naruto stopped training to do trivial things like painting or sculpting. One day during dinner, Hikaku yelled at him to stop doing things like that and when Naruto timidly said that why doesn't he question Ryuunosuke's hobby of reading, Hikaku angrily slapped him with the back of his hand. The whole room got silent and everyone stopped doing whatever they were doing.
"You do not get to talk back to me Boy. At least reading does a good difference in his life unlike those unnecessary matters. I raise warriors not artist." He spat with a quiet tone but the fury was evident.
Naruto tried to soothe the burning sting on his right cheek, where his father hit him. "Why" and "What did I do" passed through his head as a mixture of confusion, anger and sadness enveloped him. Confusion as to what did he do to earn his father's anger, anger as to how dare he hit him and sadness because why. It was the first time Hikaku ever laid a hand on Naruto, or anyone in the family for that matter. Naruto then ran out with his face down to hide the tears but failed in doing so.
No one dared to speak up, not even Reina who would normally defend Naruto against anything nor did Ryuunosuke who took care of Naruto ever since he was a child.
Naori looked at Hikaku sternly and said,"Hikaku that wasn't necessary. He is but a child, let him do whatever he wants for now."
The patriarch of house glared at her which would've been intimidating if it was anyone else. "It is your job to love him and pamper him. My job is to make him strong to protect himself from this world." He then abruptly walked out of the dining room.
Ryuunosuke sighed from his father's unusual behavior. He looked at husband mother with a questioning gaze like he was expecting her to tell him to go look for Narturo.
"No I will." She said and left to go look for him.
One of these days he would discover the secret she has been hiding from him for a very long time. That day will come but she could stop it from being sooner than later. And when he does find out, he will surely destroy everything in his path.
Naori didn't even notice that she was now standing in front of the old tree the kids used to climb up on to determine who could climb up the fastest. And on the highest, thickest branch sat down Naruto with a solemn expression, looking up at the sky. Mostly it was the random starlings passing by that caught his eyes. Seeing his mother who wanted to have a conversation with him, he climbed down the tree and sat down on the grass
"I'm not going back, not until he leaves. I don't even know what I do and he gets angry at me." He said without looking down from the sky. Naori looked at her son with sympathy.
"I understand. Do you know what I do when I'm afraid? I listen to those starlings you see above you. When I was a little girl, my mother taught one of them a tune and since they mimick each other, the song spread. Until every one of them in the forest sung it. When we came here, they came along. So whenever you hear them sing, just know that I am always with you. Always and forever."
He was so awed by his mother's story, all he could do was slowly nod.
"Come by my room later this night. I have something for you." She said.
So later that night, he did as his mom told him so. He went in her room without knocking and saw his mother dipping a metal bird into ink, let it dry and then repeat it again.
"Birds are sacred to the Uzumakis. It's how your father and I found this land." After doing it a few more times, she put a strap through the bird making it a necklace. She then put it around Naruto's neck.
"Here. Whenever you are lost or scared or in need of me, just clasp that bird and I will come." Naruto was overjoyed that he was getting a necklace but his mind couldn't help but wonder about his siblings.
"Do... do the others get one too?"he questioned.
Naori started fidgeting a bit until she said, "I love all my children. But you, Naruto, you're the most special. That is why I'm giving it to you and you only. Promise me you will wear it always." And so he promised.
