IMPORTANT NOTICE: This story is UP FOR ADOPTION and is INCOMPLETE. Feel free to use anything that I've written, heck, just copy+paste the first two chapters if you want to. All I ask is if you do, please credit that which you have taken as my work.

Summary: After millennia of watching over the earth, the Shinju is defeated in its first offensive. When the Bijū are reunited, it is reborn, yet enslaved almost right away. Its host's opponent was almost felled, but it heard a plea for true peace, like one which it granted thousands of years prior. Giving the boy a chance to change everything inadvertently resulted in it being sealed in the boy… and the moon's power will influence the changing tides once again. Godlike!Naruto

Disclaimer: I own nothing, which, in turn, means I make no money... does that mean that Kishimoto makes money off of this?!

"Normal Speech"

"Thoughts"

"Primordial Being/Bijū Speech"

PREFACE

In ancient times, the world's population was in constant war. Murder, violence, they were all daily occurrences. Yet the people paused in their wars to worship the Shinju, the great Tree of God, the holy pillar leading to the peaks of the clouds, to the realm of the Kami. The Shinju was not involved in the war; it was a constant reminder of the higher powers that governed the earth. The people thought it to be the creator of the world, and thought that everybody and everything that existed was because of its goodwill. They believed the earth to be the Shinju's hardened roots, feeding energy to the life that inhabited the planet.

Once every millennium, the tree bore the sacred fruit, and nobody dared even touch it, for who knew what damage Kami-sama's wrath would produce? Yet one desperate princess, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, was willing to risk the god's wrath to end the wars that plagued the torn earth. For three days and three nights, she ascended the great pillar until she reached the canopy, and plucked off the small, glowing fruit.

Suddenly, all seemed eerily silent, as if Kami-sama herself knew exactly what was happening, and was deciding what her outcome would be. 'I must have courage,' Kaguya thought, 'if I am to end the wars. I pray that the higher powers forgive me for what I am about to do.' At that, she placed the fruit in her mouth and swallowed it whole.

A blinding light erupted from the tree, and it seemed, to her, from the heavens themselves. It concentrated upon her, and she screamed in pain as her body started to change. She felt power growing within her, a burning, pulsing power, and when she opened her eyes, her skin seemed to glow of its own accord. Shocked, she unknowingly loosened her grip on the branches, and as she was staring in fascination, she slipped off the branch.

She felt the rush of wind against her body, and she saw the great trunk of the Shinju as a blur, the intricate patterns the bark formed now seemingly flat and dull, the ever-widening column and the ever-approaching ground below her. She knew she would hit the ground, but she remembered the power within her, and grasping onto the power, she willed it to protect her.

Slowly, yet surely, she slowed down until she was falling no faster than a leaf, stopping and hovering ten feet above the ground. She willed herself to float down, and she did, landing softer and no louder than a feather. Kaguya smiled, turned around, and bowed to the Shinju, praying in awesome thanks to the powers above, and promising that she would use her newfound power to create peace.

Ōtsutsuki Kaguya herself went to the battlefronts, and using her divine powers, stopped the fighting on both sides. Each time she spoke of her vision for peace, for an end to fighting, and the prosperity that would exist in her vision. She spoke of how the Kami blessed her with power, power that she swore to use only to achieve peace. Every warrior saw the logic in her words, and they were captured by her vision, and so they joined her until the entire land was under one rule.

The people crowned her as High Queen of the land, and skilled weavers from each village and tribe worked together to create for her a hagoromo, a feather-mantle for her to wear, as a sign of her divine right to rule.

She knew that power corrupted leaders, as her own father died because he kept taking away from others for his own personal gain; thus, she created the idea of democracy. Representatives from tribes or villages would be able to speak their interests in terms of trade and territory, and the group would vote upon the matter, putting an end to the need for armed conflict.

Eventually, she fell in love with a rice farmer, and bore a son, who she named Hagoromo, after her feather-mantle. She was afraid, though, for after his birth, he made neither a sound nor a movement for three months; yet, Kaguya sensed life still in him, and so she waited. Some in her kingdom called her crazy, saying that the stress of childbirth had ruined her mind, and that her child and heir was (most unfortunately) dead, but she didn't believe what they said.

Her statement proved true when three months – to the day – after his birth, he opened his eyes and gave his mother quite a shock – they seemed to ripple, and the irises and sclera were different shades of purple. Then, she felt the power in him, and it seemed hundreds of times greater than her own, and she prophesised that her son would change the world for the better, though she knew not how. She named his eyes 'Rinnegan,' the Samsara Eyes, as the power granted to her was reborn in her son, in the form of his eyes.

She trained her son in the art of using her power, and taught him that true power comes from protecting one's precious ones, not from revenge or hatred. She instilled in him morals that helped her, most important of which is to protect one's comrades and friends, even if it means defying an order, because the value of their lives outstrips the value of duty, advancement, and obedience. She gave him the Yasakani no Magatama, a leather cord necklace with six jade magatama, each the size of his clenched fist, one of the kingdom's three imperial treasures. On his sixteenth birthday, the High Queen died at the (at that time) ripe age of fifty-one, leaving her son next in line for the throne.

People throughout the kingdom came to pay their respects to their late Queen, and attended her funeral, which was to be held in the presence of the Shinju. There, just before she was to be buried, a pillar of light ascended from her body into the heavens, and the Shinju glowed a deep purple for a moment. The people were awed at the spectacle, and realized that this must have been Kaguya's divine powers returning to Kami.

Then it happened.

The sun was suddenly obscured by clouds, and the Shinju glowed a deep red. A deep voice rumbled across the land, laced with anger and betrayal. "Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, you have stolen my power! I granted your mother a boon to create peace in this war-ridden world, and she promised to return the power upon her death. Yet that same power is magnified 100-fold in you! For breaking the promise, you shall face my wrath!"

The red glow intensified to the same blinding light seen thirty years prior, and the earth rumbled as the Shinju pulled ten massive roots from the ground, each twice as wide as its trunk, which seemed to shrink as the great canopy fell down to the earth, revealing a bulbous flower on top. The people watched in morbid fascination as the petals slowly opened, and revealed a great red eye, with three concentric rings, each with three tomoe evenly spaced. The rings started slowly spinning as the eye focused upon Hagoromo, and a mouth formed from the canopy, stretching to incredible proportions as another bulbous protrusion erupted from it, unfolding in the appearance of a Rafflesia, a great black sphere forming at the centre.

Hagoromo's eyes widened to comical proportions as he yelled, "Get away!" to the crowds, fearing the energy and power in the ever-growing attack. Heeding his advice, the crowds ran as Hagoromo held his hands up in preparation, eyes glowing with power.

The Shinju fired the Bijūdama with a roar, just as Hagoromo yelled, "Fūjutsu Kyūin!" A transparent, off-blue barrier formed in front of him, meeting the Bijūdama, and holding it in place as its energy was drained. The Shinju looked on in disbelief, for not only did Hagoromo have the audacity to oppose it, but also he actually had the strength to pose a challenge. Shaking the thought from its mind, it roared to the heavens, sending up a red beam of power, yelling, "Tenpenchii!"

The heavens and the earth roared back, each shaking as their very foundations were being destroyed. Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, thunderstorms, hail, and blizzards formed instantaneously, rampaging over the kingdom, centered around the Shinju. Even its great eye could not pierce through the storms.

The Shinju held this technique for two full minutes, deciding to eliminate the humans rather than give them a chance at forgiveness. It would start other life anew if it wished, and it would interfere if necessary, especially to ensure its survival. But this world would come to an end, and another would be reborn…

"SHINRA TENSEI!"

The Shinju was blown back by the force of the technique, and the natural disasters suddenly stopped, leaving a gigantic overturned tree and a ravaged landscape.

"I must end this for the sake of my people. Since you are attacking my people, and since I can think of no way to defeat you, I am left with no other choice. FŪIN!" cried Hagoromo, as the Shinju looked in shock, feeling its energy leaving it and entering into the human who opposed him.

"WHAT?! THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE!" it roared, fighting back, but the pull was too strong. Its energy and soul left its body and was sealed into the young boy, who cried out in pain. Its body, though an empty husk, still radiated power, so calling upon the energy of the Shinju, Hagoromo clapped his hands together, closed his eyes, and said, "Chibaku Tensei."

A black ball flew out of his hands, and into the Shinju's mouth. The carcass floated high in the air, and soon chunks of earth, trees, ice, and water were floating towards it in an inescapable pull. Hagoromo pushed more of the energy into the technique, and the earth gathered even more quickly to the sphere, compacting and pressurizing until it all turned into pure stone, with a hollow core to fit the Shinju's shell. He drained every last bit of energy that the Shinju possessed, and ended the technique as he opened his eyes in shock.

He was floating above a crater hundreds, if not thousands of miles in diameter, and so deep he could see the bright red lava below him, slightly illuminating the crater. Above him hovered a great sphere, blocking out almost all of the sun. Looking at it, and raising his hand, he whispered, "Shinra Tensei," and the great sphere began to rise up into the sky until it disappeared. He then floated to the end of the crater, and sat down at the edge and fell asleep, exhaustion finally taking hold.

He woke up in the middle of the night to a peculiar sight: the same sphere he created was in the heavens above him, glowing with white light and softly illuminating the earth's surface.

EIGHTY-FOUR YEARS LATER:

Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki stood in the middle of a large, circular patch of dirt and rock his elder son called a 'training ground.' He could feel the life leaving him, and knew that if he died, the Shinju would be reborn, and his efforts in keeping the peace his mother created would be for naught. He remembered his life as being fruitful and remaining humble despite many who insisted he ought to be worshipped. He remembered his time training, discovering the true capabilities of his power, which he called chakra – a mix of physical and spiritual energy – and discovered was present – if only slightly – in everybody.

Riddled with anticipation and fear, he managed a shaky sigh. What he was about to do was (obviously) never before tested; it was completely theoretical and could go wrong in more ways that he cared to imagine. Yet he had no choice.

"Banbutsu Sōzō," he uttered, a gravelly whisper compared to the vibrant voice he once had in his youth.

He divided the Shinju's chakra into two parts: yin and yang, and imagined what he needed. Figures formed in a circle around him, at first as still and grey as statues, but then colour and life flooded through them, and they took their first breaths and looked around in amazement. The man fell to his knees, exhaustion nearly taking over, but he remained conscious, for he needed to finish his task before his eternal sleep.

His sons ran over after seeing their father create these beings then drop, and they supported Hagoromo on their shoulders. The old man muttered a 'thanks' before turning to the creatures.

"I don't have long any more. Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Gokū, Kokuō, Saiken, Chōmei, Gyūki, Kurama," he said, pointing to each of the newly-created Bijū and naming them. "Even though you have been separated, you shall always be together. Until eventually that time shall come when you will become one… you each carry a name… and with a different shape than you had up to now, you will be shown a righteous path, different from the time you spent inside of me. What is true power… until that time…" Hagoromo said, coughing at the end, but continuing, "until that time when it will appear in front of you, though you may not have realized it at first. I leave you all with a warning: one day, far away from now but one day regardless, you will be reunited as a whole, and that time will be the end of the world as it will be. This will happen even if you try to prevent it. The… the Jūbi will reform, and if it forms the Shinju, then the world will end..."

Hagoromo coughed again, more violently this time. Turning to face his sons, he said, "My sons, I have considered your wishes, and your beliefs. Uchiha and Senju, elder and younger… yet only one will be my heir." He turned to Ōtsutsuki Uchiha, and said, "My son, you told me that you believe force and strength are the key to peace," and turning to Ōtsutsuki Senju, he said, "and you believe that love is the key to peace. I believe… that you, Senju, have the same ideals as I do, therefore I name you my heir." Seeing hidden anger in Uchiha's eyes, he said, "Uchiha, force and strength lead to violence; I know this better than anyone! My mother received a gift from the Shinju and used the strength given to end the war, but peace was created through love, not fear. Strength is necessary, but love is more important."

Uchiha turned away, and just as he was about to run off, Hagoromo fell, and using the last of his energy, he said, "You are all my family, my precious ones, who I would die to protect… please follow this, the most important of morals, and continue my legacy."

He took one last breath, then remained silent in his eternal sleep.

A/N: This is my first plot bunny that will hopefully evolve into a beautiful... story bunny? Anyhow, I appreciate reviews, but if I receive criticism, I'll take it much more seriously if it's from a FanFiction member, not a guest... seriously, it's free to join. It's also easier to reply to the reviews...