Chapter One: To Begin Again
In this story, Naruto is banished shortly after the Fourth Shinobi World War ends, and heads west away from the Elemental Nations. While there, he ends up in the village founded by the Hayabusa, the Mugen Tenshin, and the Fu-Ma Ninja Clans. The village is simply called Kakure Sato. Please note that Patriot-112's story formed the basic outline for this story. Therefore, I don't want anybody to comment about the similarities between the two, because I adopted this story from him.
It was a bright and beautiful day in the world as the sound of young children playing in a small farming village could be heard off in the distance. Overlooking the small village sitting underneath a blooming Sakura tree was a young man that was six feet two inches tall and appeared to be in his early twenties. He had short blond spiky hair with red tips at the end of his spikes. His eyes were a stunning deep ocean blue that would mesmerize almost anybody that looked into them. However, his most startling features were the six whisker-like scars that adorn his cheeks.
This man's name was Naruto Uzumaki, an exiled genin-ranked ninja from Konohagakure no Sato, the son of the Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze and the Kunoichi known as Kushina Uzumaki of Uzushiogakure. More importantly, he was the third and final Jinchūriki of Kurama, better known as the Kyūbi no Yoko or the nine-tailed fox.
It was over five years ago since the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War, shortly after that he had been banished for fulfilling his promise to his teammate Sakura Haruno. He had been banished because of the fact that the village that he had been born in, the very one that he had almost sacrificed everything for, simply couldn't let go of their blind hatred for him. In the time that he had been banished, he undergone such drastic changes that if any of his so called friends saw him now, they would easily mistake him for someone else.
He no longer wore an orange and black jumpsuit, now he wore a traditional purple shinobi shōzoku covering his body with a matching ninja hood covering his head. His feet were supported by a pair black ninja tabi boots with matching grieves. His forearms, wrists, and hands were protected by a pair of black fingerless gauntlets. For added concealment, the lower half of his face was concealed by a black mask, while an equally black scarf was tied around his neck with the tails of the scarf handing off of his back. Tied around his waist was a purple obi sash that held his Shōzoku top firmly in place. His shinobi headband no longer had the symbol of the hidden leaf village; instead, it had the Kanji for Hidden carved into it. For added protection from arrows, shurikens, and sword slashes, he wore a suit of form fitting Kusari gusoku or chain mail underneath his Shōzoku.
Next to him on the ground lay a Katana sword stored in its black saya with a black cord rope tied on to it using the two Kuri-kata knobs that were located five inches below the brass Koiguchi of the saya, and three inches above the saya's brass kojiri. The fuchi, habaki, seppa, and the tsuba of the katana were made out of solid pieces of brass, with the tsuba depicting an eastern dragon biting the end of its tail forming a circle. The tsuka was wrapped in a blue-dyed cotton tsuka-ito that formed diamond shapes along the sides of the tsuka that exposed its metallic golden color. The Kashira of the sword was also made out of brass.
He also had on him a two dozen shurikens and four Kunai knifes that were located in specially made pouches sown into his shōzoku. These pouches were made out of the same fabric as his outfit and had three special seals built into them. The three seals were extremely practical for a ninja in terms of function. The first seal allowed, him store an almost infinite number of shurikens and in the pouches without him having to worry about over stuffing the pocket. The second seal worked in conjure with a pair of seals located on the inside part of his gauntlets, which allowed him to instantly summon shurikens to his hands ready to by thrown. The third and final seal worked with the seals that he had painstakingly placed on all of his shurikens that allowed them instantly teleport back into his hidden pouches a few minutes after they were thrown clean, and ready to go.
To think that this complete change had occurred following his banishment from the Hidden Leaf village on trumped up charges.
After the death of Tobi the true leader of the Akatsuki, the destruction of the Edo Tensei Army, the disappearance of Kabuto plus Orochimaru, and surprisingly, the revival of most of the undead Jinchūriki and Jiraiya, the son of the Yondaime Hokage went up against his supposed best friend, and current traitor of the Leaf village, Sasuke Uchiha. It had been a long and extremely difficult battle, but in the end, Naruto emerged out on top. He then brought back the Last Uchiha back to Konoha, finally fulfilling his promise to Sakura that he made to her two years earlier.
Start of a Flashback
Naruto stood proudly behind Kakashi and Sakura as he explained the epic battle that he had gone through in order to bring back the rogue Uchiha. Sure, he was more than a little irked that Sasuke had managed to jam his Chidori covered fist into shoulder again. Nevertheless, that didn't matter as he had finally kept his promise that he had made to Sakura-Chan before he left the village to retrieve Sasuke the first time. Maybe now, she'll start treating him with a lot more respect than she usual showed him.
"That's basically what happened, you guys." Naruto exclaimed as he finished telling his teammates about everything that led up to their current situation thinking that everything was okay in the universe.
Only to be proven wrong by a chakra enhanced punch to the face courtesy of Sakura. Thankfully, for the blond-haired Jinchūriki, the damage that he had received from the punch was negligible due to the healing factor that was given to him by Kurama.
"YOU WORTHLESS BAKA! I WANTED SASUKE-KUN RETURNED TO THE VILLAGE UNHARMED, NOT HALF-DEAD!" Sakura screeched loudly causing everybody in the room including the comatose Uchiha to flinch at the sound of her voice.
For the first time in his life, a surge of uncontrollable anger began fill Naruto. All the memories of the near constant abuse that he had suffered at Sakura' hands in his mad attempt to get her to like him flashed within his mind. He quietly clenched his hands into fist causing the sound of his knuckles cracking to echo loudly in the room.
"Sakura, you should be grateful that I managed to even bring this ungrateful son of a bitch back alive in the first place." Naruto spoke in an unnaturally calm and even voice that immediately caused Kakashi to snap out of his glazed over look that he had been sporting ever since he learned that Tobi had really been his thought to be deceased teammate Obito Uchiha.
It was the same kind of tone that Naruto's father would take, when somebody had been dumb enough to anger him. The last time that happened occurred back during the Third Shinobi World War, when he caught a division of Iwa ninja raping an entire village's female population after killing all the men in the village.
"Naruto, I suggest that you leave or else I'll have to call the ANBU guards to forcibly remove you from the premise." The silver-haired Cyclops commented as he moved to get between his two remaining students to prevent an all out brawl from braking out.
Naruto looked at his former so called sensei with a heated glare. You couldn't really be called a teacher, if all you teach somebody is tree walking and wind manipulation. It was clear to him that Kakashi was going to show favoritism towards the Uchiha loving bitch that started all of this.
"Fine, I know when I'm not wanted around. But from now on stay the hell away from unless you have a message from the Hokage or we're out on a mission." Naruto angrily spoke as he left the hospital room with a look of disgust on his face.
End of Flashback
After Sasuke recovered from his coma, Naruto continued to avoid his former teammates as much as possible. However, as time passed by the last living Uzumaki quickly noticed that everyone in the village was giving him the same glares and whispering the same insults that they used to call him when he was child. They went so far as to blame him for Nagato attacking their village and causing them to lose their status as the strongest ninja village in the elemental nations. These insults and glares only intensified when word leaked out that Nagato had been a member of the deceased member of the Uzumaki clan, the same clan that Naruto's mother hailed from.
It became increasingly clear to him that the acceptance that he received from the villagers after defeating Nagato had been nothing more than a lie. To make matters worse many of his "so-called" friends and surrogate family had quickly abandoned and turned against him. First up was the Konohamaru Corps who simply ignored him, while Konohamaru saying that he would never call the monster who'd killed his grandmother a brother, and took off, with Moegi and Udon following. Next was the rest of the Konoha 11 with the exception of Hinata and surprisingly Tenten, who all spat hateful words towards him, and then left him in the street, shocked and hurt. The sensei of the Konoha 11 just told him to get lost and not bother them anymore. He even noticed that his surrogate grandparents, Tsunade Senju and Jiraiya, were giving him the cold shoulder along with a look that said, "Beat it or else," but in a more spiteful way.
By the end of the first year following the end of the war, Naruto only had eleven people left who were still willing to talk to him on a regular basis. the first being Tokubetsu Jōnin Anko Mitarashi, who knew what it was like to be ostracized by the villagers due to her past connections to Orochimaru. The second were the two chūnin Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane, who actually found the pranks that he use to do as a kid pretty funny. His two surrogate older sisters Shizune who almost immediately after returning the village established herself as his personal doctor after seeing his medical files, and Yūgao Uzuki, who he knew used to watch over him when he was growing up. The Ichiraku family, who apparently made sure that he, got all of proper nourishment by dissolving food supplement pills into his orders. Iruka Umino, who had came to view him as a younger brother. A fellow genin by the name of Kosuke Maruboshi, who due to his age had known the previous two Jinchūriki for Kurama and knew better than to view him as the demon itself. Finally, there was Hinata Hyūga and Tenten, both of whom didn't care about the fact that he was the container of the creature that had nearly destroyed their home seventeen years earlier.
Speaking of Hinata and Tenten, he secretly started going out with the two of them after his confrontation with Sakura. When he asked them, why they would be willing to go out with a person like him their answer both surprised him and more than made him happy. They told him that out of all the shinobi in the village, he was perhaps the only one that truly understood the will of fire and that they would stick by him no matter what. For the first time in months, Naruto truly believed that everything was going to turn out okay. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be as word quickly began to spread that he was seeing the two girls, which nearly caused the villagers to riot over the fact. The Hyūga clan's elders demanded that Hinata marry a "nobleman" outside of the village or else she'd have the Hyūga Sōke no Juinjutsu placed on her and before being placed into the branch family. Therefore, in attempt to protect Hinata, Naruto broke things off with her much to her sadness and understanding.
While with Tenten, Tsunade stepped in and had assigned the weapons mistress to the Fire Daimyō's court as one of ninja bodyguards much to her's and Naruto's irritation. Sadly, there was nothing that either of them could do about it, as this was a direct order from the Hokage. With nothing left in the village to keep Naruto loyal to the village, the village's Council demanded in their infinite wisdom that he was to be banished for crimes against the village, something that Tsunade full heartedly agreed with. To add more insult to injury, they demanded that Jiraiya strike his name off of the toad contract to drive home the point that this was really happening to him. The Toads didn't even hesitate to strike his name off from the list of summoners.
As he left the Council room to go pack his few meager belongings, he quietly took off his shinobi headband and stabbed a kunai knife right into the center of the leaf symbol before jabbing the knife in a wall. A few hours later, he was at the west village gate saying his goodbyes to the few friends that he had left in the village except for Hinata who had been forbidden to ever talk to him again. Yūgao was able to explain this to him and also promised him that she'd notify Tenten who was still at the Forbidden City within the Land of Fire's Capital about his exile. Naruto understood and thanked her for helping him for all these years before leaving the village forever.
Knowing that the village, or Tsunade and the village council to be more precise would try and pull a fast one on him, Naruto began heading west as far away from the elemental nations as he could go. He could've gone to Countries he helped in the past or even to another shinobi village that he fought alongside with during the war, but decided not to so he wouldn't bring any trouble to them. Besides he heard the Western Lands were in a constant state of warfare, meaning that he would be a lot safer there than in the elemental nations.
That had been nearly four years ago and since then Naruto had changed greatly. No longer was the unpredictable knuckle headed ninja that charged head first into a situation without even thinking, instead he had become a calm and level-headed shinobi that was considered a master ninja by the few people that weren't his allies, who had seen him at work and lived to tell about it. To think that this change had all came about because, he decided to interfere in a kidnapping of two young girls.
Start of a Flashback
Naruto was absolutely bored out of his mind as he walked on a small game trail that led to parts unknown to him. All he knew was that he had entered the forest that the local farming communities Mori no Kage or the forest of Shadows. Granted, he knew that this was the price that he would have to pay for leaving the Elemental Nations behind. Still, he wished for someone to appear so he could have some companionship other that the fox that was currently sealed inside of him. Alternatively, have somebody with skills that equaled his own to fight with in order to keep up with his training.
In the last three months, he had gotten into several fights with some of the local ninja and needless to say, he wasn't very impressed by them. All of them had been mid-chūnin level at most and not very challenging to him after fighting Nagato and Obito both of whom were Kage-level shinobi.
"Kami, I wish for something to happen. Hell at this point, I'll even take a squad of Konoha hunter-nin." Naruto spoke in a loud manner that reaffirmed the common belief that most shinobi back in the hidden leaf village held of him.
However, Kurama wasn't too happy that his host had decided to give away their position just because he was bored out of his mind.
"Kit, I wouldn't be complaining about not seeing any action right if I were you. I've been stuck inside of a cage for the last seventeen years, so how do you think I feel. So shut up and keep walking." Kurama angrily retorted as shifted slightly so his left legs wouldn't fall asleep on him.
Naruto knew better than to argue with Yoko as the fox had raised a valid point. Besides, Kurama had been a huge help in making sure that he'd receive the necessary survival training that had kept him alive since his exile from Konoha. Who would have thought that the ancient demon sealed inside of him actually knew a thing or two about Kenjutsu? The hidden leaf village that was for damn sure.
"Hey kit, listen to your surroundings for a second." Kurama ordered as he felt an extremely familiar and sinister energy that he hadn't felt in a long time.
Naruto did what he was told, after all the Kyūbi had yet to steer him wrong so far save for a few incidents at the start of their rocky relationship. He was greeted with absolute silence of the forest. That was completely unnatural, as he should be hearing the activities of nocturnal animals such as owls and grasshoppers. He immediately went on high alert as only humans had the ability to silence an entire forest without even trying. A few seconds later, he spotted a group of five men wearing dark green sleeveless Shinobi Shōzoku uniform, with grey spider web designs walking towards him. The group of ninjas quickly noticed him and stopped in their tracks at the sight of him.
For what seemed like an eternity, the two groups stared at each other trying to figure out their opposite number. That's when Naruto noticed that one of them was carrying a frightened little girl with black hair. The little girl was wearing plum purple kimono that matched perfectly with the bright pink hair band that was resting in her hair. A bit further, he noticed that the three rear members of group were holding steel chains that led to a slave collar that was firmly resting around another girl's neck, this girl was slightly older than the first girl was and had ginger-blond hair. She was also wearing a kimono that looked like it had been patched up numerous times with different materials.
"Kit, that girl with the collar around her neck, she's the Jinchūriki of Arahabaki." Kurama spoke with some surprise as he recognized why he was so familiar with the sinister power that he felt.
That caught Naruto completely off guard, as he wasn't expecting to see another Jinchūriki this far out west. He almost instantly recalled one of the conversations that he had with Bee back when they were training together on Turtle Island. The older man talked about the time that he and his brother the Raikage led a team to capture his mother Kushina back when she was younger. The seen in front of him instant told him that something similar was being played out before him.
"Hello there, stranger, would you be so kind as to get out of our way. We're a little bit in a hurry and we don't want to miss our rendezvous time with the rest of our group." The leader of the group spoke in fake polite manner that failed to hide his not so subtle threat.
Naruto said nothing as he pulled out his kunai knife and held it in a reverse grip showing that he wasn't going to back down from them. The leader of the group let out a sinister chuckle before he threw the girl that he had been carrying into a nearby oak tree, knocking the little girl out cold and enraging Naruto enough for him to start subconsciously using Kurama's chakra. The opposing ninja took a few steps backwards in fear and surprise at the sight of red chakra beginning to surround him and as his eyes turned blood scarlet red from the demonic influence.
However, none were more surprised as the ginger-blond haired girl, who eyes widened at the sight of a fellow Jinchūriki. Especially, to meet one that could quickly harness the power of his demon so easily without having to worry about it taking over their body or their seal weakening.
The leader of the group began to chuckle madly as he recognized who standing in front of him.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Naruto Uzumaki, the slayer of the mighty Jūbi. I never thought we Black Spider Ninja would be given the chance to kill the so called hero of the east." The Black Spider ninja commented with an almost maniacal glee in his voice as he pulled out his katana on his back out of its Saya.
However, it seemed that one of the ninja's subordinates was concerned about the fact that they were on a tight schedule and decided against his better judgment to voice his concerns.
"Izaya-sama, we don't have enough time to deal with…" the ninja started to explain before Izaya beheaded him in one swift motion.
Izaya looked down at the headless corpse with absolute hatred as it burst into a purple cloud of flames. For Naruto however, he felt almost sorry for the dead ninja as he was simply trying to keep his superior focused on the mission at hand that was before he realized that they were trying to kidnap two innocent little girls.
"Now then, seeing how the pest has been dealt with. Let's say we start our little duel to the death." Izaya commented as he dismissed his subordinate's death as if it was nothing.
That seemed to only provoke Naruto in attacking the spider ninja with his absolute might. Only to have Izaya doge his attack and slash him across his chest. It wasn't fatal due to the chakra cloak and his healing factor, but it was enough to make the blond haired exile think about a possible strategy. Within seconds, he came up with one that involved his two signature jutsu.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He shouted as six clouds of smoke formed around him producing an equal number of shadow clones.
The three Spider ninja gasped, as seven very pissed off Naruto's stood before them ready to tear them apart. Almost immediately four clones paired up into two groups of two and began moving towards the three ninja with the intent to keep them occupied until he was finished with Izaya.
"Let's get Wild!" The original Naruto shouted as he and his clones charged at the Spider ninja with the full intent of freeing the two girls or die trying.
With a spectacular use of Shadow clones, Taijutsu, along with a few Fūton and Fūinjutsu that he knew, Naruto emerged victorious over the squad of black spider ninja. However, he hated to admit this about their leader, but Izaya had been an extremely skilled warrior. There had been quite a few times when, he honestly didn't think that he could win the battle. Nevertheless, he had been able to turn the tide of battle into his favor, when he managed to grab Izaya's Katana, and used it to kill him, saving the two girls from a life of pain and suffering.
"Are you alright?" he asked as he removed the slave collar from the ginger-blond haired girl's neck.
That's when he felt a sharp burning sensation all of his body causing him to collapse to ground writhing in pain. Naruto had been stabbed, shocked, electrocuted, and so many times in the past, that he had built an extremely high tolerance to pain, but this burning sensation was something entirely different.
"Kurama, what the hell is happening to me?" Naruto questioned the nine tailed demon as he collapsed onto his hands and knees.
Kurama for his part was struggling to deal with the poison that was coursing though Naruto's veins. It was a type of poison that could only be found in a certain group of creatures that even he would be reluctant to engage in battle.
"I don't know Kit. I'm trying my hardest to purge your systems of these toxins, but it's not working." Kurama shouted in a panicked manner as he struggled to do so.
Slowly the realization that there was only one possible solution left open for Kurama to take. It was the one that he would have avoid usually, but after seeing the Kit emerge victorious over the Jūbi and remind him about the lessons that the Sage of Six Paths taught him, he figured it was least he could do for the Baka. Besides he had a good several thousand years run.
"Kit, let me just say it's been an honor to have you as my host. But now I leave you with this one last request before I sacrifice myself to save your life." Kurama spoke as he slowly began pushing more of his entire being into purging the deadly neurotoxins that was slowly killing Naruto.
Now Naruto was confused, what in Kami's name was that stupid fox talking about? He could easily understand the last part as Kurama was going to sacrifice himself to save his worthless butt.
"What do you want from me, Kurama?" He asked almost hesitantly as he was now completely on the forest floor from the amount of pain that he was in.
It would be only a matter of time before he passed out from the terrible pain that he was in.
"Kit, I want you to find yourself a couple of vixens to settle down with and have a nice long life." Kurama answered before unleashing the full might of his chakra.
Within seconds, the chakra began purging Naruto's vital organs and other bodily systems of the poison. However, Kurama began to pour more and more of himself into the task; he slowly began to dissolve until he disappeared completely. As Naruto slowly lost consciousness he saw a group of ninja wearing different color shōzoku, from green to ash grey, wearing a Hitai-ate with the Kanji for 'Hidden' inscribed on the metal plate.
"Kurama" was his last conscious thought before passed out.
End of the Flashback
When he woke up three days later, he found himself in a room that reminded him an awful like the rooms of the Hyūga or the Uchiha compound back in Konoha. It was then when he met Jô Hayabusa the leader of the Hayabusa clan, Shiden leader of the main branch of the Mugen Tenshin clan, Genra the leader of the Hajin Mon Sect of the Mugen Tenshin clan, and Chie the leader of the Fu-ma ninja clan. He quickly asked them if the two girls that he saved were all right, when they told him that they were he let out a sigh of relief.
They then explained to him that he was in the Kakure hidden ninja village, and that the two girls that he saved were named Sakura, much to Naruto's surprise, and Natsu. They then asked him who he was, and where he came from. Naruto, seeing no reason as to why not to trust them, told them everything. He first told them his name, and how he was from Konohagakure no Sato. Then he explained how he was banished from Konoha after the recent war, just for being a jinchūriki. That caught the two leaders by surprise, and they asked for him to explain further.
He quickly told them the short version story about how he had the misfortune of being born on the same day as the Kyūbi Attack the village. He explained how his father, the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha sealed it into him, after the bijū had been forcibly released from his mother Kushina Uzumaki, the previous jinchūriki of Kurama, by Obito Uchiha. Then, he told the assembled leaders, how his father wished for the people of Konoha to see him as a hero. He told them everything about his harsh upbringing with the village because the villagers refused to follow his father's dying wish and instead treated him as if he was the Kyūbi incarnated. He described in every horrific detail of how he was insulted, glared at, treated like trash, beaten by mobs, parents moving their children away from him, and store owners raising their prices so he couldn't buy any food, or decent clothing. Then, he talked about his days in the Ninja Academy, and how most of the teachers went out of their way to sabotage his education as a shinobi.
After that, he then told them of his first real mission in Nami no Kuni, the Chūnin Exams, the Konoha Invasion by Suna and Oto, Finding Tsunade, the failed mission to 'rescue' Sasuke from the Sound Ninja, and his 3 year training trip with Jiraiya. Then he went on to talk about his return to Konoha, and the mission to rescue Gaara from the Akatsuki. He continued on to the Second Invasion of Konoha, this time led by the rogue Guardian Shinobi, Kazuma, the father of his friend from the Fire Temple, Sora.
Then he spoke how he met Shizuka of the Nadeshiko Village. He described how the village was a matriarchal society, and how the Kunoichi's there took their training seriously, unlike the fangirls from the Konoha. The old leaders were impressed by the description of these female ninja. While Chie nodded her head in approval by the news that there were fellow Kunoichi in the east that took their training just as serious as they did.
He then talked about Nagato, and his position as the figure head leader of Akatsuki, under the alias Pain, who possessed the legendary Rinnegan. He then described of how he invaded Konoha along his Six Paths of Pain with the help of his childhood friend and partner Konan, and how he managed to convince him to stop his attack. He even told them how he met his father for the first time, thanks to Minato sealing his chakra within so he could fix the seal if he reached the eighth tail, after he snapped after seeing Hinata fall to the hands Pain. The four leaders could have sworn that they saw little traces of tears in the corner of his eyes and concluded that the meeting between father and son was indeed emotional.
Then he came to the Kage Summit, and the beginning of the Fourth Shinobi War, and when he was sent with fellow Jinchūriki Killer Bee to turtle island in order to master his chakra. He smiled as he told them how he met his mother, Kushina of the Uzumaki Clan, which peak Jô's curiosity. He went on to tell his experiences through the war, all the way up to his final battle with the phony Madara Uchiha, known as 'Tobi' plus the real Madara Uchiha then how he managed to defeat him and the Jūbi to bring the war to an end. However, then he came to how the village began to treat him after the war, and how most of his so called friends began to turn their backs on him, and how only a select few remained loyal to him. He then told them of his banishment, and he finished telling his tale after telling them of his fight with Izaya.
To say the four Ninja Masters were shocked and disgusted by Konoha's actions would be an understatement. They were absolutely infuriated by the fact that they had betrayed one of their own. They were also concerned for the blonde's safety, because Izaya had been a rising star ninja in the Black Spider Clan and that evil ninja would come after him in revenge for killing five of their number. Silently agreeing with one another, they asked Naruto if he would be a shinobi of Kakure.
To say the son of the Yondaime was floored, was an understatement and he asked them why they would make such an offer to an outsider like him. The two explained that what he told them, while would've destroyed a regular Shinobi, he pulled through. He has shown his skills as a Shinobi time and time again, and they said that they and the rest of the village would be honored to have him among them. In addition, they told him the Black Spider Clan would now be after him, since he killed one of their best ninja.
Naruto thought about it for a couple of moments, but wished to have some time to think about the decision. The ninja masters said they didn't mind and gave him as much time as he wanted, and left him to his thoughts. Naruto weighed the pros and cons of the situation for awhile, before he remembered Kurama's last request. After a half-hour of thinking about, decided to join them. When he woke up from his meditation, he was surprised to find two people in the room he was in. One was a man dressed in a leather black ninja outfit, his head and face concealed by the hood and face mask he was wearing, and had a red-handled katana on his back. Then there was a girl his age, which Naruto had to admit was one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen, wearing a modified Miko outfit, with red Kunoichi Hakama pants and high-heeled tabi, her black hair in a high pony-tail, with a bang parted to the left side of her face, and yellow eyes. She had what looked like an ornate naginata on her back.
The two introduced themselves as Ryū Hayabusa, Jô's son and heir to the clan, and Momiji, a Dragon Shrine Maiden and Ryū's student in the ninja arts. Naruto politely greeted them, and asked them what they wanted. Ryū told him that they had been told what Naruto had told his Father, and they both agreed that should Naruto accept their offer to stay in their village, that Ryū and Momiji will help train Naruto in their own Ninja Ways. Ryū would teach him in Ninpo, proper Kenjutsu, Archery, and Ninjutsu, while Momiji will help him with his education since she was told of how he was sabotaged in the Academy.
Naruto told them he had been meditating on the offer, and said he accepted. Thus began Naruto's new life in Kakure.
The training he went through with Ryū was what the Blonde could call, hell. This training was on par with the toads, if not more brutal. He was forced to lift huge boulders on his shoulders, dodge arrows, kunai, and shuriken, learn stealth without being noticed, and in the spars with Ryu, the Ultimate Ninja showed no mercy. While Momiji, taught the former Konoha-nin about the history of the village, as well as the Hayabusa and Mugen Tenshin Clans. He was surprised to learn that the Hayabusa were descended from the Dragon Ninja, who in turn, were descended from real Dragons. The Mugen Tenshin ninja clan was believed to be descended from the mythical creatures known as Tengu. While Fu-Ma clan was, originally a cadre of demon hunters that eventually became a ninja clan. He learned that the three clans were once native to Oni no Kuni, but apparently, the Daimyō wanted their legendary power for himself. As a result, they were forced to leave their ancestral home or face utter annihilation. They traveled across the Elemental Nations searching for a new home until they finally came to the Western Lands, and founded Kakure.
For a few months, Naruto trained under Ryū and learned under Momiji. He even met Ayane, the pariah of the Mugen Tenshin. Seeing as how she was treated by most of her clan, Naruto managed to break her out of her jealousy for her half-sister, and her cold persona. He even managed to mediate peace between her and her half-sister Kasumi, who developed a slight crush on him. To say Kasumi quickly became like a sister to him, as her caring nature and gentleness were a far cry from the normal ninja life and reminded him of a certain Hyūga back in Konoha that he loved.
However, one day the village came under attacked by the Black Spider Ninja Clan. Naruto and the other Ninja of Kakure fought in the defense of the attack, but after an explosion's shockwave hit Naruto, he then found a strange sword lying in front of him. The oddest thing was that the Sword was giving off its own strange aura that reminded him of the dragon eye. Without much of a choice, Naruto took the strange blade as his own and began using it to continue defending the village from the attackers. As soon as the Spider-nin retreated and everything calmed down, the Kakure ninja saw Naruto holding the Katana and were immediately fearful of him, but were then stunned, as Naruto didn't show an ounce of being overpowered by the sword.
Naruto was confused by the other Kakure ninjas' shocked faces and asked what was wrong with them. After being asked by Jô where he got the sword, and if he felt strange, Naruto told him what happened, and how he used the sword to fight off the spider-nin, and that he felt all right. To say, the others were shocked was an understatement. Then explained to Naruto that the sword he was wielding was a sword that had mysterious appeared in the village ever since Ryū destroyed the dark dragon blade six months ago. He said that the power of this sword was completely unknown to them and any ninja that wanted to wield the sword, the sword would quickly reject them and destroy their souls. All they knew about the sword was its name, the Hiryūken. Naruto had been accepted by the sword as its wielder.
Six months after the Black Spider Clan invasion, Naruto was told by Jô that he was ready to take the Dragon Ninja Trials. The Trials were a series of tests that are grouped in five levels: Acolyte, Lesser, Greater, Head, and Master, although, very few people ever took the trials, and for very good reason. The trials were held in a nearby cave where one of the Ryūjin had taken up resides, after the three clans' were exiled from Oni no Kuni. The leader of the Hayabusa clan warned the former Neo-Toad Sannin that the possibility of being killed was extremely high. However, Naruto just gave him a determined look, and told him that he didn't care if he died, at least he'll die knowing that he had the guts to go through with it.
He managed to pass the first three with little difficulty, but then it got harder to where he was almost killed on one of the Master Trials. Nevertheless, through it all he pulled through. However, he faced one of his greatest challenges during the final trial, where he had to face two demons of his past: Yami Naruto, and Obito Uchiha. He fought his two old enemies for what felt like days. However, in the end, Naruto managed to defeat them both, and passed the last Dragon Ninja Trial. Then, as a shock, the souls of his parents appeared before him. After a tearful embrace, they told him that they knew what had happened to him after the war ended, and to say they were very disappointed in Konoha would a vast understatement. Both of them told him that no matter what village he was a part of, they would always be proud of him, and then left to go back to the afterlife. Naruto immediately collapsed from his injuries afterwards.
He had to spend almost two weeks in the village medical center due to his injuries, even with Kurama's chakra healing him. The occasional visitors he got during his time recovering were Momiji, Ayane, Kasumi, and a new girl that he had rescued during the Black Spider Ninja Clan's invasion by the name of Taki who he noticed have shown signs that Hinata from his former home village had shown toward him when they were younger. Other people who visited him while he was recovering from his injuries were the village's orphans from the Dark Dragon Sword incident, Sanji, Sakura, the girl he saved, Hanamaru, and Denroku, who came to view him as an older brother, along with Ryu, in the months Kakure became his adopted home. After he finally recovered from his wounds, he, Ryu, Ayane, and Momiji were sent out on a mission to destroy a black spider ninja supply depot that was in league with a group of rōnin samurai. However, these Samurai unlike their wannabe Samurai counterparts in the east, they actually train until their bones and bodies broke.
During the mission, Naruto fought an rōnin Samurai who called himself Tendoka. He wore Indigo with gun-metal grey trimmed Robes, and his armor was colored black and silver. He also wore a mask similar to Kakashi's, only it was grey, and he had grey blue eyes. Any other physical features the stranger had, Naruto couldn't see because of his hood and mask. Tendoka's signature weapon was a sword that reminded Naruto of his own weapon. Only this sword was a Miao Dao, the Chinese version of the Japanese Katana. The handle was black, while the pommel, tang, and guard were solid brass, and the blade was a glimmering silver. What shocked Naruto the most was that Tendoka knew of his past life back in Konoha, and said that he too, knew about being betrayed by those he thought cared for him.
The battle the two fought was intense, as the rōnin was well skilled in using his sword, and his Taijutsu was absolutely flawless. It only ended when Ryū and the others came to back up the Blonde former jinchūriki. However, before he left using the Shunshin technique, Tendoka advised him that he should seek out a new summons contract to replace the Toads who abandoned him. Two days later, the former Konoha ninja decided to take the rōnin Samurai's advice. After Ryū pointed him in the right direction, Naruto began his search for a new summoning contract or more specifically, he was trying to find the legendary Dragon Summoning Contract. It was rumored that the Dragon Contract contained all the species of dragons from across the lands.
It had taken Naruto a whole year to find the contract, which was in an underground complex that had been built underneath an abandoned castle on an island in the middle of a lake. There, among many of the treasures left behind by the original owners, and the remains of dozens of dead Samurai, on a pedestal resembling a four-legged wing dragon sat the scroll that he had been looking for. The scroll itself was brownish-green in color, and was roughly the same size as the Toad Summoning Contract. He couldn't help but smile when he remembered how he met Draco.
Start of a Flashback
Before he could even get near the scroll and touch it, a thick accented voice stopped him in his tracks.
"You know, you are not the first to try and get the Dragon Contract, do you?" the voice spoke in an almost amused manner.
Naruto quickly twirled around, and came face-to-face with a massive dragon that was easily twice the size of Gamabunta. It looked like a classical Western-Style Dragon, with Reddish colored scales and yellow draconic eyes, with several horns sticking out of the back of its head.
"Yeah, so I heard." Naruto said meekly, as he felt slightly intimidated by the very large, reptilian monster before him.
The Dragon gave a deep chuckle at that as he looked at the blonde ninja, who was currently wearing his standard Kakure ninja attire.
"Ah, so you're ninja. One from Kakure at that, I heard great things about your village from the dragon god that watches over you. Hmm, I know this scent...You wouldn't happen to be a Jinchūriki now, would you?" he commented as he sniffed the air as if his was picking up a particular powerful scent.
Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly at the comment about him being a Jinchūriki. Despite it being nearly two and half years since Kurama died, he still took being called a Jinchūriki as an insult of the highest caliber. To him being called a Jinchūriki meant that they had sacrificed their humanity in order to become the jailers of the Bijū.
"You've got something against Jinchūriki's? If you are then maybe this contract isn't the right one for me." He asked in a defensive manner, ready to leave at a moment's notice.
He would have nothing to do with a summoning contract with animals that couldn't tell the difference between the kunai knife and the scroll that the weapon was sealed within.
"No, I hold nothing against Jinchūriki. Only fools confuse the Demon with its container...and if I recognize that scent from anywhere, I believe you must be the former Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Kitsune, correct?" The Dragon just snorted with a slight disgust at the accusation that had been placed against him.
Naruto was taken aback by this. After being betrayed by the toads, he had become extremely wary of animal summons out of being backstabbed again. Therefore, to hear that this western dragon, a species of animal that were legendary for hatred for everyone not having anything against people who held demons inside of him came bit as a surprise.
"You knew Kurama before he died?" he asked in a shocked manner as he stared at the dragon
Naruto knew that Kurama had been around for a long time as he had met the other Bijū during his battle with Obito. Nevertheless, even after all this time, it still came to him as a surprise that Kurama knew so many different people and creatures.
"Not personally, but I knew one of his containers, Mito Uzumaki. She was easily the most headstrong woman that I had ever met, perhaps that's why she was my favorite summoner back then." The dragon commented as he smiled at the memory of the wife of the Shodai, while Naruto was shocked at the revelation that the Dragon in front of him had been around since the time of the Shodai Hokage.
The dragon then looked back at Naruto again. Even if he didn't say it out loud, he could see a lot of Mito and her husband Hashirama Senju in the young man, which was a lot better in his opinion as he remembered his first meeting with Madara Uchiha.
"So, what's your name, kid?" it asked in an honest manner.
Naruto stared at the dragon for brief second wondering if he should include his father's name. It wasn't because he hated the fact that his father had sealed Kurama inside of him, when he was nothing more than a newborn child that didn't know what was going on around him. It had to do with the fact that he went by the surname of Uzumaki for so long that it became ingrained into his psych that he would only call himself that.
"Naruto…. My name is Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze." He finally answered hoping that the dragon didn't take offense because he took a while to name himself.
The Dragon looked a bit surprised at the revelation.
"Well now, this is a pleasant surprise, a dependent of the Uzumaki Clan! And here I thought that the last Uzumaki died out when Uzushiogakure was destroyed." he said in an almost pleased at the sudden turn of events.
This led to a question that had been bugging him for some time now. Every single ninja village had at least one summoning contract that boosted the village's reputation amongst the people in the elemental nations.
"Were...all Uzumaki's Dragon Summoners?" Naruto asked hoping to get an answer to his question.
The Dragon simply nodded in confirmation.
"Yes, almost all of our summoners in the past had been a part of the Uzumaki Clan. When we thought the Clan was wiped out in the Second Shinobi World War, I took the contract here to wait for someone worthy enough to be our summoner to come. As you can see, we haven't had much luck until you showed up." the dragon commented as he pointed out the various skeletal remains surrounding them.
Naruto weakly chuckled little bit as that was probably the most obvious answer, anybody had ever given him.
"Anyways, what is your name, Dragon-sama?" He asked not wanting to continue calling the dragon that if he were to become the new holder of the dragon contract.
The Dragon just grinned at him for a bit before answering.
"You may call me, Draco." Draco proudly declared as slightly stretched his wings to keep some feeling in them and to make a more impressive display of power.
End of Flashback
It was then, after passing Draco's tests for Loyalty, determination, and strength, that Naruto was made the next Dragon Summoner. He then began to tell Draco about his life in Konoha before he became a Ninja of Kakure. Just like with the four leaders of Kakure village, Naruto told the dragon about he had been neglected and abused during his childhood and at the academy because the teachers attempts to sabotage his education at the Academy. He explained how he became a Genin for saving Iruka-sensei's life and protecting the Fūin no Sho from Mizuki. He went on to explain the various missions that he went on to during his time as a ninja of Konoha. He then talked about the buildup to the Fourth Great Shinobi War, how he met his parents, his victory over Tobi, and his final battle with Sasuke. Next, he told him how the people of Konoha went back to despising him. How the Konoha 12, with the exception of Hinata abandoned him. How his own Godparents falsely accused him of his parents' deaths, and how Jiraiya and the Toads removed him from the Contract and finally, his banishment, and how Tsunade never hesitated to do so, and the few people who cared about him saw him off.
To say Draco was disappointed in his old summoner's granddaughter was an understatement, and was greatly ashamed of the people of Konoha. After that, Naruto returned to Kakure, with Draco giving him a lift back to the village. The shinobi of Kakure nearly freaked out when they saw a massive Dragon flying their way, however when it landed and they saw Naruto on its back, they finally calmed down, yet they were still shocked being in the presence of Draco. For the next two years, Draco and the other Dragons trained him in the Dragon Sennin Arts, and became known in the Western lands as the Dragon Ninja because he possessed the Dragon Contract and because he was often partnered up with Ryū, while in the East, he was simply known as the Dragon Sennin.
"Naruto-onii-chan!" Naruto was shaken from his thoughts when he heard a voice calling him.
He saw that was Sakura running toward him, who he often called Saku-chan for short, with Sanji following short distance behind her.
"Onii-chan! It's time for dinner," Sanji said, "Kaa-san made your favorite!"
Naruto smiled as he stood up "Well then, best not keep the others waiting Sanji-Kun, Saku-Chan!" He said as he picked the two up, and they disappeared in a Shunshin.
Meanwhile In Konoha
Tsunade Senju, the Godaime Hokage of Konoha, and last of the Senju Clan, sighed as she looked at the reports. Apparently, Orochimaru was up to his old tricks, again and managed to convince the hardliners of Iwa, Kumo, and Mist, to rebel against their respective Kages, and allied their villages with him. Ōnoki the Sandaime Tsuchikage, and Ē the Yondaime Raikage, were killed in their respective village uprisings, while the Godaime Mizukage Mei, along with Ōnoki's granddaughter Kurotsuchi, Ē's brother Bee, and the revived Yugito had simply disappeared.
Orochimaru then declared the sole intention of this alliance, the complete eradication of Konoha. Normally, it wouldn't be that bad for the hidden leaf village as they had plenty of powerful allies to call upon for help during a time war. This time however, all the various nations that were allied with them, with the exception of Suna, had torn up their treaties and turned their backs on Konoha because the village had banished their hero, Naruto.
Ever since he had been banished, things had gone downhill for the Hidden Leaf Village as people simply refused to give high ranking missions to a village that would backstab one of their own. First, the Fire Daimyō then came in person to announce that he was cutting their funding in half, which furthered weakened the village, which was still recovering from Pain's invasion five years ago. Suna was still an ally, but tensions were slowly mounting between the two.
She grunted angrily, as she thought about the blonde-haired jinchūriki. A week after he had been banished, Tsunade then announced to the entire village of Naruto's condition as the Kyūbi container. This of course, made most of the village's younger generation hate Naruto even more as they viewed him as the Kyūbi.
However, there were still a handful of people who still viewed Naruto as himself, namely Anko, Hinata, Izumo, the Ichiraku's, Kotetsu, Kosuke Maruboshi the eternal genin, Tenten, and Yūgao. Even her own apprentice Shizune still supported Naruto after all this time. Ever since his banishment, her former apprentice began trying to distance herself away from her old teacher, shocked and disgusted that the woman she thought of as a mother would stoop to such lows.
Then there was the case, where Naruto's former teacher at the Academy Iruka Umino had committed suicide at his home, a year after he had been banished. His body was found by Kakashi, who also discovered the Academy Teacher's suicide note, showing his disgust towards what the villagers of Konoha did and said to Naruto, and that they had lost the will of fire for believing that he was a demon. A few days after Iruka's suicide, Kosuke Maruboshi angrily confronted her when she was taking a walk around the village and called her a hypocrite in front of the entire village for despising Naruto for being the Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi when her own grandmother had been the first Jinchūriki for the beast before resigning as a ninja of Konoha.
Following that confrontation, Jiraiya went to Mount Myōboku with a copy of the seal that Minato had used to seal the Kyūbi into his son with, and he along with Fukasaku met with another Toad that happened to be was an expert with Sealing. The toad took a look at the Seal that Naruto had on him, and studied how it contained the Kyūbi, preventing it from influencing Naruto. In addition, while studying it, he also discovered the part of the seal that once contained Minato and Kushina's chakra. They were surprised by that, and wondered why they would seal their chakra into the seal. It was Jiraiya who figured it out, and immediately hated himself for being so blind. He gave this information to Tsunade, who chosen to ignore what she heard, continued to blame Naruto for everything that was wrong with the village.
He then quietly told the other Konoha 11 and their sensei of this discovery knowing that Tsunade would never, and almost immediately the ones who wrongly accused Naruto of being a demon, with the exception of Kurenai, Sakura, and Sasuke were wrecked with guilt. Jiraiya then made the decision to tell the entire village of Naruto's heritage, and how his parents had sacrificed themselves to save him, and the village from the Kyūbi's fury. It didn't take long for many villagers who mistreated began to regret what they did, more specifically the Konohamaru Corps. The Tsunade and the village Elders were furious that he went behind their back and revealed that piece of classified information, but Jiraiya simply told them to fuck off.
The brief sound of someone knocking on her office door got her attention.
"The door is unlocked, you may enter." she ordered as she continued working a small stack of paperwork.
The door opened and Shizune came in, though she tried her hardest to avoid making eye contact with her former master.
"The shinobi that you asked for are here, Hokage-sama." She said in a tone that clearly said she didn't want to be in there.
Tsunade could only sigh at that the treatment she was getting from her oldest student. After everything that she did for her, Shizune repays her by siding with demon brat over her teacher.
"Then send them in Shizune." the Godaime Hokage ordered as she put down her pen so she could focus on the mission that she was about give out that needed to succeed if the village was to keep its status as one of the five great shinobi village.
Shizune immediately left the room to carry out her orders not wanting to stay in the same room as the women that had betrayed her grandfather's very beliefs and principles. A few moments later the remaining members of Konoha 11 and their former teachers along with Anko, Izumo, Kotetsu, and Yūgao who was dressed in a regular Jōnin uniform rather than her ANBU outfit. In the last five years, Naruto's former classmates and comrades-in-arms had been promoted to the rank of Jōnin shortly after Naruto's banishment. However, the two that had changed the most were Hinata and Tenten who had become extremely cold and confrontational towards everyone earning the nickname the "Ice queens of Konoha" due to it.
"You summoned for us, Tsunade-sama?" Kurenai asked in a disciplined manner as she shot a nasty glare at one of her former students out of the corner of her eyes.
Out of all the villagers that still held a grudge against Naruto, she was the most vocal about her hatred for the Jinchūriki. She blamed him for Asuma's death, saying that if the Kyūbi had never been sealed into him, then the Akatsuki would have never come after him, which meant Asuma would still be alive today, helping her raise their daughter. Of course, this hatred put a major strain on her relationship with Hinata, who still loved the blonde-haired ninja even after all these years.
"Yes, as you all know the village is on the verge of bankruptcy and losing its status as one of the five great shinobi villages to. The fact that we are at war with three of the other major villages isn't helping our situation in the slightest." Tsunade spoke as she folded her arms and leaned against the front of her desk.
Everyone nodded their heads as they listened to their leader speak about the village's current situation. The village had made several desperate moves in an attempt to maintain its status, the most drastic being lowering the academy entry requirements, also have retired ANBU BlackOps agents and Jōnin ninja teaching the classes instead of the regular chūnin used to do back before this entire mess started eight years ago.
"Thankfully, I have a possible solution to our current situation." Tsunade started to explain to the assembled taskforce that she had selected for this particular mission.
Everyone else nodded, except for Yūgao who was busy looking around the room for something or to be more precise, the two people that often accompanied Tsunade nowadays.
"Is something wrong, Yūgao?" she asked the former ANBU Captain.
A few weeks after Naruto was banished, Yūgao resigned her position as ANBU Captain in protest to the unfair treatment of her surrogate little brother. At first, everybody couldn't believe that someone like her would go so far as leave such a sought after position just because they got rid of the village demon.
"Where are your friends, Koharu and Homura? I thought they became your best buds the moment you and the worthless pervert of a Toad began despising Naruto and then banished him," Yūgao asked making her disdain for the elders quite clear for everybody to hear.
Tsunade glared at her for that comment. It was true that after Naruto's banishment, she had come to rely more and more on the advice of her sensei's former teammates than the advice of the shinobi and clan councils. As the previous members that once supported the Sandaime's policies were steadily being replaced by younger ninja, who had seen how badly the village had been caught unprepared when the Fourth Shinobi World War broke out.
"They're not here, because they are currently at the hospital for their regular medical checkup. Besides I don't want them to know about this mission until after it's completed." She answered as she knew that it was no secret that both Koharu and Homura's health was steadily starting to decline as they were entering their early eighties.
Yūgao glared at Tsunade for prioritizing what little medical resources that the village had left to treat the ailing politicians instead of the wounded shinobi that were trickling into the village. The elders and the civilian council were constantly talking about how the village's ninja needing to make sacrifices in order to defend the village from its enemies, while they were wasting some of the few resources that the village had on themselves.
"And what mission is that?" Yūgao demanded, not caring that she was being extremely disrespectful to the village's leader.
Tsunade gave her a quick glare at Yūgao, as this wasn't the first time that the former ANBU captain had openly questioned her assignments.
"Your mission is to find the person and bring him back here, alive and mostly unharmed. You are authorized to use as much force as necessary to bring the target back to the village." Tsunade spoke making it absolutely clear that failure was not an option on this mission.
Everybody nodded their heads in understanding, that this was a rare S-ranked mission of the highest caliber that could make or break the village. For Sasuke Uchiha, this was a mission that would bring him untold amount of glory and all but legitimize Sasuke's appoint to the position as the primary candidate for being the Rokudaime Hokage. As many shinobi had made it perfectly clear, that they didn't want the former international criminal as their leader citing that it would drive all of the neutral countries and Suna away from them and into Orochimaru's camp.
"Who's the target for this mission, Tsunade-sensei?" Sakura asked her former teacher, wondering who could the possible target could be.
Like Sasuke, she saw this mission prove herself. However, unlike Sasuke who was trying to consolidate his position as the Rokudaime Hokage Kōho, she saw this as a chance to make her stand out in the eyes of the Uchiha who was still ignoring her despite everything that has happened in the last few years between them.
"The target for this mission is Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze." Tsunade stated in a dead serious voice.
Okay let me make this clear to all of you people; I haven't abandoned NINJA GAIDEN: Naruto's Legacy. I just wanted to write another Ninja Gaiden/ Naruto crossover with a little bit of Soul Caliber mixed into the story as I thought that it would make for an interesting read for you. Now, I know many of you guys are wondering why I decided to add some Soul Caliber into the mix of this story, well the answer is quite simple: One of the characters in the Soul Caliber Franchise happens to be a Jinchūriki like Naruto. I thought that giving somebody that's going through the same problems that Naruto went through as a child might make this a lot more interesting that and I'm a fan of Taki.
Like my other Ninja Gaiden Story, this is a Harem with Naruto getting Ayane, Kasumi, Momiji, Shion, Shizuka, Taki, and Tenten.
Nevertheless, you don't have worry Ryū will be getting some love in the form of Anko, Kureha, Shizune, and Yūgao.
Hayate will also get a couple of girls, as soon as I find some that I think are appropriate for him.
Also those words that I used to describe Naruto's Katana sword are actual parts to a Japanese sword, if you don't believe me, fine. Just go to Wikipedia and type in Japanese Sword mounting and it will give you all the information that you'll need.
So until next time readers, Oorah to Ashes!