Welcome everyone to my new story The Golden Lion. Now some of you may remember me from my previous stories Ryuu Henshin or Kami's Chosen, while the majority of you don't know me at all. All I can say is welcome and I hope you enjoy my new story, but be warned that I currently do not have a Beta so there may be some errors with the grammar and flow of the story.
The Golden Lion
By: Konjiclaw
Chapter 1: Returning Hero
\Millions of Years Ago/
Eons before the age of man and shinobi, a race of humanoid creatures called the Aumial called Third Earth home. Among them there were four subspecies who held the right to govern the rest due to the unique gemstones they each watched over. These four gemstones held powers that could rival the rest and insured that no one of the four top subspecies could conquer the others. Due to the balance of power, there were thousands of years of peace and prosperity among the Aumial race as a whole.
The peace lasted until a being who would later became known as The Conqueror made his presence known. The Conqueror was rumored to have hailed from beyond the stars with a weapon that could both rival and house the power of the four gemstones. Over the course of a few short years, he was able to conquer all of Third Earth and had decimated three of the four top subspecies while he made the rest submit under his rule. During this time The Conquer had claimed three of the four gemstones his own while continuing to search for the fourth and final one without prevail. The Conqueror was unable to locate the last gemstone held by the final top subspecies only to have them resurface decades later with a powerful weapon of their own that was on par with the one The Conqueror possessed.
With the power of this new weapon and the gemstone they possessed, the fourth subspecies was able to fight back and eventually reclaim Third Earth from The Conqueror. During the final battle the fourth subspecies was unable to kill him for some unknown reason and they were left with no other choice but to imprison him within a tomb where he would no longer be to threaten the world. Before being imprisoned The Conqueror stated he would one day return and retake the what was rightfully his. Fearing that the last words spoken by The Conqueror would incite panic among the rest of the Aumial populace the fourth subspecies sealed away the tomb beneath the surface of Third Earth. Shortly afterward the entire Aumial Race vanished from the surface of the planet due to some unknown cause.
Legend has it that the items used by the Aumial Race and The Conqueror in their fights were scattered to the four corners of the planet only to lay in wait to be used again. And that is where our true story begins…
\Current Day/
'Today's the day that everything will change.' A cloaked figure thought excitedly as they walked towards the Main Gate of Konohagakure. 'Soon I'll be home after being away for all these years, and soon I'll be able to see her again.'
The figure in question stood a little over six feet tall with a white cloak that stopped just centimeters above the ground and a hood that covered the top portion of the figures head. Walking next to the cloaked figured was a lion the size of a horse with a golden mane.
"Calm yourself young one." The lion said. "The world will soon know about you and your heritage."
"I know Leo," The figure said with a sigh. "but can you really blame me? It's been so long and I can't wait to see everyone again, especially her."
"Of course young one but remember…" The now named Leo began until he sensed the presence of roughly twenty chakra signatures heading towards his and his master's location. "Seems like they have finally sent a welcoming committee.
"Looks like it Leo, looks like it." The figure said with a laugh. "Please do me a favor my friend and let me do the me do the talking."
"Very well young one I shall keep quiet but if a fight ensues then I will take the appropriate action." Leo said, only to receive a nod from the cloaked figure.
It was less than a minute later that the pair was surrounded by twenty figures and two large Ninken. The figures wore the standard black and grey ANBU uniforms, each with a different porcelain animal mask. The ANBU formed a duel layer perimeter which consisted of seven and twelve ANBU with the two Ninken standing by their partners on the outer perimeter. The last ANBU, who's mask was shaped like a dog and had spiky grey hair, stood in the center of the perimeter with the cloaked figure and the lion.
"Halt, you are entering the village limits of Konohagakure." the ANBU with the dog mask said. "By order of the Hokage you are to leave the premises immediately Golden Lion. If you refuse to leave we are authorized to use force if it is deemed necessary."
The now identified Golden Lion could only chuckle before he said. "Why would I leave ANBU-san, or would you prefer I call you Hatake, Kakashi?"
The ANBU with the dog mask momentarily went rigid before slipping into a defensive stance. "How do you know that name?" He demanded with a slight edge to his voice.
"I remember your scent from when we met many years ago Hatake-san." The Golden Lion said. "Rest assured that I mean no harm and know I am only here to request an audience with the Godaime Hokage."
"Unfortunately your request will have to unanswered as the Hokage is extremely busy." Hatake said, "Now I will have to request that you leave…" The sound of a cheerful and hearty laugh coming from The Golden Lion stopped Hatake mid-sentence only for it to end moments later.
"By extremely busy you must mean she is drinking sake instead of taking care I paper work I presume." Golden Lion said in a joking tone before it changed serious one. "Now I know for a fact that the Lady Hokage is watching us as week speak so I will make this very clear. I know the location of the lost son of Konohagakure, the one known as Uzumaki, Naruto. If you do not believe what I say, then look at this."
The Golden Lion then brought a closed hand from beneath his cloak and with it a black lace necklace that had a turquoise gem hanging from it. Once the necklace was in eyesight, several of the ANBU could be heard murmuring back and forth about the object as it had been one of the many distinguishing possessions that Uzumaki, Naruto had on him the day he disappeared three years ago.
"Why do you have that necklace Golden Lion." Hatake said with venom in his voice. "Answer me now or else."
"Calm down Hatake-san," The Golden Lion replied before returning his hand to beneath his cloak, "I was given this necklace my Uzumaki-san himself as proof of what I have to discuss with the Hokage. Now are you going to bring me to Lady Hokage or am I going to have to fight my way there?"
Just then in a swirl of leaves a female ANBU with purple hair appeared next to Hatake and whispered something to him. Once finished she turned to The Golden Lion and bowed before leaving the same way she appeared.
With a sigh Hatake said, "It seems that willing to speak with you, but I was told to put you in chakra suppressing cuffs before we depart and that your summon must be dismissed."
"Of course, Leo you are dismissed." The Golden Lion said.
"Very well young one, make sure to be careful." Leo said before disappearing with a puff of smoke.
"Now raise your arms with your palms facing upwards." Hatake said as be brought a pair of chakra suppressing cuffs from the pouch located on his right thigh. The Golden Lion did as he was told before Hatake approached him and placed the cuffs on his wrists.
"Before you meet with the Hokage you will be searched and disarmed" Hatake said before the entire group of shinobi and ninkin disappeared in a large swirl of leaves.
Unknown to the group, with the exception of The Golden Lion, the lion that had thought to have been dismissed had only transported to another location half a mile away from where his partner was.
"I hope everything with turn out as hoped young one or else I will have to make an appearance earlier that anticipated." Leo said as he shrunk down to the size of a small dog and laid down to nap until his partner called for him.
\At the Same Time/
\Office of the Hokage /
"What do you make of him Jiraiya?" Tsunade the Godaime Hokage asked her longtime friend and teammate as she continued to gaze at the crystal ball that showed The Golden Lion.
"I'm not sure Hime." Jiraiya replied in deep though as he stood in a thinking position with his right hand on his chin and his left cupping the right elbow "It is difficult to believe that this man knows where Naruto is when my spy network has not found any trace of him in several years."
"I know but what about the necklace? What if it is real? What if..." Tsunade began before she started to silently weep into her hands.
"There is always the possibility that what he said is true Hime." Jiraiya said with a saddened look on his face. "But until we know for sure we can't get our hopes up."
"I know if he does know where Naruto is then we will finally be able to bring him home after so long." Tsunade said wiping the tears away from her eyes.
"For now though we have to wait until he is done going through the proper procedures and put into an interrogation room before we are able to talk with him." Jiraiya said as he looked at the clock on the wall. "It will take a few hours before they are finished so why don't we open up a bottle of sake and calm our nerves during that time."
"That's the best idea you've had all day." Tsunade said before opening up a secret compartment in her desk that contained a bottle of sake and two cups. Just as Tsunade and Jiraiya were about to enjoy a drink, Shizune walked in with a stack of papers.
"Lady Tsunade here are this morning's reports and…" Shizune began as before she noticed the sake and yelled, "IS THAT SAKE? WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT DRINKING SO EARLY IN THE MORNING AND AT WORK!"
\3 ½ hours later /
\Inside Interrogation Room 5 /
The Golden Lion had finished being searched and stripped of his equipment and cloths only for him to be given a set of plain white garments worn by prisoners of war. He had been brought into an interrogation room almost half an hour ago and since then he had adopted to sit on the floor with his legs crossed, hands together and his head tilted just enough to cause his hair to obscure the top portion of his face. As time passed he continued to meditate as taught by his teacher until he heard the door to the room open. Sensing the Chakra signatures of Tsunade the Godaime Hokage and Jiraiya the Toad Sannin, The Golden Lion could only smile.
"Even though it has been almost several years since I have seen the two of you I must say that you both look well." The Golden Lion said as he stood up and dusted off his pants.
Tsunade and Jiraiya could only look at each other confused before the Hokage asked, "What do you mean by that Golden Lion?"
Raising his hands, The Golden Lion combed his hair back revealing the entirety of his face which caused the other two occupants in the room to gasp. There standing in front of them was a man who had spiky reddish-golden hair that fell to his shoulders, teal eyes with vertical slits for pupils and three distinguishing whisker marks on either side of his cheeks.
"What you mean you don't remember me Baa-chan, Ero-sannin?" The Golden Lion said with a wide grin that showcased his elongated canine teeth.
After a long pause Tsunade asked, "Naruto, is that you?"
And that is a wrap for the first chapter of The Golden Lion. Please review and let me know what you think and what I can do to improve. If you are interested in being my Beta please send me a PM. I am not sure when I will be able to post the next chapter but I will be back sooner rather than later.
On a side note for those of you who are curious as to what happened to my other stories, well let's just say they were lacking in a lot of areas so they were taken down. But when I have time I will reedit them and repost them in the future.