Title: Sennin Guardian Rikudo
Genre: Friendship, Adventure, Romance, Comedy, Action
*Warning for character death, implied non-con, and implied incest.*
A/N:
Ash: This is our little group project. It's taken years, but it's finally here. Appreciate it, brats.
Melon: She doesn't mean that last bit. You're not a brat, you're a lovely reader who decided to take the time to read our story, and we thank you for that!
Ash: And many thanks to 'Bloody Prince,' Belphegor's character song. Without that song, I could not have finished this as nicely as I did.
Disclaimer: None of the above own the manga, anime, spin-off of, characters of, or franchise, Naruto. If we did, there's no telling what any of us would've made the characters do. And it's for the best that you never know.
Prologue
A man laid on the ground, taking deep, heaving breaths as the pool of blood underneath him grew. Beside him lay a half smashed white mask with a spiral design. Nearby stood a beat-up teen with whisker markings on his cheeks. He stared down at the dying man as he held onto his blood soaked arm.
Tobi chuckled weakly. "Nice job breaking it, boy. Demons now roam the earth! None of them sealed or controlled by anyone! Have you any idea what you've unleashed on this world?"
The boy clenched his fists and muttered under his breath, "I understand better that you ever could." Louder, he growled at the dying man, "I know that I've gotten rid of something far worse. The world no longer has to fear you destroying anything or anyone. We're finally free of you."
"Ha! Do you really think it matters? There will still be strife and mistrust. There will still be wars and betrayal. There will still-" Violent coughs interrupted him, blood splattering his chin. He greedily sucked in air once they subsided. "There will still be people like me in this world," he finished hoarsely.
A solemn wind blew, ruffling the teen's blonde hair. Before Tobi took his last breath, Naruto raised his head to look him in the eyes.
"I know that. But..." he suddenly grinned with that familiar determined glint in his eyes, "You should know by now that I NEVER give up!" Naruto straightened himself to his full height as Sasuke and Sakura, supporting each other, neared him. "They can keep coming, they can keep trying. We'll win every time, and we'll prove you wrong!"
Naruto's left eye turned crimson red and the pupil lost its round shape to form a slit. The marks on his left cheek thickened, and the teeth on the left sharpened. Two voices came from his throat. "We'll prove you wrong about humans AND demons. Just wait and see."
A blonde man wearing a red hat sat atop a face carved into a mountain, a gentle wind blowing the veil of the hat behind him.
Twenty years have passed since that fateful day we won the Fourth Shinobi War and I got my best friend back.
We've all grown up, and while some of us have changed, others don't seem to changed a bit.
An ANBU wearing a snake mask landed behind the blonde and watched him silently, waiting. The man smiled gently without turning.
Can't say I'm complaining about that.
The world has evolved over the years, and yet, in some ways, it seems like it hasn't changed at all. The great nations are finally at peace with each other, or as at peace military superpowers can be with one another.
The blonde chuckled to himself as he gazed west of the village, past the forest just beyond its walls.
A small two-tailed cat wearing a wispy scarf sat in the branches of a tree just below the man, watching a scruffy kitten with her tail cut off. The two-tailed cat looked at the man above and seemed to smirk before turning and gliding down to the cute kitten.
And demons are now a regular part of our lives, though acceptance is still a work in progress. But the biggest change isn't what I had expected as a kid.
The man leaned over his propped knee to peer into the village streets, a childish grin overtaking his face. Young teens ran through the streets as others leapt over the roofs and slid along convenient rails. A group of pre-teens chased after a horrifyingly familiar cat with a bow on its ear. A boy with triangle markings yelled at a pineapple-haired man that looked half asleep.
It's this. We're no longer the driving force behind Konoha. Our time is over, and we've passed down our will of fire onto the next generation. And just like us, they'll surpass everyone's expectations and create a shining new future.
The blonde stood up, dusted himself off, and turned to grin at the ANBU with the strangely spiked blue-black hair. The wind carried his voice as he spoke to his old friend. "It's their turn now."
A girl landed on the sturdy branch of tree. She sucked in a calming breath, only to freeze at the thump of someone else landing. She glanced back quickly, feeling the furious gaze of her best friend boring into her. With a shriek, she took off, the other girl immediately tearing after her. Leaves were knocked from their perch and sent spiraling to the ground.
But one leaf stayed in the air, gliding along the current above the bustling village below.
"Oi, Hiruzen."
A broad-shouldered young man looked behind him to look for whomever had called him. "Ah, sensei. What brings you here?" he asked the older man as he edged past a couple middle-aged women fighting over a cantaloupe.
"I told you not to call me that anymore," he reminded Hiruzen as he eyed the women warily. He'd put money on the pregnent, pink-haired one.
The younger man smiled. "My apologies, Shikamaru-san." He cast his dark red eyes back down to the produce he was inspecting. "But you didn't answer my question: what brings you here?"
"Food's gone bad again," the pineapple-haired man answered nonchalantly as he picked up an apple to scrutinize. "You?"
"Groceries for Mother. She likes the fruit from this market."
"Why, aren't you a wonderful son!"
Both men looked up at the old woman manning the stall. Hiruzen smiled pleasantly at the woman. "Thank you, ma'am, but isn't it just what anyone would do for their mother?" As the woman gushed over his manners, Shikamaru rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath.
"Whatever. Tell Kurenai I said hi."
Hiruzen told him he would and paid for his things, complimenting the old woman and causing another round of gushing, before bidding his former teacher good day and heading back through the crowd, which parted like the sea for him.
As a group of girls huddled together and stole glances at him, the man pushed his dark curls back from his face, inciting bright blushes from them. Hiruzen pretended not to notice and smiled at them, diamond dust and sunlight glistening in the background.
They never had a chance.
Shikamaru shook his head and went back to his shopping.
A pretty blonde walked down the steps of her home into a shop filled with flowers and an older blonde behind the register. She paused to caress the petals of a water lily before speaking to the other blonde.
"I'm going out," she informed her mother.
Chokyume looked up from the sales book and a proud look came across her face. "That's my girl! Keep up the hard work, Kairi-chan!"
The girl stiffened and hurriedly turned away. "Right."
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
A bushy eyebrow twitched as the shaggy-haired teen tried to ignore the scene behind him. He didn't want to see the sparkles in their eyes, the tears running down their cheeks. And he most definitely didn't want to see that goddamn convenient sunset outlining their embracing silhouettes.
The crashing of waves mixed with the two men's cries.
Yuu covered his ears and wondered why he was surrounded by overly affectionate grown men.
The adventurous leaf drifted over the walls surrounding the lively village and into the seemingly endless forest.
A boy with red triangles marring his cheeks crouched on the ground with his hand planted in between his feet. He was practically steaming, and a tiny, dark-haired girl was doing her best to calm him down.
"I-I'm pretty sure s-sensei didn't mean to ignore y-you, Yasha-kun!"
"The hell he didn't! I could see that expression on his face! It screamed 'How troublesome!' In monotone!" he screamed at the sky. At hearing no reply, he turned to the pale-eyed girl. "Geh!"
The normally sweet and understanding girl was inching away from him as fast as possible. "I-I'm just going t-to get... flowers! I'm j-just going to be g-gone for a little bit!" She turned and ran.
"Kimiko, wait!"
"You will come back here this instant, Hyuuga Kyouya!"
Footsteps pounded the wood floor, going as fast as possible without actually running.
"Like hell!"
The sliding door was slammed open, revealing a young man with short, dark hair and defiance set in his features. He rushed out of the sitting room and towards the front gate.
A man with dark chocolate locks reaching near his waist and a body nearing its 40s hurried after him, expression thunderous.
They made their way past the training yard, where a young man identical to Kyouya, only with much longer hair, paused in his practice to watch them.
The elder Hyuuga reached for his difficult son. "Show some respec-" A small dragon formed from water hit him smack in the face, soaking the man.
Sputtering, Neji called out, "Stop him!"
The other boy nodded and moved to stop his twin, only to freeze at the glare Kyouya sent at him. Without pausing in his steps, he gave a warning to the other young man.
"Don't get involved, Tomo." And with that, he left.
A dark-skinned blonde walked into a round office, followed by three teens, coming to a stop in front of a desk where a huge black man with only one arm sat. Outside the windows behind him, many narrow mountains covered in buildings could be seen.
"You called, Raikage-sama?" the blonde asked in a dull tone.
The one-armed man pointed to the right at a map on his wall. "I want Team Omoi to take care of some pests."
"Pests?" one of the teens wondered under his breath, keeping his gaze on the ground and letting blue hair obscure his face. He let out a yelp when the only girl in the room elbowed him and turned to glare at her, only to grimace at the glare she directed at him, a lethal combination of "Shut up, you insect" and "How can you not get it, fool" showing visibly. Musha really was a champ at destroying your self-confidence.
Omoi glanced over at his student and explained, "Bandits, Taro."
The last of the teens patted his friend on the back, sending a comforting smile his way before turning his attention back to the Raikage.
"You leave for Akamori Village at dawn," the huge man ordered.
Omoi nodded and, with his team, left the office.
A freckled brunette sat on a bench outside the animal shelter, cheerfully eating a sandwich. A shadow passed over her, and she looked up to see familiar boy with transparent sunglasses glancing around the sky warily. She smiled.
"The pens are on the other side. Don't worry," she assured him.
He sighed in relief and turned to her. "Thank you, Fi Fi-san."
The girl pouted. "I keep telling you not to be so formal, Shizu-kun!"
Shizu ignored her in favor of looking up as two teens flashed by, amusement coming across his features. "I had come by to ask if you had seen my teammate, but it would appear I've already found her."
"Hm?" She looked around quizzically, trying to find whom he was looking for. A chuckle drew her attention back to the Aburame.
"It would appear she has incurred Uchiha-san's wrath again," he explained while pointing at two distant figures leaping in the direction of the village entrance.
Fi Fi caught sight of the two and giggled.
"You're New Moon stance is crooked. Adjust."
Gold-green eyes flickered towards the cold, aqua gaze of his mother before refocusing on his sparring partner, shifting his left foot further up to match his left hand. A snort of approval was the only sign that he had of being correct. He grimaced at the wrongness of the position, and began to panic as first his left, then his right leg started to wobble.
He shot a pleading look towards his mother, to which her only response was a familiar frown that he hated seeing. His opponent took advantage of his distraction to attack. The man lunged, twisting to swing his fist at the side of the teen's head.
Caught off guard, he moved to dodge, only to lose his balance. The man took advantage of the moment aim a powerful kick at his exposed side, one that was sure to cause some serious internal bruising if something didn't change–fast.
His eyes sharpened, the pupils shifting to a slightly less round shape. Without thinking, he twisted his body towards the ground and regained his balance. Knowing that kick was still coming, he kept twisting around and slammed his left foot into the man's supporting leg, knocking him off his feet. As he fell, the boy extended his leg to clip his opponent's chin before spinning on his remaining leg away to stand firmly on both feet–one further behind in preparation to lunge–facing him.
"Enough, Ren."
He froze at the harsh voice. Sure footsteps echoed in the courtyard as his mother made her way towards him–and he knew it was towards him. She came to a stop a few feet from them, just out of his line of sight.
"What was that?" came the question, demanding an answer he couldn't give. Not one she'd like, at any rate.
He resisted the urge to shrug. "Instinct, I guess."
She didn't even bother responding, choosing instead to walk away with the quiet order for his opponent to pick himself up.
He bowed his head, green bangs covering his eyes as familiar words resounded in his head.
"You must always be in control."
"You must think through each and every decision you make, from on the battlefield to during clan meetings to even choosing what to have for breakfast."
"Do not ever act thoughtlessly, boy."
Thumps on the nearby roof jerked his attention away from the memories. He looked up and a smile tugged at his lips as a familiar orange and black blur leapt further away. Another blur, this time blue, landed on the roof and leapt after the first one.
Ren shook his head with a chuckle before heading back inside.
Two men sat behind the stand at the entrance to Konohagakure, one wearing a bandana, the other with a bandage over his nose, and both with goatees. They grinned at the young man walking towards the gates.
"Yo, Uchiha-san!" called Izumo, waving at the boy whom was currently walking with his eyes closed, head tilted slightly upwards, and hands inside his pockets.
Said Uchiha opened his dark eyes and looked at the two men as he neared. Pausing in front of the stand, he cast an amused smirk at the lighter-haired man.
"Please, Izumo-san, try something besides my family name. I feel like people are addressing my father with they call me that," a gentle, husky voice admonished him.
Izumo laughed. "Oh please, the day that bastard speaks as politely as you do is the day I call him Uchiha-san."
The bandaged man smirked at the twitching lips as the younger fought to hide his amusement at his father's expense. His eyes skittered over the lines around the Uchiha's nose before a shout drew everyone's attention.
"Hi, Itachi-sempai, bye, Itachi-sempai!"
Two blurs sped past the three, so fast that they had to shut their eyes against the wind in their wake.
Kotetsu peeked an eye open and froze, wide-eyed, as he saw Itachi pull his long hair out of his face and hold it back against the wind. He felt a sense of deja vu, and he wondered to himself, not for the first time, if reincarnation wasn't just a myth.
Twisting and turning through the thick forest, the leaf continued on its journey. A sudden rush of wind sent it bursting through the trees into a clearing that, despite the sun shining directly over head, seemed to be literally tinted with darkness.
The leaf loop-the-looped its way to the center where a stone shrine resided, finally coming to rest upon the top.
A redhead wearing a maroon coat sat in a similar position to a certain blonde, resting on the wall of his village and looking into the cloudless blue sky. A relaxed whisper escaped his lips, and he let a smile grace them when a breeze gently blew into his face.
His brother landed next to him on the wall and heaved an exasperated sigh. The redhead glanced his way, his smile shifting to an amused smirk.
"Sori?"
Kankuro rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms in frustration. "How'd you guess?"
The only response was a near-silent chuckle.
"I just don't understand that boy, Gaara. I came into his room to ask for his help repairing Karasu, and all I found were designs for dolls. Dolls!" he shouts in disbelief.
The Kazekage glanced behind him at the village as his brother continued to rant. His pale green eyes widened minutely in interest, and he turned his head to get a better look at the spectacle below.
"And when I finally find him, do you know what he's doing?"
Gaara answered drily, "Putting on a show?"
The brunette sputtered. "Wha?" Following his younger brother's gaze, he turned and peered into the gathering crowd near their section of the wall.
At the center danced two small, beautifully made puppets, seemingly by themselves. A boy in his late teens with dirty blonde hair, playing a cheery tune on his flute, spun between the puppets and gestured for people to join in. The puppets reached out to small children near the center and pulled them into the dance. As the children laughed and danced, the crowds clapped in time with the music, other instruments joining from random bystanders.
Above the crowd, the two men watched the performance grow more lively.
Gaara laughed quietly, finding the sight enjoyable. "Say what you will, Kankurou. Your boy has a wonderful talent."
The older man grumbled.
"GET YOUR BUTT BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE BRAT!"
"DO I LOOK STUPID TO YOU? ON SECOND THOUGHT, DON'T ANSWER THAT!"
A sixteen-year-old girl decked out in black and orange hurriedly pulled herself up higher with a tree branch, trying to get further away from the pale girl. She pushed hard off the branch, forcing it to break off and almost hit her pursuer. The other girl caught the projectile and crushed it in her fist, teeth clenching as she sped up.
"Seriously, it was just a joke, Rei," she tried to reason as she desperately kept out of the raven's murderous grasp.
"You made me look like a complete fool in front of Hiruzen-sempai!" came the enraged reply. The teen was catching up to her dearest childhood friend. Her dearest childhood friend who was about to be beaten to death once she got her hands on the brat. "Get back here, Tsuki!"
"Like hell!"
The first girl hit a nearby trunk and rebounded off it, sending her in another direction and putting a little more distance between her and the other, if only for a short time. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed an area of particularly dense greenery. Suddenly dropping to the ground, she swiftly forced her body into a roll that sent her under the brush and away to the other side.
A muffled curse told her that the evasion tactic worked, and she grinned, raking a hand through her purple-violet hair. Quickly pulling herself to her feet, she started running again. As she ran through a patch of sunlight, a tingling sensation enveloped her. She gasped, and it felt as if she was doused in water, the prickle disappearing.
Grey eyes blinked open. Or it felt like they were open, at any rate.
The bearer of the eyes tried to peer into his surroundings, but saw only darkness. No light reached him, and he jerked his head around to try and get some sense of where he was. At least, he tried to.
He tried to lift his left leg up, but it refused. He attempted to twitch his fingers, and was denied again. He endeavored to move his damn lips, only to meet failure again. His eyes widened in dawning horror.
He was stuck–in this same place, this same position. And he couldn't even scream.
He tried to take in his surroundings as best he could, but something was wrong. There was no smell; not of his cage, not himself, none. And it was as if he was trapped underwater, because nothing could reach his ears, not even the sound of his own breathing.
Panic enveloped him.
A crashing sound reminded Tsuki of the danger she was in, and she continued running.
Out of the brush burst Rei, teeth gritted in frustration and eyes blazing. She ran after her target, only to slow down as a gasp escaped her, the same prickle that her best friend experienced crawling across her skin. Without her consent, energy rushed to her eyes, causing them to shift from grey-green to a deep, crimson red.
And like Tsuki, the tingling disappeared as fast as it came, leaving her feeling as though something had literally washed it away.
She shook off the strange feeling and raced off after the other girl, determined to catch her and get out of this forest.
But suddenly, Tsuki disappeared from her line of vision. The red-eyed teen froze, trying to sense where the delinquent had hidden. After a few moments of silence, she gave a soft "tch," then closed her eyes and slowed her breathing. When she opened them, the three tomoe surrounding her pupils began to spin. She caught a flash of black and orange some distance away in the trees, almost unnoticeable had she not used her bloodline. Giving a smirk, she chased after her target.
A moment later, the pursued girl crawled out from a hole underneath the large tree Rei had been standing not three feet from. She paused, carefully listening for any signs of her best friend still being in the area. When she heard nothing, she heaved a sigh of relief and grinned in victory.
"Now, back to Konoha for some super spicy ramen!" she crowed happily. But a frown pulled at her lips and her brow furrowed. "But what was that feeling I had before?"
She blinked and looked around her. "For that matter, where the hell am I?"
Nothing looked or felt familiar, and that worried her. She searched for any sign that might point her in the direction of her home, peering deep into the forest.
Tsuki turned and saw what might be a clearing in the opposite direction she'd sent Rei. Thinking that she might recognize a landmark, the teen hurriedly headed that way. As she broke through the line of trees, she had to blink at the strange darkness covering the area. 'What the- I could've sworn it wasn't that late?'
A soothing light came to his eyes, brightening his surroundings and calming him somewhat, though he couldn't say that the sight of stone walls exactly comforted him. The smell of dust and mold would've bothered him more if it were for the fact that, hey, he could smell!
He could vaguely hear something outside his prison and tried to call out to it, only for his lips to still not work.
His eyes narrowed.
So, there was more to this than a simple imprisonment.
Another sound alerted him to the being outside moving, and he begged in his mind for them not leave him in the darkness again. As if it heard him, the being seemed to get louder, proof that it was getting closer to him.
To the purple-haired girl's disappointment, the only thing notable in the clearing was a small stone shrine in the direct center of the clearing. There was nothing to familiar about the area or the shrine, leading her to the inevitable conclusion that, yes, she was totally lost. For lack of anything else to do, she walked up to the shrine that, upon closer inspection, was actually completely enclosed, with no openings to speak of. Whatever was inside wasn't coming out
"Well, if that isn't the stupidest thing," Tsuki remarked, her voice loud in the silent clearing. As she took a closer look, she brushed the lone leaf resting on top.
He sucked in a breath at hearing the voice. 'It's a person!'
His hope rose (and did it seem to get brighter in here for a second?), and he prayed that person figure out he was here and set him free.
And then a comforting warmth enveloped him, reaching every part of his body. 'My body!'
He brought his hand to his face, his eyes bright with having recovered his ability to move. He took a deep breath, pushed his back against the stone behind him for support, and raised his foot.
BOOM!
Tsuki noticed the engraved kanji on a smooth slab where the opening would've been and peered closer at it to read. "'Rikudo?' What the heck is tha-"
Out of nowhere came a dark blur that plowed her into the shrine.
BOOM!
The ensuing explosion, unknowingly from both sides, destroyed the shrine and caused dust to billow up from the impact. It cleared to show Rei standing with a foot planted firmly on Tsuki's back.
"You didn't actually think that would fool me for more than a minute, did you?" the now black-eyed girl growled down at her best friend.
"Did you have to kick me through a freaking shrine? Holy crap, that hurt!" the ambushed girl complained, rubbing her head as she rolled out from underneath her attacker's foot.
When she looked up, she gaped. Rolling her eyes at the stupid look on Tsuki's face, she moved to kick her, but whirled around at the sound of shifting rock. What met her gaze had her gaping too.
A dark figure was pulling himself out of the rubble, groaning. After dusting his–rather old-fashioned–clothes off, the previously buried male turned to look at them. They took the chance to inspect him more closely.
In front of them was a silver-haired guy that couldn't be older than 18, even with that freakish height and the muscle they could see rippling under his clothes. A pair of intense gray eyes stared back them from a face even gods would envy, a strong chin and a fine nose complimenting a lightly tanned complexion.
Those very same eyes expressed amazement and gratitude.
Before Tsuki could begin to ask what the hell the guy was doing inside a freaking ancient shrine, the mysterious man dropped to his right knee and resting his forearm across the left, bowing his head.
"You have freed me from my prison, and I am forever in your debt. How can I ever repay you, miladies?"
A/N: Please direct to our main FF account to see more information. We will be opening a blog site if we get good feedback from the story. The blog will introduce more detailed information about the OCs, as well as pictures.
Thank you for taking the time to reading this chapter. We hope you look forward to future chapters as well.
Ash: The prologue's done. ~collapses~
Melon: Hey, you still have work to do! ~shakes exhausted Ash~
Dill: Yeah, you still have to finish Chapter 1!
Ash: ~groans~ Slave drivers. I hate you all.
Dill and Melon: Read, Favorite, Alert, Review!
Ash: Just friggin' do something. We're showing Dill the ropes of writing, so feedback can only help the learning process. If you didn't like it, tell us why. If you did, why the hell didn't you say so?