Risen
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Any recognizable characters, locations, and concepts are property of Masashi Kishimoto. There may be times in the story that scenes from the anime Naruto appear in this story, such scenes belong to Kishimoto and those at VIZ media. No copyright infringement is intended, I am just doing this for fun.
A/N: Also, the premise of Naruto being taken to Madara after his supposed death at the hands of Sasuke does not belong to me, the idea came from a writer named juubiwriter99, from his story Madara's Student. I asked if I could use the premise for this fic, to which he agreed. There are similarities at the beginning, but the two stories differ greatly. His story, Madara's Student, is a good read, if anyone is interested.
I'll try to update this often, I'm not entirely sure how frequent updates will be. This next three or so weeks is a busy time for me, with papers, projects, and finals coming up, so at first, updates might be slow, but they will definitely begin to pick up after I'm done with all the tests and stuff.
This story is dedicated to a very special friend of mine. I only met her recently, but she has become a joy to talk to and to get to know. She encouraged me to write this story after I mentioned it to her, and was the first to see the first chapter. She loved it, and asked (demanded) that I continue, so here I am, writing and posting. So, to her, I say thank you!
Also, a big shout out to Chie, Coco, and Morality for being the beta readers with this fic, their insight has really helped me so far!
This story is an NS story, and if you don't like it, I'm sorry, but NS is the only pairing that I acknowledge, as I will never acknowledge something as forced as NH and as disgusting as SS, where Kishimoto had to completely destroy the characters of both Naruto and Sakura to make those pairings happen. To me, NS is and always has been canon, and there is nothing that anyone can tell me to make me think otherwise. Hopefully you enjoy!
Chapter One
"Interesting. Very interesting," a voice spoke, malice and ill-will dripping from every syllable. The figure the voice belonged to was shaded by the clouds drifting over the moon. The night was dark, eerily dark, in the wake of the battle that had just been fought below the cliff the man was standing. The surrounding woods smelled of scorched earth, burning trees, singed flesh, and blood.
The figure watched on from above as a boy, 13 years old, was standing on top of a lake. The child had dark hair, almost jet black. His blue shirt was torn and ragged, there were stains of blood on it. Blood from both him, and the boy he was standing over. The boy stood there, lingering over the body below him. A torn orange jacket worn by the body was covered in blood. Blood was everywhere. It matted the sun-kissed blonde hair, dripped from the boy's mouth and nose, and covered the child's chest. The only thing that wasn't dyed red with gore was an emerald colored necklace that hung from his neck. The necklace was diamond in shape. It was a rare piece of jewelry, incredibly rare. As it should be, since the necklace formerly belonged to the Shodaime Hokage. An inch to the right of the necklace, a hole the size of a fist was present in the boy's chest, just below the heart. The ribs in the vicinity were cut clean through, the lung suffered the same fate.
The shadowy figure looked on as the boy clad in blue stepped over the body of his former comrade, teammate, best friend, and brother. Sasuke Uchiha didn't look back, not one time, at the body floating behind him. Why should he? That boy was trash, as proven by his predicament. He was an obstacle to power. Nothing more. Nothing less. He was worthless, not even worthy to secure a glance backwards. Not to Sasuke. Sasuke was on a mission to kill his brother, Itachi. Anybody that got in his way would die. Period. It didn't matter who they were, friend or foe. That miserable piece of garbage laying on top of the water found that out the hard way. It was already bad enough that the loser behind him managed to push Sasuke as far as he did, breaking one of his arms and what felt like all of his ribs. Cuts were everywhere, his right ankle was hot and swollen. It was a blow against his Uchiha pride that someone managed to cause his body this type of damage, but an even bigger blow still when one considered that "Dead Last" was responsible for his injuries. Sasuke walked on, fuming at this embarrassment, and not once did he realize that he was being watched.
The blonde boy's breathing was shallow. Every part of him burned. Broken bones all over. Everything hurt. He slowly opened a bright blue eye and shifted his gaze at the person walking away. A tear slid down his face, mixing with blood as it fell, finally falling off his head, to the red water below. His vision blurred and cleared repeatedly. It was getting harder to breathe. He was dying. He knew it. Dying at the hands of the man he believed to be his brother. His teammate. His best friend.
The blonde boy had heard once that right before you die, your life flashed before your eyes. Apparently, such an occurrence was to help the dying realize things that they might have taken for granted. Or maybe it was to comfort the dying person. As if some unknown force was trying to ease the dying into accepting their fate by showing them happy memories of their life. Fuck that. Not for this kid. It's not like he had an abundance of happy memories to begin with. The villagers back home hated him, and always had. They made his life hell. Beatings merely for existing were a regular occurrence for him. Overcharging him for food that he already didn't have the money for was also common. Stones, tomatoes, bottles, anything that you could throw was fair game, as long as he was the target. The never ending glares he got made him feel like shit. No. He didn't have many happy memories. He'd be damned if he let some wannabe "higher power" govern what he could think about before he died. So, in an act of defiance, and a giant "Fuck You" to any god that might be watching over him, he chose what he wanted to think about. A pair of emerald eyes floated to the forefront of his mind. The most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. The eyes rested on a perfectly formed face, topped by beautiful pink hair. The most dazzling smile he had ever seen rested on her face.
"Please, bring him back. Bring Sasuke-kun back to me! You're the only one who can do it!"
A pang of sadness filled his heart. The girl he loved did not love him back. He was dying, and the one who did it was the one who the girl loved. Life was truly fucked up like that. He never even got to tell the girl how he felt. But he didn't deserve to. In his mind at least. He failed her. He was dying, and she would be sad, but because he failed his mission to her. He broke his promise of a lifetime to her, and she would be sad. His mission in life was to be Hokage, and make that girl smile, preferably as her husband. But he was trash. He would make her sad. He would take away her smile because he failed her. He was trash.
"Sorry Sakura-chan," he thought, tears flowing freely. "I failed to bring Sasuke back, like you asked me to. I failed you. Again. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
And the light left his eyes.
The figure on the cliff stood, exuding malice. The fight he had witnessed piqued his interest for multiple reasons. The potential of the two broken ninja was one, shadows that danced in the past being another. He began to walk forward, towards the edge of the cliff.
"So, are you going to tell me what you found so interesting? Or are you going to keep standing there?" another voice asked. This voice was unlike the first. Whereas the first reeked of evil intent, this voice rang of sarcastic merriment.
"Shut up," The first voice demanded. He took another step, preparing to jump down to the lake below, before stopping. A haze of red surrounded the fallen body floating on the lake. The haze turned into a bubble, growing larger and larger until it erupted, shooting high into the sky, dispersing amid the night.
"What was that?" the second voice asked.
"You didn't recognize that chakra? It was obviously the chakra of the Kyuubi. It dispersed from the boy. He is dead."
"But won't that hinder the plans of the Akatsuki? It will take years for the Kyuubi to return to form."
"It will take time, yes, but we aren't yet fully prepared to reign in the Bijuu. Now shut up and let's go." With that the figure jumped down to the lake, walked across the surface, stopping just in front of the boy. The heavy cloud that had previously covered the moon shifted, allowing the pale light of the moon to wash over the figure. To say he looked strange was an understatement. He wore a black cloak adorned with red clouds. Sprouting from the top of the cloak was a jagged, plant-like protrusion surrounding the man's head. The man's face was half white and half black, to the left, the white part of the face, with a golden eye, to the right, the black with a pale white eye.
The man, named Zetsu, looked down at the boy in front of him. He looked like shit. Blood everywhere, cuts all over the body, disheveled hair. The boy looked pathetic. Killed by his best friend. By his brother. That's what he got for having hope in this world. But it didn't matter. Hope was never meant to be. Hope was an illusion. Zetsu's mother would see to that. He turned to walk away from the wreck, he was no use to Zetsu as he was now. He was no longer the host of the Kyuubi. The beast could not be extracted, as it was a part of the world now. It would come back later, and the Akatsuki would capture it then. He took a step, then stopped as he heard a fizzling noise. Confused he looked back to the boy. And stared. What the fuck was going on? The boy is dead. But the cuts were healing. The hole in his chest was closing. The fizzling stopped a minute later. The boy was still not breathing. Both White Zetsu and Black Zetsu's eyes widened when they say a surge of electrically charged chakra cackle and spark around the part of the chest above the boy's heart. The child's chest jumped. Chakra sparked again. The child's chest jumped again. What was going on?
"Is he…resuscitating himself?" White Zetsu asked aloud, wonder seeping through his voice.
"Impressive," Black Zetsu spoke. He was at a loss for words. 'This boy was dead a minute ago. The Kyuubi left his body. That only happens if the host dies, or if there was an extraction. There could not have been an extraction of the Kyuubi, I am the only one in the vicinity. And supposing for a second that a Bijuu gets extracted from its container, the host dies. Either way, the boy should be dead. What the fuck is happening? Is it Ashura? It could be. He is the reincarnation of Ashura, after all. But Ashura never gets involved with the lives of his vessels. He lets the vessel achieve greatness on his own merits. Unlike Indra. No. Indra aided in the development of all of his vessels. Sasuke Uchiha was a testament to that. Sasuke would have never advanced as far as he did to this point without the aid of Indra. The awakening of the Sharingan, the ability to use the famed Uchiha fire jutsus, the ability to survive and control Orochimaru's curse mark. None of that was achieved on his own, all of that was under Indra's influence. But not once in the past has Ashura ever interfered with the workings of his vessels. Could it be that he decided this one time, to step in? Why? Was it because of how the fight ended? It's true, the boy could not deal the death blow on the Uchiha brat, which the Uchiha took advantage of. He showed the Uchiha mercy, and the Uchiha killed him for it. But here he is, injuries healed, and in the midst of bringing himself back to life.'
"What should we do about this?" White Zetsu asked.
"…The boy has potential. He is an Uzumaki, blood relative of the Senju. He has healing abilities even without the Kyuubi. He has mastered interesting high level jutsu at a tender age. With a little push, he could become a perfect tool for us to use. We will-" Black Zetsu stopped mid-sentence. Someone was approaching them, and fast.
"I will take him back to Madara with me. Split off from me and transform into him, from before he healed," Black Zetsu ordered, taking off his cloak.
A grotesque squelching noise was heard as Zetsu completely split in half, White and Black no longer occupying the same body. Black Zetsu slipped his Akatsuki cloak back on. White Zetsu leaned down and touched the boy's chest. He started to grow smaller, shrinking down to the boy's height, taking his appearance as well. The only difference was that White Zetsu took Naruto's injured form from a few minutes prior. Zetsu was able to change appearance based on memory, if he saw what something looked like at some point in time, he could transform into it. By touching the target that he wanted to transform into, he was able to copy their chakra signature as well as utilize jutsu the target possessed, though not to as high a degree. Black Zetsu charged chakra in the tips of his fingers and touched the hole on White Zetsu's chest, replicating the effect of a Chidori on a body. White Zetsu moved near a tree that was ablaze, Black Zetsu and the boy following. They stripped the boy of his clothes and White Zetsu put them on. The tree itself was partially destroyed, and partly sat in a crater from the fight it had witnessed. White Zetsu, now looking like the boy who was once dead, lay near the tree, in the center of the crater, to help the plausibility of the scene in front of the man who was quickly approaching. Blood was oozing from White Zetsu's "wounds". But it wasn't enough. The man that was approaching wouldn't be fooled. The hole that was under White Zetsu's heart was close to what a Chidori wound would look like, but it wasn't perfect. It wouldn't fool Kakashi Hatake, one of the Konoha's best Jonin, who possessed the Sharingan. Black Zetsu looked up above him and plucked a burning branch from the tree above, lowering it to White Zetsu. The fire would serve to conceal the imperfect Chidori wound. White Zetsu's death wouldn't matter. He was a clone. They could always make more clones. White Zetsu burned as the fire met his skin. Black Zetsu hefted the boy over his shoulder and turned to leave. He took one look at the boy, eyes looking toward his headband, emblazoned with the swirling leaf symbol of Konoha. He reached up, and with a swift motion, ripped off the headband, and threw it at White Zetsu's head. Not like the boy would need it anyway. Not where he was going.
With that Black Zetsu sank into the earth with Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha's number one knucklehead ninja, Hokage hopeful in tow.
The silver haired jonin ran. He hadn't run this fast since he and Rin were running across the border of the Blood Mist in the Water Country. He didn't know if he was running faster now than he was then, but there was one thing he did know. The dread was the same. It was heavy. So heavy. It weighed on his shoulders as he ran. He had a horrible burning feeling in the pit of his stomach. Everything looked bad. The forest was eerily quiet. There was malevolence in the air. He'd been running for hours.
"Are you serious? You sent a team of genin running after Sasuke? When four jonin level ninja are serving as his escort?"
"I had to, Kakashi," Tsunade said. "I had to send them. You know that jonin level ninja are running thin after Orochimaru's attack. We've had to send the jonin out on missions constantly to make it look like we weren't vulnerable! We can't risk looking weak and have one of our enemies attack Konoha because of it!"
Kakashi turned from the Hokage's desk and walked to the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Just taking a walk."
And he walked out the door.
Tsunade stared at the door for a couple minutes. She reached for a bottle of liquor on her desk. She was about to pick it up, when the glass cracked. Tsunade stared. A bad omen.
Kakashi immediately ran to the gate and summoned Pakkun, one of his ninja hounds, and asked him to track Naruto's scent while he waited at the gate. The wait was unbearable. A loud howl was heard, piercing the evening silence. He was just about to take off in the direction of the howl, when light footsteps made him pause. He stood there.
"Don't worry, everything is gonna be ok. It's all gonna be alright, Sakura," he said without looking over his shoulder.
And he was off.
He's been running for hours. The dread weighed on his shoulders. His heart. His soul. He ran. He ran and ran, praying that the feeling he had would not come true. And then he felt it. A feeling that he'd never want to feel. A malevolent chakra. The chakra of the Kyuubi. He looked up into the sky, praying for it to be a trick. A figment of imagination. He looked to the sky. And he stopped. For the first time in hours since setting off, he stopped. His right eye, the eye that wasn't covered by his slanted headband, widened. Red chakra shot up into the sky and dispersed into the night. There was no more dread. It left him. The weight that was on his shoulders, his mind, his heart, his soul, disappeared.
And in its place stood fear. Terror.
"Kakashi…"
"I know, let's move Pakkun."
"Right."
And the pair ran. Kakashi had never run faster in his life than he had at that moment, not even with Rin. Rin. Obito. Minato. His mind brought back memories, memories that he wanted to never see again. Obito being crushed by a boulder on a mission. Blood. Rin jumping in front of a Chidori. Blood. Minato-sensei, the Yondaime Hokage, with a hole in his chest as a result of the fight with the Nine-Tails thirteen years ago. Blood. Blood everywhere. Kakashi began to panic.
'Please. Not again. Not this time. Please don't happen again. Please let me be on time. Please.'
He was running faster than he ever had before, leaping from tree to tree, his famed gravity defying silver hair a blur as her ran. But he felt slow. He felt like he wasn't making any kind of progress. Minutes seemed like hours. Then, finally, Kakashi and Pakkun arrived. Their eyes widened in horror. Fire was everywhere. Craters littered the ground at the site of the ferocious battle. But the worst was the body.
Kakashi's heart stopped in his throat. There, before him, lying in the dirt covered in flames, was Naruto Uzumaki. His body was torn up beyond belief. Gashes and lacerations littered the parts of his body that was visible through the flames. But the worst injury was the hole in his chest, under his heart. He had seen that injury before. He had given it countless times. A hole created by a Chidori. He lifted his headband so that his Sharingan eye looked at the scene before him. He had to be sure. He had to know, without a shadow of a doubt.
His fear was confirmed. The chakra signature was his.
Naruto Uzumaki was dead. Killed by a move Kakashi created. Killed by his best friend. Killed by his rival. Killed by someone he considered his brother.
Kakashi's head hung low.
'Minato-sensei, Kushina-sama…Naruto…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I failed. Again.'
He stood there as the body burned. And for the first time in years, Kakashi cried. He was trash. He couldn't stop his father from killing himself. He couldn't save Obito. Rin died by his hand. He failed to save his teacher, or his teacher's wife. He couldn't stop one of his students from betraying the village. He couldn't save another of his students from being killed by the traitor. His teacher's son was dead. Killed by a move Kakashi Hatake, the copy ninja, created himself. He was trash. He failed again. He was trash. The gravity of all of his regrets washed over him at once.
And he cried.
"Naruto!"
"Sasuke!"
Naruto and Sasuke jumped towards each other, moving at speeds that the eye couldn't follow. But time seemed to slow down. Sasuke's body was changed due to the curse mark's highest form. Two hand-like wings sprouted from his back. His skin was a sickly brown color. What would normally be the whites of his eyes were dyed black, his Sharingan taking a mustard yellow color. The markings on his face were jet black, as were his lips. Maybe after all this was over, Naruto could joke that Sasuke looked like an emo little girl, but that would get saved for a later date.
Naruto himself had some bodily changes two. What would normally be dazzling, bright blue eyes were blood red, pupils turned to slits. Red chakra surrounded his body, a tail forming at his back. His fingernails and canines elongated, like a fox. His whiskers were more defined. He radiated power.
Sasuke formed a Chidori, which, through the guidance of the curse mark, was black. Naruto formed a swirling mass of chakra in his hand, the Rasengan, a jutsu invented by the Yondiame Hokage himself.
They ran closer, extending their arms to guide their attacks. Naruto's reach was longer. The Rasengan would connect before the Chidori, and Sasuke would be blasted back. Naruto was going to win. All he had to do was stick this Rasengan into that asshole's gut. And thoughts flooded his mind.
"Please, bring him back. Bring Sasuke-kun back to me! You're the only one who can do it!"
Words that stung his heart. The girl he loved was in love with someone else. That asshole made her cry. He took her smile away. Naruto hated to see her cry, it wasn't right. How could he make her smile? But he already knew the answer. He hated it with every fiber of his being, but there was nothing he could do. With a heavy heart, he responded.
"Hey, don't worry Sakura-chan! It'll be alright! I can see how much you care about Sasuke. I'll bring him back! I promise! It's the promise of a lifetime! Believe it!"
He raised his hand, giving a thumbs up, and a goofy smile. A smile that always seemed to light the day of anyone that received it. But no one would ever know the pain behind those smiles. The loneliness. The anguish. He smiled on the outside, while his heart broke on the inside. The more the pain, the bigger the smile. But no one would ever know. She would never know.
He couldn't do it. He couldn't connect. If the Rasengan hit, there was a chance that it could kill Sasuke. What would happen if he brought her a dead body? She would be sad. She would cry. He would have taken her smile. That smile that lit up his world every time he saw it. The smile that washed away all his pain and loneliness, sadness and anger. And he would be the cause. No. That was unacceptable. He would never cause her that kind of pain. The Rasengan dissipated in his hand. And the Chidori found its mark.
'I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. At least this way you won't be sad.'
Naruto became aware of his surroundings. His body was sore, his head throbbed, but he was alive. Memories of the fight haunted him. He opened his eyes. He noticed that he was hanging by his hands, suspended in air by chain cuffs on his wrists that attached to two wooden posts rising out of the ground.
'What the hell is going on? Where am I? Where is Sasuke? What happened?'
He heard a voice. He raised his head slightly so the owner wouldn't notice him.
"Do you want to tell me why you brought this boy here, Zetsu?" the voice echoed across the cavern. The voice was powerful, worthy of belonging to a man with extreme power himself. The echoes of the voice rumbled, seemingly shaking the cave with its strength. The cave was large. Pillars of stone rose from the floor to the ceiling, scattered across the cave. There was a massive statue at the back of the cave. The statue was grotesque, a disgusting figure to behold. Ten eyes littered its hideous face, all shut. It was a dull purple color. Its hands were twisted and gnarled, upturned in a position similar to a beggar asking for food. In front of the statue sat a simple chair. An old man with long white hair sat in the chair. Naruto couldn't see much of him, even though he was only a few feet in front of Naruto. Another figure was standing in-between Naruto and the old man. His head was surrounded by some weird plant looking thing, it looked stupid to Naruto.
'What a weird fashion statement,' he thought. And then he froze. His blood chilled. He felt cold. Naruto had just noticed the man's robes. They were black, adorned with red clouds. 'Akatsuki!? They've got me? When?' He started to panic.
"I think he would make a great pawn," the man called Zetsu answered.
"Oh? And what makes you say that? Show me."
Zetsu stepped forward and kneeled, looking the old man in the eye.
"Tsukuyomi."
Naruto watched, with widened eyes. 'That man…that's a Sharingan! It's weird though, I've never seen one like that…'
In the brief glimpse he caught of the old man's Sharingan, he saw a strange pattern, unlike the normal Sharingan pattern. This pattern resembled a rounded triangle, with circles at the apex of each point. Three black lines ran from the middle of each leg of the triangle to the outside of the Sharingan.
'Wait! How did he have a Sharingan? Sasuke and Itachi are the only living Uchiha! And that name..'Tsukuyomi'…isn't that what put Kakashi-sensei in the hospital for a week? That was done by a Mangekyo Sharingan, so does this guy have a Mangekyo as well?'
Zetsu stirred and stood up.
"That was an interesting battle you witnessed, Zetsu. So, this child is an Uzumaki, is he? I haven't had much fun since he left, I was beginning to get bored. I guess I could teach this child how to dance. He will make an excellent pawn. It's a shame he doesn't have the Kyuubi anymore. He retained the healing abilities, though. He will make a formidable ninja, with the right push. You've done well in bringing him to me, Zetsu."
"Thank you….Madara."
Naruto shivered at the name. He recognized that name. 'Where have I heard that name before? And what the hell are they talking about, making me a pawn? What the hell is going on? What did he mean about me not having the Kyuubi?'
Naruto felt pain as he thought, his head hurt terribly. The pain was becoming too much. Amidst the pain, he felt a pull. A slight tug at his mind. It was gentle, friendly even, so he submitted to it. As he receded into the darkness he heard Madara speak.
"We will begin as soon as he wakes."
And then all was black.
Naruto was falling. Falling down into the blackness. But it was familiar. This darkness was familiar. Had he felt this before?
He woke with a start.
'Where am I?'
He recognized the place he was in, but only just barely. He had been here before, but he couldn't remember when. He lay in a long corridor, flooded by water. The walls of the corridor reminded him of the sewers under Konoha. He had been thrown down there a couple times as a kid as punishment. For what he didn't know, and he never found out. The walls of the corridor were bathed in an eerie bronze light. The light was dim, and the upper portion of the walls were dark as a result. He noticed, despite the darkness, pipes that ran across the ceiling. And then he heard a rumble from further down the corridor. No, not rumbling. Growling.
And then he remembered. He knew this place. He hated this place. He had been here once before, when Jiraiya was teaching him how to us the summoning jutsu. Ero-sennin had thrown him off of a cliff, into what seemed like a bottomless trench. He had panicked, looking for chakra to be able to summon a toad that would help him out of that predicament. And he had ended up here. In this same place.
'What the hell? Why am I here? Those people that were talking earlier were saying something about me not being the host anymore. So why is there this growling?'
He walked further. He walked for what felt like miles until he could see a faint light at the end of the corridor. And then he heard a roar.
"YOU! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
Naruto sprinted until he reached the end of the corridor, which spilled out into a large room. Standing in the back of the room was a large gate-like structure, behind which stood a massive, crimson colored fox. In the middle of a gate, there was a tag with the word "seal" written on it. The fox's eyes were crimson, filled with anger and hate, and its tails were swinging wildly behind it. There were nine of them. This was the most powerful of the Bijuu, the Kyuubi no Kitsune.
"Hey, stupid fox! What the hell is going on? The people outside said I didn't have you anymore, what did you do? Wha-" Naruto stopped abruptly. Having rushed into the massive chamber and being awed by the impressive sight that was the fox, he had failed to notice the figure standing just outside the cage, with his back toward Naruto.
'No way. It can't be…'
The man wore a white cloak, the bottom of which was embroidered by orange colored flames. Above the flames were the kanji of two words. "Yondaime Hokage". The cloak had a high collar, extending to just below the man's ears. A slight movement later, a simple turn of the head, and he saw a flash of blue from just above the collar of the cloak.
He turned, and Naruto froze. The man had blonde hair and blue eyes. On his head he wore a headband, and carved on the steel plate attached to the headband, was the swirling symbol of Konoha. Beneath his cloak, he wore a standard dark green jonin vest, a blue long sleeve shirt underneath the vest, and blue pants, and the standard blue ninja sandals on his feet. There were two bands on each arm, one close to the wrist, and another just under the elbow to keep the sleeves of his shirt from slipping. He knew this man. He had seen this man's many times before, committed it to memory. A simple task, seeing as how it was carved into the mountainside behind Konoha..
"You're…the Yondaime…" he breathed.
The Yondaime Hokage smiled. A smile that washed over Naruto and eased all of his nerves. It radiated peace, and calm. All of his pain seemed to float away as he looked at the man before him, the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
"Hi there…Naruto..."
"You know my name? How is it you know my name?"
Minato looked at Naruto, deep in thought. "It's only natural that the father know the name of his son, right?"
"S-son?"
"That's right, Naruto, I'm you-" Minato stopped as a ball of chakra slammed into his gut, sending him flying backwards, skidding across the water at that covered the ground, coming to a stop just before the gate. The Yondaime Hokage looked up, stunned. He hesitated, and it almost cost him another blow. Naruto was sprinting at him, Rasengan in hand, ready to drive it into Minato again. He jumped to his feet and out of the way, narrowly avoiding the Rasengan. He hadn't time to do anything after escaping, as he was immediately surrounded by four Naruto's. They punched and kicked, desperately trying to hit, break, maim the Yondaime Hokage. Two of them backed off and launched kunai at Minato, who dodged them easily. He stuck at one of the Naruto's and watched as it poofed away into smoke. 'Shadow clones, huh? That's pretty good for his age. But to think he mastered the Rasengan…it took me three years to do that…'He quickly dispatched the other three clones, and watched as the real Naruto jumped through the smoke, aiming a punch right at Minato's face. Minato would have stopped it, but then he looked past the fist. And saw the tears. The anguish. The sadness. The loneliness. The anger. In his son's eyes. 'In my eyes…' Minato let the punch connect. It hit him in the jaw and sent him flying into the bars of the cage, where he stayed. He looked up at his son, mere feet away, and felt sorrow. He passed down his own eyes to his son, and saw nothing but sadness in them. What a failure he was. As a man. As a husband. As a father.
"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM? DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID TO ME?"
Minato stared. He stared at his son. Tears flowed down his face in droves. Minato would take this. He would take his sons anger. It was the least he could do. His actions all those years ago cause all of Naruto's pain. As a father, the only thing he ever gave Naruto was pain. He would take this.
"ANSWER ME!"
He knew. He had hoped it would not be, but he knew. He had hoped that the villagers would be able to see past their hatred and recognize Naruto as a hero for the burden he carried. He was naïve. And it hurt his son. So much so.
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH BECAUSE OF YOU? DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE PAIN I'VE SUFFERED BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU SEALED INSIDE ME?"
Minato felt nothing but sadness. He knew Naruto would not listen, but he had to try. "I'm sorry."
"YOU'RE SORRY? WHAT ARE YOU SORRY FOR? FOR ABANDONING ME? FOR LEAVING ME WITH PEOPLE THAT HATED ME? DO YOU REALIZE WHAT THE VILLAGERS DID TO ME? DO YOU FEEL SORRY FOR ALL THE BEATINGS THEY GAVE ME? ARE YOU SORRY THAT WHEN I WENT TO THE HOSPITAL WITH BROKEN BONES AND TORN MUSCLES AFTER BEING BEATEN BY THE VILLAGERS, THE DOCTORS JUST TURNED ME AWAY, BECAUSE 'THEY HAD PAPERWORK TO FILE'? ARE YOU SORRY THAT I WAS DIRT POOR AND STARVING BECAUSE THE VILLAGERS WOULD OVERCHARGE ME FOR THINGS LIKE FOOD, AND STILL GAVE ME ROTTEN THINGS TO EAT WHEN I HAD TO PAY DOUBLE WHAT NORMAL CITIZENS GOT? ARE YOU SORRY FOR ALL THE TIMES MY APARTMENT GOT BROKEN INTO AND ALL OF MY THINGS DESTROYED? ARE YOU SORRY THAT BECAUSE OF YOU, I COULD NEVER MAKE FRIENDS? THAT I WAS AVOIDED LIKE SOME KIND OF DISEASE RIDDEN ANIMAL? THAT I WAS ALONE?"
Naruto was in tears. Minato's son was crying, and it was his fault. He had faced so much, at so young an age, and Minato felt nothing but guilt for it. A single tear slipped down Minato's face. "Yes…" he said.
"Don't you dare cry! You haven't earned the right to cry!"
"I'm sorry…"
Silence. Painful silence. All three attendants were deep in thought. Naruto in anger, Minato in grief, and the Kyuubi…in disbelief. He thought the brat would be jumping for joy with the knowledge that he finally found his long lost father. Even more so when he found out that his father was the Yondaime Hokage. He had never expected the boy to be enraged. Much less try to beat Minato like a drum.
"This brat has balls…' he thought to himself. 'I think I'll just watch for a little bit.'
"Why are you here? What's going on? Those people that were outside said that I lost the Kyuubi, so why is he here?"
Minato looked at his son. Naruto looked so much like himself, there was no doubt that he would grow up to be a carbon copy of Minato, with whiskers of course…but his face was slightly rounder. Like Kushina's. "They are….misinformed…"
"…eh?"
Minato smiled slightly, the previous outburst still on his mind. 'Just like Kushina' he thought. "They think that you lost the Kyuubi because of me."
"What are you talking about? How is it that you're here, anyway?"
Minato sighed. This was going to be interesting, trying to explain everything. "When I sealed the Kyuubi in you after you were born, I put in some of my own chakra into the seal. I did this so that one day, in case the Kyuubi were to break the seal, I would show up and be able to help you close the seal."
"Ummmm. Ok. So did the fur ball break the seal? Is that why you're here?"
"Hey brat, who the hell do you think you're calling a fur ball?" the Kyuubi shouted.
"I'm calling you a fur ball, you fur ball! You're in my body, I can call you whatever the hell I want to!" Naruto shouted back.
The Kyuubi let out a massive roar. "Who the hell do you think you are, getting so familiar with me? Call me a fur ball one more time, and I'll kick your ass and eat you for breakfast!"
Minato sighed while Naruto shouted something back. He was a lot like Kushina. It made him smile. Minato stood up. The motion caused Naruto and the fox to stop bickering.
'I hate brats.' The Kyuubi thought to himself. 'Especially this brat.'
"No, Naruto, the Kyuubi didn't break free. There was a change in plans."
"Change in plans?"
"Yeah. During your fight with your friend," Naruto cringed, Minato saw but continued on "there was a…presence near you. It was…not a good presence. It watched the fight until it was over, then began to approach you. I gathered up some of my chakra that I have left here and cast a genjutsu to make it look like the Kyuubi chakra was leaking out of you and dispersing elsewhere. It was a powerful genjutsu. Anyone within 10 miles of you would have been affected by it. I used some of the Kyuubi chakra in the genjutsu to make it feel like the Kyuubi. You were dying, so in order to keep the actual Kyuubi within you, I turned some of my chakra into electricity, and used it to restart your heart."
"Sounds complicated. So you can turn your chakra into electricity? How?"
Minato smiled. "It's because one of my chakra natures is Lightning."
"Eh? Chakra natures? What's that?"
"…You don't know?"
"Ummmmm…nope!"
"Damn academy…" Minato sighed. "There are 5 basic chakra natures. Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, and Lightning. These natures can produce certain types of jutsu. Earth creates Doton jutsu, Water creates Suiton, and so on. Most ninja have one of these chakra natures. It means that they can use jutsu relating to the nature of their chakra. More experienced ninja develop can develop more than one of these chakra natures. I'm able to use all 5 of the chakra natures, which is extremely rare. From the feel of it, your chakra is like mine. You might be able to use all 5 as well, later on."
"Ehh! Really! All right! I don't really understand, but it sounded pretty cool! It means I'm gonna be a pretty awesome ninja, doesn't it?" Naruto said, beaming. Minato smiled. The mood swings. Definitely like Kushina.
"Yeah…but it looks like you're going to have a really hard time."
"Huh? Why?"
"Did you hear the two outside? One of them was called Madara. As in Madara Uchiha. One of the founders of the Konoha. He left the village though, and tried to destroy it a couple times, every time he was stopped by the Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama Senju. During their final battle, Hashirama supposedly killed Madara. Apparently, that wasn't the case. Which is why I summoned you here."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"From the way they were talking, it looks like they want to keep you here. Madara possesses the Sharingan. If he were to look into your mind, he would see the Kyuubi. The only reason he hasn't bothered to look is because the one called Zetsu fell for the genjutsu."
"So what do we do?"
"…I'm going to ask you something Naruto. Something that is really difficult."
"Huh? What?"
"First thing first…Do you have people that you love back home? People that you want to protect with everything you have?"
"Um…Yeah. It wasn't like that at first, because, well you know…" he said, and Minato grimaced. "But now there's a lot of people that I want to protect. There's Sakura-chan, Tsunade baa-chan, Ero-sennin, Kakashi-sensei, all my friends…Why?"
"Naruto…I'm…going to be blunt. I don't think they're going to let you leave here. It's clear though that Madara is the head of the Akatsuki, judging by their conversation earlier. They mentioned using you as a pawn, which makes me think that they are going to train you, and turn you against the world. Against Konoha. Against your friends…"
Naruto understood. He wasn't the smartest, but he knew where this was going, and his mind was made up. "You want me to let them use me, don't you? I probably won't be able to get out of here, so you want me to follow them…"
"Whatever Madara is planning, it won't be good. Not when it's him. But like I said, he has the Sharingan. You'll be in danger if he uses it and sees the Kyuubi."
"So what do you want to do about that?"
"I'm…going to seal your mind away, in a place where he can't reach it. In that necklace you have."
"Seal my mind? You can do that? In the necklace?"
"Yeah. The necklace you have used to belong to the Shodaime Hokage. That genjutsu I created also hid the necklace. I didn't know why, but I had the urge to conceal that as well. When I heard Madara's name, I knew I would have to seal your mind, but I was originally going to create a pocket in the back of your mind and store your mind in that pocket. But for some reason, I feel like the necklace is an even better option. I know for certain that your mind will be safe there. When I seal your mind, you won't remember anything except your name. He won't be able to use anything from your past against you. None of your friends. Nothing. You'll be a blank canvas. This will help protect you from going insane if he uses that Sharingan on you too much, if he…tortures you. The seal will also mask Kyuubi's chakra, so if you get injured and begin to heal, neither Madara nor anyone else will notice that it is the Kyuubi's chakra healing you. It will also make this space inaccessible to anyone until such a time that the seal is broken. Since he said that they plan on using you, then it's safe to assume that they'll let you out of here at some point. Probably when they deem you strong enough. So, included with the seal, I'll make it so you have the desire to head to Uzushiogakure when you're free from this place. You'll be safe there, it's been abandoned for a long time. Once there, the seal will break, and the part of your mind that was sealed will be restored. It will probably hurt, and could drive you insane, but I know you'll be fine."
"What do I do after that?"
"…protect your own."
And Naruto smiled. He knew what to do. "I'll do it. But I've got one question. If I forget everything, doesn't that include what I believe in? Won't it be easier for Madara to twist me, since I won't know what it is I believe?"
"Is there anything that you can think of that you hold so dear to you, that you would never waver from? That drives you? That breathes life into you? Something that you would never want to let down?"
"Yeah…I've got something like that…" Naruto said, smiling softly.
"Ok. Then let's use that. Every time you are about to act in a way that isn't in line with who you really are, the seal will conjure up the image of what you want to see, and you'll instinctively know not to follow through. You might have to come up with some excuses, but with your minds altered state, that should be easy to do. The image will also soothe you in times of pain, and encourage you to press forward. You won't know why, but you will follow it like a guide. So…What is it you that you want to see?"
Naruto told him.
Minato smiled. "I see…"
Minato started to perform hand seals at a dazzling speed. At the conclusion of the seals, he bit his thumb, drawing blood, and drew two concentric circles on Naruto's forehead, with a horizontal line through the middle. "Naruto…"
"Yeah?"
"…I'm sorry. I've put you through so much pain already, and now I'm asking you to do this…I couldn't ask anyone else to use their child for the sealing of the Kyuubi so I had to use my own son, and I can't ask anyone else to take your place this time…"
"…It sounds like you did the best you could. I'm glad I got to meet you. Even if it was like this. To be honest, I'm not really sure how I should feel…I just…I don't really understand how I feel..."
Minato watched his son struggle to come up with the words to say. "It's alright. It's a lot for you to think about. One day, when you can, when you're older, you'll be able to look at what happened, and if you decide that you hate me for it…if you decide you can't forgive me…" Tears welled up in Minato's eyes, making them shine in the dim light. "…Naruto, no matter what happens…no matter the outcome…I will always love you. I won't be able to see you again, I don't think. This seal will use up the last of my chakra…"
"…My dad was a pretty awesome ninja, huh?"
'An awesome ninja, huh?' Minato smiled softly. "…I know you can feel her…she'll be waiting for you, so when you see her, tell your mom I said hi, ok?"
"Yeah..."
Minato took one last look at his son, a tear rolled down his cheek, and placed his palm over Naruto's forehead.
"Oh, look…he's waking up." Zetsu said.
"Good. Now it's time to get started. Raise his head."
A cold, clammy hand gripped Naruto's chin, and he found himself looking at an old man, with white hair, and blood red Sharingan eyes. He didn't know why, he had no memory, but he felt determined to defy this man. At all costs.
The pain hit before he knew what happened. His head felt like it was splitting in half. It was pure agony. And he knew he was in hell.
He was in hell. He saw a pair of eyes. Emerald eyes. And he smiled. He was in hell, but he would endure. He would rise.
