Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 1: Return of the King

Just as a blinding light filled the sky, a pair of eyes snapped open to reveal pools of deep crimson that watched as the light turned into hundreds of smaller fragments that soared through the sky in every direction with the brilliance of a shooting star. Golden eyebrows furrowed as the slit, crimson eyes narrowed at the sight.

"That can't be good," a pleasant voice rumbled out tiredly as razor-sharp claws shredded the foliage that had grown over their bearer's body in his years of slumber. Now free from the restricting vines, a lean, powerful form rose from the ground with a heavy yawn. Bones popped and creaked as the tall figure stretched to relieve his body from the tension of many years of disuse.

Once he felt that the tension was sufficiently relieved, the form stood to his full height of just over 6 feet tall and surveyed his surroundings. His frame was clad in an elegant kimono of deep crimson that matched his eyes quite well. An extravagant golden dragon was emblazoned upon the collar and sleeves of his kimono giving it a more regal appearance that suited his aura of superiority quite well. Over this, he wore a black cuirass that had spiked pauldrons over his shoulders. To complete his outfit, a soft, golden tail was wrapped tightly around his waist…as 8 more identical tails flowed freely behind him. His hakama were of a similar crimson color and flared outwards near the ankles just above his black boots.

Two long strands of golden hair that matched his tails framed his tanned face over his pointed ears as the rest of his hair flowed down his back to his waist. Three black lines reminiscent of whiskers marred each cheek as the wind blew several bangs from his forehead to reveal what looked like a golden sun on his forehead.

"I wonder how long I've been asleep," the man mused to himself as he calmly walked through the forest. The wind seemed to pick up slightly as he suddenly stopped in a clearing and his lips pulled back slightly revealing elongated canines. The forest was dead silent for a moment before the silence was ripped apart when the man raised his head to the sky and let out a primal roar.

"GRRROARRRR!" Every creature in the forest fled as fast as they could from the powerful call of the far-superior being. However, one creature could be seen moving at incredible speeds towards the source of the sound appearing as little more than a red blur.

"My lord!" the speeding ball of red fur answered as he arrived to the clearing and immediately bowed lowly. "It's so good to see you finally awake!" the creature said sincerely.

"Arise, Kurama." The now-named Kurama did as commanded and raised his head to reveal a decidedly foxlike form. Kurama was a fox demon with red-orange fur that preferred to remain in his demon form. If asked why he chose not to take his humanoid form, he would simply say that he found his demon form more comfortable and leave it at that. The only thing that really seemed to set him apart from ordinary fox demons were his size and the 4 tails that flailed about behind him. Standing at full height, Kurama came up to his master's chest.

"It is good to see you again, old friend. Tell me; how long have I been slumbering?" The blond demon gave his fellow fox a small grin that few were privileged enough to receive. Kurama gave his own grin in return as he regarded the powerful demon he has served for longer than he can remember.

"I'd say close to 2 centuries have passed already, Lord Naruto. I assume recent events are the cause of your awakening?" Naruto nodded his head in response as he took in the news and pondered his next course of action.

"Fill me in on what I have missed."

The pair of fox demons walked through the forest with no particular destination in mind as Kurama filled Naruto in on the happenings of the last 200 years.

"I see. It is…rather sad that my old friend met his end. What of his lands?" Naruto questioned in regards to the great dog general who ruled over the western lands. The two of them had been quite close when they were younger.

"His eldest child Sesshomaru was left in charge," Kurama answered.

"I see. I never had the opportunity to meet her, but he spoke of her often. And what of the swords?" Kurama tensed slightly at the question, which did not go unnoticed.

"Well, Tenseiga was left to Sesshomaru and Tetsusaiga was left to his half-breed son Inuyasha…" Kurama trailed off as he looked away. Naruto narrowed his eyes a bit as his servant left out the most crucial bit of information.

"Kurama…" Naruto said in a commanding voice leaving Kurama no choice, but to face him. "What of So'unga?" Kurama gulped audibly as his ears lowered in submission.

"I'm sorry, my lord. I do not know. Totosai and the others sealed it away fearing what would happen without you or the dog general around to wield him." A low growl emanated from Naruto's throat as his lips pulled back slightly to reveal his fangs.

"That fire-breathing worm! He dares to seal away MY sword?!" Kurama couldn't prevent the slight shiver that went down his spine as the youki poured off of the angry demon in waves. Without a word, Naruto vanished in a flash as he leapt to the sky towards the demon blacksmith's home. Kurama quickly took off after him hoping to get there in time to prevent the old blacksmith's death.

Totosai was lying on his bed snoring away blissfully unaware of the danger that was fast approaching. He rolled over and scratched his backside in his sleep just before his door exploded in a flurry of splinters to reveal a rather pissed-off Naruto. The noise woke the elderly demon from his sleep as he fell out of bed and froze when he noticed the furious demon lord standing where his door used to be.

"L-lord Naruto?! Y-you're awake!" Totosai quickly got to his knees and pressed his forehead to the floor. So startled by the demon lord's sudden appearance he didn't hear his question. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Where…" Totosai blinked several times not quite understanding what the man was looking for. "WHERE IS MY SWORD YOU OLD BASTARD?!" Naruto demanded as he instantly picked the old demon up by the throat and tossed him outside…through the wall. Realizing the very clear danger he was in, Totosai was quick to answer.

"The bone-eater's well! We sealed it and put it in the bone eater's well!" Totosai let out a sigh of relief when Naruto instantly took off to retrieve his sword. He shivered as he heard a voice call back to him.

"If he's not there, I'll be back for you." The threat was clear and Totosai could only hope that the demon lord found that evil sword without incident.

"Wait, Lord Naruto!" Kurama called out; having arrived just as Naruto was leaving for the well.

Arriving at a small village near the well, Naruto looked around as he felt a strange energy nearby. It felt like what had woken him up and assumed it to be a shard of the jewel Kurama had spoken of. His attention however was drawn to something else; a scent that was similar to one he knew well.

'Hmmm, so his son is here. I suppose So'unga can wait a few minutes' Naruto thought as he followed the scent into the village. Everyone in the small village watched him warily as he made his way to the center of the village. As he approached the small hut the scent seemed to be coming from, an elderly woman with an eye patch stepped out with a bow in hand and eyed him warily.

"What is it 'ye seek, demon?" The woman asked as she held her bow tightly. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the rather foolish human and looked her over carefully. The woman was clearly a priestess, but not a very impressive one.

"Relax priestess; I'm not here to harm anyone. I merely wish to meet the son of an old friend." Kaede's grip on her bow loosened somewhat, but she kept her guard up nonetheless.

"I assume 'ye be referring to Inuyasha?" Naruto nodded his head in confirmation and before anything else was said, aforementioned half-demon walked out of the small hut followed by a girl in strange clothing Naruto had never seen before.

"Who the hell are you?" Inuyasha asked warily as he eyed Naruto carefully. Naruto pulled his attention away from the girl's strange attire and looked over the reason he was there. The boy definitely seemed to have his father's potential, but certainly didn't appear to possess any other similarities to his father as far as character went. He seemed brash and arrogant in contrast to his father's calm, humble personality.

"Relax, pup; I'm not your enemy. Your father was a very close friend of mine so when I caught your scent, I decided to stop by." Inuyasha's eyebrow twitched at the "pup" comment, but rose in surprise at the knowledge that this man was a friend of his father.

"Iron reaver soul stealer!" Once the initial surprise wore off, Inuyasha leapt at the blond demon and attempted to tear into him with his claws. Unperturbed by the young half-breed's claws, Naruto quickly grabbed the boy's wrist and flipped him onto his back.

"You're getting ahead of yourself there, pup. You're nowhere close to ready to face me," Naruto spoke calmly as he started walking away to get back to his original task. "Feel free to try again once you reach your father's level." Inuyasha grit his teeth in anger at that last comment and rushed after the strange man who kept just out of reach no matter how fast Inuyasha ran. Kagome ran after them screaming as they made their way towards the bone-eater's well.

Kurama sighed as he watched his master run off again just as he caught up. "Forget it," he said as he lied down on the grass to take a nap. He could find Naruto later.

"Dammit, stop dodging!" Inuyasha yelled as he continued to wildly swipe his claws at the fox demon.

"That wouldn't be a very good idea now would it?" Naruto countered with a smirk as he used the opportunity of Inuyasha overextending his arm on one of his strikes to smack him in the back of the head and sweep his feet out from under him. The result was for the boy to fall face-first into the well they had been standing next to. Naruto chuckled lightly at the stream of obscenities the boy was calling out as he fell.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out as she watched the boy fall into the well. Naruto raised an eyebrow when there was a flash of light and looked into the well. His face showed his confusion as he looked to see that the well was empty. His confusion only grew as the strange girl suddenly jumped into the well and disappeared in another flash of light.

"What the hell?" Naruto wondered aloud as he pondered what just happened. His nose suddenly picked up a familiar scent and he remembered his purpose for coming here in the first place. "So'unga!" Without any further thought, Naruto jumped into the well.

Naruto was confused. For starters, there was no sign of So'unga being in the well. Then there was the fact that instead of the sky, there was some kind of building above him. His confusion only increased when he jumped out of the well. Instead of the forest that should have been there, there was some kind of shrine.

"What is this place?" Jumping atop the torii at the stairs leading up to the shrine, Naruto was thoroughly confused. What should have been forests was a huge city of strange buildings that towered above everything into the sky and strange metal contraptions moved through the streets. Naruto was torn from his confusion and amazement when he felt a very powerful demonic energy.

'So'unga!' Naruto wasted no time in rushing as fast as he could toward the overwhelming presence.

"Inuyasha, what's wrong with you?!" Kagome asked in concern as Inuyasha was standing in a park near her family shrine with a strange sword in his hand that seemed to have somehow attached itself to him. She noticed strange markings had appeared on his face and when she saw his eyes, she shuddered in fear. His sclera were red and his sharp blue eyes had a crazed look to them. Suddenly, he started swinging the sword randomly sending out blasts of energy.

"SO'UNGA!" The crazed Inuyasha stopped moving completely as soon as he heard the voice. Kagome looked around for the source of the voice only to fall back onto her butt as the blond man from before suddenly appeared right in front of her.

"Naruto…" a voice that wasn't his own came from Inuyasha before his body went slack as the strange sword detached itself from his arm. Naruto calmly walked over to the downed half-breed as So'unga floated in the air above him.

"Wait! Don't touch it!" Naruto briefly glanced at the girl with a raised brow. "There's something wrong with that sword. As soon as Inuyasha touched it, it possessed him. That thing is evil!" Naruto completely disregarded the human girl and took hold of So'unga. As soon as he gripped the handle, a purple/black tornado swirled around Naruto violently. The force was strong enough to send Inuyasha and Kagome hurtling backwards. Luckily, they landed in the grass with little damage.

"So'unga is not evil," Naruto began as he turned towards the young girl and the now-recovering Inuyasha. "He's just misunderstood." Kagome looked at the blond like he was crazy; which for all she knew he probably was. Kagome was about to retort when a voice suddenly came from…the sword?

"Foolish human. Just because the half-breed isn't strong enough to handle my power doesn't mean I'm 'evil'. Although, I am known as 'the sword of hell',"

"Well, you are a dragon from hell so…"

"Hmmm, touché."

Kagome and the now-awake Inuyasha weren't sure what to make of the situation. Inuyasha's fist clenched when the sword basically called him weak, but it was right. If it weren't for the blond man, he most likely would have gone on a rampage. As if sensing the half-breed's frustration, Naruto said something to cheer him up.

"Don't feel bad, pup; even your dad could barely touch So'unga without losing himself." Inuyasha wasn't sure how to take that. Even if he had problems doing it, his father was able to do what he had no chance of doing.

"Tch, I only let him wield me because you told me to before you ran off to nap for 200 years you lazy bastard. If you ever try that again I'll make sure there's nothing left for you to wake up to."

Whether the sword had done it on purpose or not, that actually made Inuyasha feel a bit better about himself. Kagome was shocked to learn that this man who looked no more than 20 was over 200 before remembering the fact that he was a demon.

"By the way, my name is Naruto; Demon King of the South. And of course, you've already met my partner here, So'unga." Naruto introduced himself as he held So'unga over his shoulder.

"So you're one of the 4 demon lords? So that means you were as strong as the old man, right?" Inuyasha asked.

"Bahahahaha, please; that mutt wasn't even close to being on Naruto's level. There's a reason he was called a general and Naruto is the Demon King." Naruto shook his head at his partner's antics.

"What he means, is yes I was as strong as your father. Our strengths however were not the same." Inuyasha narrowed his eyes a bit trying to figure out what he meant. "What I mean, is your father wasn't respected for his power so much as his charisma and leadership. So'unga phrased it poorly, but in a sense he was right. The title of 'General' suited your father perfectly."

"Tch, so the old man wasn't as strong as everyone makes him out to be." Inuyasha let out an "Ow" and glared at Naruto when he smacked him in the back of the head.

"You obviously didn't understand what I was saying. Your father was incredibly powerful; you wouldn't even be able to touch him as you are now." Inuyasha was about to say something, but received a look that clearly said "shut up and let me finish" from Naruto and did just that. "My point was he wasn't the strongest of the 4 individually, but there's a reason he never lost a battle over his territory. He was an expert strategist and his soldiers were willing to lay down their lives for him. Not out of fear or some misguided sense of duty, but respect."

"Yeah yeah, the mutt was reeeal special, now can we get out of here?" So'unga said with the boredom clear in his voice. Naruto sighed as he sheathed his partner on his left hip and started walking toward the shrine where the well was located.

"So what happened with you two while I was gone that got you so irritated?" Naruto asked to which So'unga let out a "hmph"

"The fleabag never let me have any fun. Instead of just letting me kick everybody's ass with a dragon twister or two, he always chose to use that damn Tetsusaiga instead; that wind scar is a damn joke," the sword answered getting a sweatdrop from Naruto at how childish the whole thing seemed.

'Perhaps it would be best if I never let So'unga fight with Inuyasha once he inherits his father's sword…'

"Welcome back, Lord Naruto." Kurama said with a yawn as he noticed his master approaching. "I see you managed to retrieve fang-face."

"Watch it, furball. I'd be more than happy to show you a dragon twister since you seem to have forgotten how it felt the last time."

"Enough, you two. I swear it's like I'm surrounded by kids." Kurama glared at So'unga for a moment before moving to walk to Naruto's right.

"So where are we going next?" Kurama asked. Naruto glanced at his old friend for a moment before staring ahead of him again.

"We're going home."

A/N: This is a story that I've had sitting in an old folder for a long time collecting virtual dust so I figured I might as well post it. Reading over it again, there were parts that I felt were a bit cliché and I wasn't quite content with, but oh well; I lack any real desire to actually spend time changing things and, cliché or not, it set things up well enough for how I would want the story to be in the future. Whether or not I actually continue this story will mainly be determined by the response to this chapter, so let me know what you think.