Chakra.
The special energy within all living creatures, the energy that gave and kept them alive. Long, Long ago, humans were taught how to use this power peacefully, connecting their thoughts, feelings and emotions together, to better understand themselves and each other. It was called Ninshu. However, over time they discovered other ways to use Chakra. They could alter their surroundings, harness the elements, and many other great things. Terrible things.
Humans turned what was intended to be a method of peace, into an instrument of war. These newfound abilities were used against each other, to kill each other. It really shouldn't have been any surprise. Humans had been killing each other far earlier before Chakra had been introduced to them. Now, it just meant they did so in more and more creative ways. This branch of Ninshu became a whole system by itself, called Ninjutsu. Humans formed clans, and later villages, where they trained their young in this art. These were called ninja clans and ninja villages, and when their young came of age, they too became...Ninja. But who said ninjas were the only ones to use this art?
This may be the shinobi world, but shinobi are not the ones in charge by any means.
Ninja was just the term used to describe slaves who would do anything to accomplish their mission, even sacrifice their own lives. But above the slaves stood the men who ordered them. The Daimyo. In this era, capable rulers and their clans tended to have no small degree of physical power on their own. Nor were they willing to keep all their eggs in one basket, to allow Ninjas to be their dominant force. No, their forces were all trained to use the energy within themselves to some degree. Ninjas may perhaps be the most skilled, but they were by far the fewest in number. Yes, each force could use chakra, but each force had their distinct roles and uses. Shinobi conducted assassination, subterfuge and the like, but battles still were to be fought by the soldiers.
Except...
The past few major international conflicts were conducted between Ninjas alone. In each of the three Ninja World Wars since the founding of the hidden villages, shinobi villages fought for their own shinobi interests, with the rest of their respective nations staying out of it, or at least trying to. But in any war, there was always collateral damage. The Daimyo were affronted by this. The more compassionate ones hated to see their people die from getting caught up in this conflict. To the prideful, their respective hidden village's unrestrained actions within their borders were a threat to their authority.
But the Daimyo did nothing in response, each fearing the consequences should they lack a hidden village to contend with their neighbors. However, tensions continued to mount, all pointing to a different kind of conflict compared to recent history. However, the first spark would come from neither the Daimyo nor the shinobi, but that's a little later into our story.
He came. All the way back to this world that he hadn't been on for eons. All because his foretold eight greatest descendants were said to emerge here. He couldn't wait to see what sort of chaos they would unleash.
Oh, and there were said to be a ninth too, but he wouldn't keep his hopes up for now.
In an alley under the bright yellow sun, the shadows flickered with increasing intensity. They formed long tendrils that eventually parted ways, revealing a thin young man of shoulder-length pure black hair, his skin as pale as a ghost. The man stepped out onto the street, drawing the eyes of more than a few passerby. To some he wore a simple pair of jeans and a black T-shirt, to others he wore a long white robe. Whatever the case, he paid the temporary stares no mind, all the while looking around with the same perpetual grin on his face, his eyes seemingly closed to the casual observer. His gaze settled on a mountain that this city was at the base of, a mountain that sported four stone faces.
Konoha. The name came naturally. Yes, this is what the humans called this place. He paused as the rest of the info concerning this place flowed through him from the shadows. This village will serve as the first stop of his tour, a journey he planned take through all the carnage in this world's future.
As he was about to take another step forward, he suddenly observed a splash of red appear on the mountain in the distance. A small blond child was painting the mountain's faces with practiced ease, hopping from one to another while being secured by a rope. Very soon, the faces leaked trails of snot, and sported tattooed cheeks of either spirals or crude drawings of feces, or childish insults.
He let a brief chuckle escape his lips at the sight, but he felt himself focusing on the boy again. There was something about him...something familiar. Suddenly he realized he recognized the boy. Not in appearance, but in soul.
The man's grin twisted into something sinister.
I have a journey to begin...but why should I travel alone?
"GYAHAHAHAHA!"
Naruto Uzumaki cackled gleefully as he outran several uniformed men, all sporting leaf forehead protectors. This was the second best part after a good prank, the good ol' catch me if you can routine. This time, he even got some ninja to chase him! By now, the six-year old boy found civilians far too easy to escape from, only shinobi posed a challenge.
Near one of forests within Konoha's walls, the group of pursuing ninja rushed past the fence of an empty street. After a few seconds, a small section of the wooden planks 'peeled' off as a disguised covering, revealing a certain small blond. Naruto quietly grinned in triumph, and leapt into the cover of the trees. Usually, if the boy got caught after a prank, he would be forced to clean it all up. But today he successfully got away; he would now have to lay low for a bit.
That meant he couldn't go home either, as that would be too obvious. But to be honest, Naruto's concept of home was shaky at best. In the very beginning of what he could remember, he had stayed at a place called an orphanage, a simple wooden building colored with faded paint. Everyone there hated him, the staff, the other kids. Even adults who came and picked kids up glared at him like he was pure filth, despite the fact that the boy had never met them before.
As soon as he could run, the first thing Naruto ran from was that place. The streets weren't any better. Everyone gave him a wide berth, casting looks of disdain and disgust, or just outright ignoring him. Fearful whispers or curses dogged his heels as he walked, until suddenly some masked men (he later learned were ninjas) appeared out of nowhere and captured him. They dropped him in some dilapidated apartment and told him that that would be his new home. Whether it was the money he periodically received (and couldn't spend, since no one would sell him anything), or the fact that every time he stepped out the door, he was only greeted with the hostile faces of his neighbors, Naruto subconsciously never acknowledged it that way.
It would be the forests within Konoha's tall and great walls where he finally found rest, where no one would look him the wrong way. It would also be where he had abundant food, well, after a bit of trial and error to determine what was safe to eat. Whatever wasn't safe gave him at worst, stomachaches that lasted a day at most.
Yes, it would be in one of the forests that Naruto would choose to hide in, keeping away from the populace at large for now. The whiskered boy currently sat around a campfire of his own making, eating one the fish he had cooked on a stick. After blowing on it a few times, he suddenly noticed someone right next to him, their faces almost touching. The boy yelled in surprise before falling back on the rock he sat on.
"W-Who are you?"
He said, scooting a few more inches away. The stranger, a slit eyed pale man of black hair, didn't get any closer, instead seating himself on an opposite rock.
"Nobody of consequence. The better question is...who are you?"
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"
The boy immediately shouted. With a closer look at the stranger, Naruto finally realized that he wasn't throwing him the usual frowny-face everyone did.
"...You're not afraid of me?"
"Is that how these villagers feel? I'm afraid I haven't been here long enough to feel the same way. I'm just a passing traveler you see. Today was the first time I've ever been to this village."
The stranger smiled at him, which was something he had never seen before, at least not directed towards him. Naruto smiled back happily.
"Here, take one!"
The small child placed a different stick of fish in his new companion's hands, before eagerly finishing his own. The man didn't so much take a bite, only watching him eat with that same smile. Suddenly, he asked,
"Naruto, is there anything you want?"
"I wanf t'eh vill'uh t'uh acknul'ehdge m'eh."
The boy replied without missing a beat, even with his mouth full. The stranger payed his atrocious table manners no mind; the message had gotten well enough across. He waited a bit until Naruto swallowed his mouthful.
"And I suppose your pranks have something to with that?"
"Yeah!"
"Hm, well your work on the Hokage Monument certainly was what made me notice you, but aren't you afraid that continuing to cause trouble like this... will only make them hate you more?"
"W-Wha? But it's funny."
The small boy appeared a bit hesitant now.
"To you, maybe. But I walked through the streets today. It certainly wasn't funny to them. All I could hear was everyone grumbling and cursing you with the most colorful of nicknames, some vowing to make you pay for this."
The small boy was quiet and feeling down at this. However, as what the stranger began to notice as something of a habit, Naruto was quick to recover.
"Then I'll become Hokage, like the old man! Then they'll hafta acknowledge me!"
The man chuckled as if the idea amused him, but Naruto wasn't old enough to notice things like that. The boy laughed too; the sounds of the innocent laughter mixing with the sardonic. After his laughter abated, the man suddenly was silently pondering something, before what little could seen of his eyes suddenly shone with a trace of cunning.
"Do you now. I'm sure you could do it. However, do you have any idea what it will take to get to that position?"
"I'll become a ninja!"
From what the boy knew, the Hokage was the number one ninja in the village, so it was reasonable to think he would have to become one first.
"Yes, but a large number of shinobi live in this village. I don't suppose you know how one Hokage is picked from this many?"
"They would be the number one ninja in the village!"
"And how would they decide who's number one?"
"Whoever's the strongest!"
How simple.
"And does this 'old man' seem that way to you?"
"Uhhh..." Naruto trailed off, feeling stuck. He had seen the current Hokage a few times from afar; he was short and small compared to other adults, and was dressed in a red robe plus a white cloak, with a red conical hat that had some word Naruto couldn't read on his head. Like the nickname he gave him, the Sandaime didn't seem like anything other than a weak old man. The stranger sighed.
"Naruto, do you know what the Hokage is even supposed to do?"
The small blond scratched his spiky blond hair. "Everyone listens to him?"
"Yes they do. But they obey his commands because he is supposed to lead and protect them from outside enemies. Do you understand what that also means?"
"What else could it mean?"
The stranger now seemed to only ask questions the boy didn't have the answer to. Said stranger inwardly grinned, patiently leading the boy step by step.
"It means they needed to have spent a vast amount of time outside these walls, traveling all over the world, learning about all sorts of different lands...including the lands of Konoha's enemies, in order to better to protect the village from them. If you are to be that leader Naruto, you'll need such experiences yourself."
"...Huh, so I just hafta go on a bunch of awesome adventures?"
"You could say that. To be honest, it sort of what I'm doing right now. Coming to Konoha is but a sentence of my latest journey."
Naruto's eyes lit up.
"Wow, you probably have tons of cool stories right?"
"Yes, would you like to hear one?"
"Would I?!"
Of course one would turn to out be many. As the sun began to descend down the sky, the stranger pulled many anecdotes from his travels all over the universe. Names of places and people long dead and forgotten by time, or from realms far beyond this world, were woven in, which didn't matter because he knew Naruto wouldn't know that.
"...And if the burping cats didn't scare them enough, suddenly the birds with diarrhea flew overhead, dumping their lunch in everyone's faces."
The stranger ended it there for the latest story. Naruto was laughing non-stop. The man knew it was exactly the sort of slapstick humor the boy would love. He glanced at the orange sky, at the sun that was about to dip into the horizon.
"I'm afraid we'll have to wrap things up here. I have to move on now; stories don't write themselves, you know."
Naruto stopped laughing now, watching as the stranger stuck his untouched fishy treat in the ground and stood up.
"Will I see you again?"
"Probably not. This most likely will be the only time we ever meet." The stranger purposefully gave a negative answer. "This world is vast Naruto, far larger than you know or could hope to understand, at least the current you. Goodbye."
He began to walk away, his steps were purposefully slow. He was waiting, waiting for-
"I don't want you to go."
Too easy.
The man hid his insidious grin and turned around, seeing Naruto's normally bubbly face collapse. To the boy, this was the first person who didn't spurn his name on sight, who didn't hate him like the rest. He was the first person to come talk to him, telling him all sorts of cool stories. Who would listen to him. And now he was leaving. The small blond child wasn't able to hold in his true feelings.
The stranger stared at him in fake pensiveness for a moment, before walking back over, lowering back down so he could meet the boy's sad blue eyes at the same level. Then, in a prepared voice that sounded like he had made a sudden, snap decision, he said,
"Naruto, I did say that you would have to go through your fair share of adventure, yes? My schedule is open for more than just one person. How would you like to accompany me on my travels?"
The boy now looked hopeful, the stranger's retelling of his funny adventures at the forefront of his mind.
"Would I!"
Whenever people left the village, Naruto always saw them leaving one of the front gates. But the stranger strangely didn't lead them through one of those. Instead, the boy found himself-
Atop a giant wooden wall, Naruto looked out at the lands beyond the village he had lived all his young life so far. It was his first time up here, but the boy already had seen a similar sight when he was up on the Hokage mountain. Yes, he was familiar with the sea of green outside Konoha's walls, but he simply stood there, drinking it all in the same way he had the first time. The stranger seemed patient with this, until-
"If you're scared and want to turn back now, I won't stop you. You're free to make your own choices, after all." The man drawled.
The taunt breaks the boy's reverie, his foggy blue eyes turning firm.
"Let's go."
He immediately jumped straight off the wall into the waiting forest below.
AN: It always struck me the wrong way how useless the Daimyo were in canon. Like, why the fuck do ninjas even obey someone waaaaaay weaker than them? Why are there only ninja villages, and not ninja nations, if ninja are the only ones that actually have the power to do shit? This is a story where the Daimyo are actual ruling powers who aren't too happy about the current geopolitical climate. Of course, I don't intend to expand just on the Daimyo, either. I just find it way too convenient that everyone else besides ninjas are just content to let the threat of assassination hang over them at all times.
This is a story about ambition. But Naruto still will be a main character, and the story will mostly be about him journeying through the chaos that will come.
P.S. This will also be somewhat of a rewrite of Devourer, another story of mine.