Prologue
...
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
The humid breeze pushed blonde locks into inquiring sapphire eyes. Confusion marred the man's face while walking down the corridor he hasn't been through in almost five years. After all, there is no need to, since there hasn't been anyone else in his mindscape since the Kyuubi disappeared.
Exactly at his eighteenth birthday the Kyuubi just disappeared, which isn't actually bad if you are going to go by his father's seal, but the curious thing is that the conversion is supposed to last until he is 20. He still remembered the panic in everyone's faces when he said that he cannot access his mindscape and that the Kyuubi's chakra is gone. Well for the most part he is put under close surveillance by ANBU just to satiate everyone's fears. However after almost 3 months of no activity from the Kyuubi and the inability to enter his mindscape, it is just decided that it is for good and a celebration took place in training ground 7 for the official death of the Kyuubi no Yoko.
Pretty much, everything went smoothly after that. After the Fourth Shinobi war and the death of Madara and Sasuke, as well as the sealing of the Gedo Mazo which took almost half a year and a combination of almost all seal masters to accomplish, the only known Bijuu still in existence were the Hachibi which is contained by Killer B and the Kyuubi that will be officially dead after two years. The elemental nation reached a period of peace and stability since no one wanted to go through the losses and the heartaches brought on by the war which, in comparison to the previous wars, was only a fickle of light.
He would say that the happiest moment in his life was when he was named the Hokage at 20 years old. It has been rumored that he will replace Tsunade as the Hokage when he was nineteen, but the fact that he was attending almost every council meetings, pretty much announced unofficially that he will be succeeding as the Rokudaime.
He still remembered almost crying at the end of his speech when he heard the population of Konoha shouting his name. He felt elated for the first time since these people cheering for him are no longer the people that once looked on him with disgust and hate. These people now admired him and respect him as their leader. As he looked on the faces of the previous Hokages in the Hokage Monument he almost saw them smiling at him especially the third and the fourth.
Thinking about his father, he has successfully reclaimed his birthright after the war when it was announced that he was the son of the Yondaime. All the properties of both his parent, the Uzumaki and the Namikaze, was rightfully named after him. Including to this is his father's prized jutsu, the Hiraishin. He also got into dating Hinata after the war ended when they were able to formally talk with each other after the event with Pain.
The position of the Hokage puts a new definition in 'dangerous' occupations, being an elite jounin or in his case an S-rank elite gennin and fighting S-rank idealistic criminals as well as surviving a war, could not prepare you from the dangers of being a Kage. Even if you can travel at the speed of light and teleport or destroy an enemy to the molecular level it has still no match for the number one enemy of all Kages. Paperwork.
You would think that having high chakra reserves and doing Kage Bunshin left and right would help him deal with it, well think again. He still remembered the time he left the office to his clones to eat at Ichiraku Ramen and when he returned, he was pretty sure the clones died on his desk. After they dispelled he lost consciousness and was sent by his ANBU to the hospital and stayed there for a couple of days to lighten the headache he received from his clones due to a mild concussion. After that incident he never used shadow clones again to do the paperwork, sure they still helped from time to time but never again will he leave a mountain of paperwork solely to his clones.
He was dealing with the same evil paperwork earlier that day and after signing his name to foreign treaties, travel commodities, house repairs, pest exterminations and even wedding planning he called it a day. After his usual treat at Ichiraku Ramen he went to the Hokage Monument to sit at the top of his father's head and watched the village. As he watched the sunset and as darkness replaced the vibrant hue of the sky he also found himself dragged into his mindscape.
And that is where he is now, walking the corridors that he hasn't been through since five years ago. He cannot remember where the Kyuubi's chamber is and what other things there are in his mindscape. However he is pretty sure that he will be able to figure out what happened to the Kyuubi five years ago now that his mindscape is accessible yet again.
After turning left and right to different directions some leading to dead ends and others leading to empty rooms he turned to the last room at the far corner of his mind. Upon entering he can see the same big gate that kept the Kyuubi sealed within him for most of his life, the seal still intact however there is no Kyuubi to be found.
He noticed the pipes lining in his sewer-like mindscape were faintly glowing a bluish-white color unlike the last time he had been there were it glowed almost a vibrant purple due to the mixing of blue and red. He went closer to the cage and looked directly at the seal, studying for any indication that would say what happened to the Kyuubi.
Examining it from his point of view he could see that the seal, though the edges are giving away, maybe due to being unused and left for five years or is the natural process for seal, he cannot say. However he cannot refute the fact that the seal is working at its fullest potential even now. A true marvel when it comes to sealing, to say the least, a pity that its price is a person's life.
Touching the seal and examining it much closer he could see the symbols that were used in the seal and what they entailed in the overall seal. He could also see the additions that he made to strengthen the seal when he was training to control the Kyuubi's chakra and he cannot really find anything that would indicate something wrong with it. So maybe the Kyuubi is really gone for good, gone for almost five years. But then, there is still the conflict with the whole picture. If the Kyuubi is indeed gone and its chakra fully consumed by Naruto then why is still the seal in there, according to his father's notes regarding the seal that he used, it should be fully gone once the Kyuubi is gone. Also according to his father's notes the Kyuubi's chakra would be totally consumed by the seal at his twentieth birthday, however it happened at the eighteenth and why is that?
As he is checking the right quarter of the seal looking at the fail-safe that was built by his father should he somehow got close to using the nine tails he noticed a certain smudge. A certain smudge that to some should not entail anything but in the world of sealing even the smallest and slightest smudge could destroy a mountain. This of course got Naruto worried because he knows that it could mean a number of things if it was mistakenly put in there. Was it possible that the certain smudge killed the Kyuubi thus not completely draining all of its chakra and the seal was left intact? Or did it somehow, god forbid, let the Kyuubi escape whilst unknown to anyone? Honestly he cannot say.
Thinking of trying to swipe the smudge off the seal he didn't expect the sudden reaction that it would cause. As he placed his thumb on top of the smudge it suddenly grew hot leaving his thumb blistered and the bluish-white color that was coming from the pipes in his mindscape went out. It was a sudden blackout in his mindscape that the only light was coming from the seal that somehow went to work who-knows-what.
As he looked at the seal after the incident he felt something coming above and quickly pushed himself to the left using his feet as he watched a giant clawed paw making contact to the ground he was standing earlier making the ground quake. One thing came into his mind as he saw that paw, panic. Somehow the Kyuubi is still alive and what is it doing outside of the seal. As he regained his bearing from the sudden realization when the pipes started glowing a crimson red compared to the previous bluish-white and he saw, for the first time in almost five years, the Kyuubi in all its glory grinning maniacally and eyes full of anger, vengeance and joy.
Somewhere off the distance in an almost completely different plane of existence a certain entity passed over the piles of dead bodies found lying around a battlefield. The entity makes its way to a certain person, the person using his sword to steady himself from falling due to the pain coming from the deep gashes found in his body. If one is to look at the event from afar they would see a sight of a single man standing in the sunset, seemingly victorious as the only one to survive such a dreadful event.
Said person was looking around the battlefield and found the bodies of his comrades, friends, and families strewn about. The edges of his eyes burning for the tears that tends to escape. Looking at a certain direction he sees something he hopes not to see, the one that he believes brought on the death of his loved ones. That spirit in white. That spirit that spoke of death. The God of Death.
"Why?" he asks in a hoarse voice clearly from the strain that he received from the battle as the God slowly drifts to him as if the carnage is a daily occurrence, not caring for anything that has happened.
"Why did this happen?" he asks again in rage to the God as tears started to freely flow on his face, "I only asked you for fame and victory! Why are they all dead! Our deal is that you will give me victory over my enemies the deal is that you give me their death, but why are my comrades dead?" he shouted waiting for an answer from the God.
The God just closing in the distance between the two of them not looking winded as the man shouted and continued his questions after questions about their certain deal. About a certain 'deal' concerning life and death.
As the God came towering over the man, it notices that the man's eyes contained a mixture of rage and anger, as the entity extends its arm closer to the man's torso, the man asked another question in a much reserved tone though his disdain for the God is clear, "Do you not care that what you did is an evil thing? We are the ones protecting the poor and yet you choose the evil ones over the good. Are you not a God?"
As the God's hand passed through the man's torso and it got a hold of his soul making the man shiver in pain, the God spoke in a chilling voice that reminded the man of utter destruction like the event of today, "Good and evil are concepts that humans decide. Those concepts do not apply to nonhumans." At this, the God pulled the soul from the man leaving an empty shell in its wake, its eyelids closing in on empty lifeless eyes.
As the God of Death consumed the spirit of the dead man it felt an aura that threatens to escape death. An aura that the God has not felt for a long time, but waited for it in almost three years, the demon that it sealed in a boy but there is something going on. The God remembered the disappearance of the demon three years ago, apparently the demon found a way to escape death. However now that the God has felt the presence of the demon again it is something that will have to be dealt with personally. After all no one can escape death.
"K-Kyu-Kyuubi?" stuttered Naruto as he watched the demon's glinting eyes full of rage and mirth. The only reason he was actually able to say anything, even if it was stuttered, was because he needed a confirmation that what he was seeing was real. It has been so long since he last thought of the Kyuubi and he actually believed it to be gone, but seeing the Kyuubi again like it has always been there and not dead for five years add to the fact that it has somehow made its way out of the seal is enough to shake him to the core.
The Kyuubi's thin lips reached its ears as it grinned like a madman with his eyes foreboding knowledge and replied, "Yes, you pathetic human, I have waited for so long to get my revenge to you and that accursed family of yours."
The pain was unexpected; he was unable to notice the attack maybe because of fear or shock he cannot say. But as he stumbled out of the rubble that formed when he was sent in the wall by one of the Kyuubi's tail, he knows that he must restrain it in order for it to stop from hurting him or even escaping to the world.
He tried to gather his chakra in order to use Kage Bunshin but somehow cannot mold it, truth is, he cannot even feel his chakra! Another tail was sent hurtling towards him; fortunately he was able to get away at the last minute, the rocks flying directly to him leaving him with small cuts. Desperately he tries again to mold his chakra only to frown at being unable to.
"You cannot use your chakra in here brat. I got you now little human." The Kyuubi's booming voice disrupted Naruto from his thoughts in time to evade another slashing blow from the beast.
"What do you mean I cannot use my chakra, you fox?" Naruto blurted out hoarsely trying to breathe the pain from his wounds away.
"Exactly what I mean human. Do you really think that I have not gained any knowledge from being locked up in a human vessel for almost a century?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Boy you are not the only one could gain knowledge when it comes to that paper art of yours, I've been bound by it for almost a century and I've been learning it a century earlier than you are!" The Kyuubi roared and sent another blow directly to Naruto.
The fight continued for a long time wherein the Kyuubi will send blow after blow while Naruto could only dodge and evade. Naruto tried to engage a small taijutsu match with the Kyuubi only for him to be hurled back crushing in the wall.
After a minute or so the Kyuubi can be seen smiling its feral smile while looking at its vessel with uncontained glee; its vessel looking battered and thoroughly beaten, almost covered in his blood and breathing painfully.
The Kyuubi rapidly sends one of its tails to its vessel piercing him in the stomach. Naruto gave a painful cry as he watched the blood drip out of his stomach and hacking out blood from his mouth. When the Kyuubi withdrew its imbedded tail out of Naruto, it watched as the person that kept him locked away for twenty-three years fell into his knees holding on to the hole that he received in his stomach and coughing out blood at the same time.
"What… what are you… g-going to do now… fox?" Naruto asked the beast as he panted feeling his life giving out. "Y-you do know… that you're going to die…. if I die, right?"
"If I do not have a plan to save myself I wouldn't have done this rubbish. Clearly what I need is for you to be weakened, I have successfully breached the seal so that you were not able to feel my presence and stop the conversion of my chakra for five years. I have travelled in your mind to learn everything you know about your father's seal as well as your modifications and after this I will be free once again!" The Kyuubi roared out in laughter as it watched its vessel weakening by each passing moment.
The Kyuubi looked at the seal with mad eyes as he began flooding it with his chakra. The pipes in the sewer-like mindscape started to glow a bright crimson red and the seal that once kept the gate shut suddenly caught on fire, its edges being incinerated by the malevolent bubble of cloud coming from the Kyuubi.
Naruto watched as the seal started to get caught on fire, he knows that once the seal is burned completely the Kyuubi will be set free to cause destruction in the world. A world that has seen far too much destruction in the past from people that got too greedy on their individual dreams for prestige and power.
Naruto tried to stand up shakily as he breathed forcefully into his lungs that seemed to give out on him. Holding the wound in his stomach he makes his way to where the Kyuubi is, in his mind, a goal of stopping whatever the beast plans on doing.
The Kyuubi, sensing its vessel closing in on him sends him a mocking smile, a smile that seems to taunt its vessel showing his victory and its vessel's defeat. The Kyuubi thought it ironic, to be willingly sealed by Uzumaki Mito and then passed on to Uzumaki Kushina then later sealed by Namikaze Minato and resealed by Uzumaki Naruto and for the boy to be killed with the aid of the same thing used to imprison him is enough to bring a smile.
"What, do you have any last words boy?" the Kyuubi asked in a sarcastic tone.
"I-I will not l-let you… I will-" Before Naruto could finish, the seal suddenly glowed a blinding white light prompting the Kyuubi and Naruto to close their eyes. As the two slowly regain their sights they saw a scary looking visage of an entity dressed in white that radiated death. To Naruto, he felt a sense of dread and loneliness unlike anything he experienced before; to the Kyuubi he felt a fear he has not felt in over twenty-three years, the last time he did, it was also in the presence of the figure in front of him. The Shinigami.
"I have come to get what was rightfully mine in the beginning." The God stated in a chilling manner, the echo resonantly giving the sewer-mind landscape an eerie feel.
"What is it that you came here for?" the Kyuubi asked in a shocked tone that has taken Naruto aback for he doesn't understand who or what the entity is, only that it is a powerful one. The Kyuubi seemingly knows what it is and for the Kyuubi to be in such a manner is in itself inconceivable.
"Kyuubi, do you think you can trick death? You may have hoodwinked your way out of death three years ago, but now, there will be no escape for you." The chilling voice of the God took down the temperature deeply below a new depth.
Naruto, seemingly able to piece everything together, now recognize the entity as the Death God. The same thing that sealed the Kyuubi inside of him and the one that has taken the soul of the Sandaime and his father.
The Kyuubi's eyes widened and from shock it turned rebellious and angry, "Do you think I will allow myself to die! I am the most powerful being in existence!" The Kyuubi shouted in rage as it brought its stretched paw down to the God only for it to go through the entity, unhurt.
The God not caring for the rage coming from the Kyuubi or the attack that came from the demon extended its arm to reach the beast's head. The Kyuubi roared in defiance as it gathered chakra in its mouth forming a black ball and blasted it in the direction of the God. However just like before the blast just passed through the God like it is not even there before hitting the seal that once imprisoned the Kyuubi inside Naruto.
After that, everything went dark.
Pain welcomed him once his consciousness returned. He does not actually know what happened after it went dark in his mindscape but he can still feel the wound in his stomach that he received from the Kyuubi. He is lying in a soft bed, he was sure of it, but did the people of Konoha sent him home or to the hospital?
As he opened his eyes he saw a brown ceiling in his direct sight, it is not really something he remembered from before but he was somehow glad that he didn't end up in the hospital. Looking around he recognized that he is in a simple bedroom but somehow everything seems to come from a time long ago. The bed itself, though soft, was made of wood there were no electronics in the house and everything was either made from wood or a variation of plants. He wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly found out that he was in a hut.
He touched the sore spot in his stomach where the Kyuubi pierced his flesh and he found it healed, like there isn't even a hole to begin with, though it still ached from being sore. He again observed everything he could see in the simple bedroom and wondered who lived in this place he was sure that he didn't remember such a place in Konoha.
As he was looking at the bowls made from wood he felt a strong presence coming outside the door. He didn't recognize it which made him alert as it could be an enemy ninja but he doesn't even know if he could be of match with that person walking outside. The person has a much larger chakra reserve than the Kyuubi!
As the door opened slowly Naruto became tenser at each passing second then out came a figure of a man. The man had a long black spiky hair flowing backwards that reminded Naruto of Madara he also wore a white cloak with a high open collar and showing a necklace with six red magatama. His face is pale resembling most of the Uchihas yet his presence reminded him of Tsunade he is as tall as Jiraiya the last time he saw him. However the feature that mostly caught Naruto's attention was man's eyes, his eyes widened and his jaw gaped as he saw the same eyes that he saw only once in his life, the same purple eyes with a ripple-like pattern, the same eyes as Nagato, the Rinnegan.
The man watched him intently with those eyes and Naruto felt small in them however he quickly tried regain his lost bearing at seeing the Legendary Rinnegan and asked the man a question that has been bugging him, "Who are you?"
"I am Rikudo Sennin."
AN: So guys what do you think? Well reviews are always welcomed so please do not hesitate. Well I will try to write longer chapters than this one because as you can see this is, in all reality, just a prologue. Anyway again review reviews! TY for reading...