Disclaimer: I own neither.Chapter 1
Reincarnation is a weird thing. A far-fetched concept that many believe in to explain that which comes after death. With it being the process of the spirit being given new life, a new chance to live after leaving the body. Another attempt to do what they hadn't been able to do before their untimely demise. Usually reserved for the more kind hearted people, the ones that have done a great deed in their life time. Even if it was only in their last minutes - seconds of living.
But add in the ancient mystical energy known as Chakra, the combination of physical and mental energies, and you have something not many could guarantee to be fact. Especially when you factor in Chakra's connection to the Eye of Samsāra, the Rinnegan. An all powerful eye said to belong to a god, and with it mysterious – miraculous! – things could, and would, happen. Such as instead of just a beings spirit reincarnating. The power of an individual. Their energy. Chakra itself as well. But not always at the same time.
The proof of this is through our history, Jesus walking on water, the different religions and their beliefs of gods controlling different aspects of life and nature. Like Fujin and Raijin, the Shinto gods of wind and lightning being prime examples.
Different traits of a person are reincarnated too, King Arthur and his knights of the round table. Brought together from the strong belief of a previous life of Arthur who believed by fighting together you can achieve that which you could not on your own.
These lives, these people and beliefs all stemmed from one person. One being that had been incarnated as all manner of people. And all those people resembled in some way.
His name?
Naruto Uzumaki. He was that person.
His Chakra having become so powerful and potent through the almost symbiotic relationship his Bijuu tenants had with him, that some of his incarnations inherited his power, his belief, his outlook on life so deeply and strongly that other incarnations had shared some or all of the words and sayings he lived his life by.
But never, throughout all those incarnations, these transmigrants, has his spirit and Chakra been incarnated as one.
Until now.
Line Break
Naruto Uzumaki, a street orphan of Tokyo. Like some orphans out there he didn't know who his parents were or who even gave him his name. With nowhere to go and no one to go to. He is though an unusual child. What with having bright blonde, almost yellow hair that spiked up in all directions. Almost like a porcupine. Eyes so blue you would think you were looking at the sky. And the strangest markings on his face of three lines on each of his cheeks. But the markings weren't what made him unusual.
In the back alleys and other such places, he lived with one other orphan child that was with him. He was their 'protector' of sorts when the big mean men and sometimes women came to try take what precious little they had. Naruto, being the older of them, stood forward and beat them off each time using strength no seven year old should have to pummel grown men 4 times his size. His unnatural speed he used to earn money for food, sometimes the people who gave him the money he earned were stingy and didn't give him the whole payment. So they didn't always have enough food for them both.
They lived like this, never aspiring for more, happy with the lives they had and the small family they were, having ran away from an orphanage they lived in that used them for free labour, making toys for other kids in other parts of the world. Naruto ran away eventually, thinking life would be easier away from the orphanage, and he brought with him the little girl that, out of all the other kids, he was closest to and had honestly become his sister in all but blood.
One day though. Naruto was coming back with their weekly supply of food.
"Karin is going to love what I have" the little child that is Naruto said. His shaggy hair flicking around as he all but skipped down the alley that led to the dead end where they set up shelter. Which was just some pieces of sheet metal they found left behind and used as a roof and two walls.
In the little blondes arms was a collection of different fruits. A few bananas, couple apples and a bunch of grapes. A small can of gas for their little old gas burner, a litre bottle of water and cups of Instant Ramen to heat on the burner. And the thing Naruto knew Karin would love. Chocolate that had this strawberry flavoured filling.
They had got it one time and she had been in love with the stuff ever since. But they were only able to get it sometimes, the chocolate being not only hard to find in these parts but also a tad expensive.
It was paid for with the money Naruto makes being a messenger for the local Yakuza. Didn't pay much. But it gave Naruto enough for them to get a bit of food every week and not starve to death. And it beat the orphanage they used to live in.
Plus who would think a homeless kid would possibly be carrying around information that authorities could use to cripple the illegal business deals happening within the city limits?
Getting closer to where he 'lived' Naruto looked up, hearing something that sounded strangely like the screaming of a little girl.
. . . wait.
That was the screaming of a little girl!
"Karin!" the little blond cried as panic set in. Dropping the items in his arms on to the ground, Naruto set off in a dead sprint to where the screaming was emanating from.
Skidding to a halt in front of their little 'home' – planks of wood for walls and a sheet of scrap metal as the roof made their makeshift home – he came upon a sight he never wanted to see. A sight that chilled him to the bone.
The little girl that had become his only family. The one he had taken under his wing and had protected for as long as he could remember.
That little girl was now laying in a puddle, one as red as the hair on top of her head, her head also being the source of it all. The puddle only grew as the seconds passed, her skin – marred with dirt – only grew paler as it did. Her glasses, a pair that was becoming too small for her as she grew bigger, lay broken beside her unmoving body.
It was too late. Naruto realized as the cold grip of dread had him locked in place. He couldn't see her chest rising, like it should have been if she were alive. His own hot breath was released as a fog in the cold morning air, like how he should have seen Karin's if she was breathing no matter how shallowly.
Becoming momentarily distracted as he heard something, Naruto craned his head to the side to see the figure of a grown man rummaging through the few personal items the two of them owned. Trying to look for anything of value.
They didn't, Naruto knew. Not monetary value at least. He was smart enough to always keep their money on his person. Spending almost all of it on food, keeping little in case of emergencies. Such as suddenly being out of food. Or needing replacements for damaged articles of clothing. which happened more often then they had liked.
But seeing the man, one who looked as ragged as them, scruffier even because of the thick black beard he possessed. Watching him carry on without a thought to what he did. Of killing someone, a child of all people because he was wanting either food or money to sustain himself.
Well, the rage Naruto felt boiling within him. This oppressive, hate infused feeling he had that was consuming him just seemed to reach a peak as the man finally seemed to notice Naruto. And in the first look into the mans eyes, Naruto could see that he didn't regret what he did one bit. That he was even ready to do it again if the blond tried something.
"What do you want brat? This is my home now, go somewhere else or end up like the girly there!" the man barked at the blond boy. That seemed to be the wrong thing to say.
For what would happen next, Naruto would not recall what happened, not that he even would want too. But all that he would, for the longest time, would be only that there was a huge amount of red and then black as he had passed out quite swiftly.
Hours Later
When he next woke it was on a futon inside a small room with a traditional Japanese sliding door and tatami mats. Looking around and seeing no one, the blond got up and walked to the door - not noticing the nine pitch black orbs floating behind him in a circular formation - slid it open and was greeted with the weirdest view he will ever witness, considering guys in tights were in his future that is not a good thing.
The sight was of two people. One a grown man with black hair in a bowl cut, the biggest eyebrows one would ever see, large black eyes and the biggest, brightest grin on the planet, that was sure to blind anybody if they looked to long like the sun. But the most horrifying part about it all was he was wearing green spandex - spandex - with orange leg warmers.
The whole sight of the man would have driven most sane people to a mental hospital but the coup de grace was that he seemed to have a little clone standing in front of him looking about 10 years old, same exact spandex, haircut and eyebrows, right down to the blinding grin. Both were shouting at each other with, with – is that fire?! – in their eyes. And why could he see it with perfect clarity!?
"YOSH LEE!? IF I CAN'T DO 1000 PUSH UPS IN 1 HOUR I WILL RUN AROUND THE NEARBY FOREST 1000 TIMES!?" dramatic pause "ON MY PINKY FINGERS!" the large one exclaimed.
"YESS GAI-SENSEI! AND IF I CAN'T KEEP UP WITH YOU AND DO 1000 PUSH UPS AS WELL THEN I SHALL DO 10,000 LAPS AROUND THE DOJO ON MY BIG TOES!?" Lee, apparently, bellowed just as loud. The two could give fog horns a run for their money with how loud they were.
"LEE!" Gai, as the clone called him, called "THAT IS SO YOUTHFUL!?"
The mini me had tears in his eyes, while wiping them with his forearm "GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEE!" Gai had tears as well, letting them run down his face.
"GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
Just as they were about to embrace, Naruto by some stroke of luck chose that moment to interrupt "Excuse me!" he shouted, gaining the duos attention.
"AHH, OUR LITTLE GUEST HAS AWOKEN LEE!" Gai shouted.
"YOSH!" Lee fist pumped the fire in his eyes again "TO COMMEMORATE HIS AWAKENING I SHALL DO 5000 PULL UPS AND IF I CAN'T DO -"
Naruto cut him off before he could get started, covering his ears from the pain brought to them by their louds voices "NOT SO LOUD!" taking a few deep breaths from his outburst Naruto looked again at the two to find they had indeed quietened "OK, good. Now who are you and where am I?"
Gai answered him, a serious expression coming upon his face and his voice a more indoor volume "My name is Might Guy and this is my student Rock Lee. Where you are is in my home and dojo, I brought you here when I found you in an alleyway I was passing by on my morning run. The state I found you in was . . . un-youthful to say the least, would you mind telling me what happened?"
The young blonde was silent for a few moments. Gathering his thoughts, he tried to remember what had happened when he was last awake. It was all a blur really, he remembered arriving back at the alley that was his home at the time, after that the last thing he remembered was it going dark and then waking up here. "I don't - I don't remember" he mumbled, a little disappointed with himself over the fact he can't. His eyes lit up though, something – no someone springing to mind "Karin! Where's Karin, was she with me when you found me?! Tell me she's all right!" grasping at straws the blonde haired boy was, the sinking feeling in his gut was already telling him what he was refusing to admit.
The larger of the two spandex wearers stared for a long moment. His face serious and stone like. "I am sorry. You must mean the little girl I found with you. I am afraid she had died of blood loss. I had called the police, they have her body and are investigating what happened. They let me take you with me because you were uninjured and I said I would look after you"
A choked sob threatened to escaped the blond, tears trying to stream down his whiskered cheeks. But he wouldn't let them. No, he wouldn't. He couldn't.
Gai's serious expression soon morphed into a dazzling grin, one bright and surprisingly infectious as Naruto was able to get his desire to cry under control for a moment "Fret not, my little blond friend. Do you have a place you can go to, someone to stay with?" a solemn shake of the head was the blonde's answer "Then worry not, for you can stay here, with us! I said I would look after you and I shall do my best to keep my word!"
A slight smile graced the blondes lips, happy that this nice, but extremely weird man was willing to let him stay with them. Unfortunately Karin was no longer here with him. Naruto wanted to cry again at that thought, but he knew that wouldn't help anybody in anyway.
Only time would be able to tell what was in store for the young blonde.
Well in the very near future there shall be a great shock. One big enough to take his mind off his current grief.
Because Lee broke his thoughts with a simple question. "Do you know why your eyes look like that?" He asked, pointing at Naruto's face.
"Look like what?" Confused, the blonde looked to Gai, who understanding what the boy was silently asking, pointed in the direction of the bathroom where a mirror was.
Rushing to it, Naruto hoisted himself by the sink to be high enough to see. And there. Staring back at him in place of his usual ocean blue eyes. Were startling gold. Not just that his pupils were a strange shape. A cross made of a horizontal bar and a vertical slit, not just that. There was multiple floating spheres behind him. Over come with shock, and the events of the day catching up with him, he passed out for the second time that day.
Gai and Lee watching from the door looked on for a few moments, unable to comprehend what was happening. "I guess he did not know Gai-Sensei" he said to his teacher. Gai nodded along.
Then a thought occurred to Gai. His caterpillar like eyebrows knitting together as he brought a finger to his chin. "We still do not know our little friends name do we Lee?"
"OH NO! WE DO NOT GAI-SENSEI!" Less then manly tears began anew as Lee used the bandages on his arm to continually wipe them away. The mini-me quickly stopped though, looking up to Gai with an unnatural fire in his eyes "FOR FORGETTING TO ASK I SHALL PUNISH MYSELF BY STANDING UNDER THE WATERFALL OUTSIDE FOR AN HOUR!"
Gai looked down at his student. His own tears falling down his face, these being tears of pride. Pride for his student knowing it was wrong of them to forget to ask his name. And on that thought - "AND I SHALL JOIN YOU! BUT FOR TWO HOURS FOR FAILING TO SET A GOOD EXAMPLE!"
Tears renew, Lee once more was wiping them away with the bandages once more. "GAI-SENSEI! DON'T SPEAK LIKE THAT! YOU ARE A GOOD EXAMPLE, A YOUTHFUL EXAMPLE!"
"OH, LEE!" the larger green one cried dramatically.
"GAI-SENSEI!"
Naruto was lucky he was a heavy sleeper.
Line Break
Waking up in the room once more, it was with a desperate gasp as he sat up that Naruto woke. His odd coloured eyes darting around the wooden walls of the room he was in. His strangely shaped pupils dilated, breathing heavy. And his heart hammering in his ears. Once the blonde realized where he was, he began to take deep, steady breaths.
Like Bushy Brows-Sensei had taught him in his short time living with the eccentric man and his just as eccentric clone.
This wasn't his first time waking up with such a start. Being plagued by dreams of what had happened. Not really believing it was reality until he saw the bare wooden walls that made up his room. Or saw his reflection in the hang up mirror leaning against the wall, seeing the orange-y gold colour that his previous blue eyes had become, as well as the floating orbs that followed him around.
Both had become a welcome sight. Especially since he discovered that he could control the orbs with but a thought.
The change to his eye colour and the addition of the orbs always reminded him of the fact that, despite losing the only person he could call family, he had a new chance at living his life. Away from the troubles of life with Karin on the streets. No more was he having to do questionable acts for the Yakuza for the two of them to live their lives. Now he had a room to himself, fresh clothes, along with 3 square meals a day. It wasn't much, but it was living.
Even if it wasn't worth living for a few weeks, not without Karin.
At least he could count on the two weirdo's who took him in to keep things amusing. Naruto could always find Gai and Lee training, whether it be how people normally improved their physical fitness taken to the extreme, like doing 1000 push-ups in half an hour, or they do their own made up crazy exercises. Such as yesterday, they had decided to scale the rather large rock formation that was behind Gai's dojo using only their feet. THEIR FEET?! What person in their right mind would do that!
Oh. Who was he kidding. The blonde had actually been right there with them. The physical exertion had helped the blonde work through the feelings of grief he felt in the passing days of Karin's own passing. There was something about putting his body through such stress and strain that just seemed to make him feel better. Like, by punishing his body, he was making up for the fact he wasn't there for when Karin needed him most.
Naruto sighed. He had to get up. Regardless of their outrageous personalities and their state of dress being much left to be desired, Gai can easily be called a master of his art and Lee was quick on his way to follow in the older man's footstep. The blonde not so much. Since Naruto had begun training with them, the duo had roped him into learning their 'style'. Their art. That being martial arts.
With their style being The Goken. Or Strong Fist.
Even if their style was difficult for him to learn. He tried, if not to thank them in some way for taking him in, then for Karin. So that he had the skills to maybe do something more if something similar ever happened again.
Getting out of his futon, Naruto stood up to get ready to go for the daily morning jog. Taking a step, Naruto looked down when he heard the now familiar jostle of the very heavy weights strapped around his shins. A mandatory accessory when it came to training with the green clad duo it seemed. Which was good, because it sort of restrained the ridiculous physical strength he possessed for someone his age. That same strength Gai could match thanks to his couple decades of training like this, with extreme amounts of weight used to increase the man's physical prowess. With Lee not too far behind.
Opening the drawer of the dresser he had been given to keep his clothes in, the odd eyed blonde pulled out an orange shirt and a pair of black shorts to put on.
Having gotten dressed and ready for what he knew would turn out to be more like a marathon then a 'jog', Naruto was confronted once more with a weird sight after he stepped out his bedroom door.
This one was again of two people. One being Bushy Brows-Sensei also ready for the morning jog, but it was the other person that made it weird for Naruto. It was a stranger, someone he didn't know.
The stranger had long brown hair, eyes the same colour yet a shade so dark you couldn't see his pupil. On his upper body he wore a light-brown, short-sleeved, kimono shirt with a mesh shirt underneath, such a thing not seen as often in this day and age, held closed by a red sash. While navy blue pants covered his legs. A much more normal dressed person in comparison to the couple of training addicts Naruto had been living with.
"Ah! Naruto my boy! I was wondering when you were going to get up!" Gai greeted boisterously, blinding grin in place as the spandex clad man moved closer to the blonde to kneel in front of him. "I am sorry to inform that you will not be able to join Lee and I on our morning jog. Just as I am sorry to not have told you about this sooner. It is very un-youthful of me"
Watching as the man cried youthful tears while clutching the area above his heart as if he had been struck a mortal blow, Naruto took the chance to ask what was on his mind "Heeeeyyyyy" he drew out, seeing as Gai was still crying it was best not to set him off on one of his tangents about the Spring Time of Youth "Who's this guy, Gai?"
"Ah yes! Naruto meet Hashirama Senju, a very youthful associate of mine. I would like to say that I have had the honour of teaching a youthful boy such as yourself, but I regret that I am unable to help where you really need it" Gai's lip quivered as he spoke, more tears flowing from his eyes, but these were tears of sadness. "So, I had made a call and asked if he were able to take you in. And . . . and . . . he said yes!" Gai then pulled the blond into a very tearful hug.
Naruto didn't know it before, but apparently people are capable of crying mini waterfalls from their eyes. Gai had just shown the boy it was possible.
Extracting himself carefully from the eccentric man's emotional embrace, Naruto made sure to not draw the mans attention to him again lest he be drawn back in.
Looking up at this Hashirama Senju, Naruto saw him still standing there. Arms crossed and waiting patiently with warm kind eyes staring back down at him.
"Naruto I assume" the brown haired man said. His voice deep and carried a certain undertone of power. Yet, despite that power it also carried wisdom and care. Care directed at him. Which was a strange feeling for Naruto, despite the same care having been directed at him these past few months he has lived with Gai and Lee.
"Hashirama I'm guessing" Naruto replied curtly. While the mans care was nice, Naruto had learned when someone was nice to him, it wasn't always for the right reasons. Or for very long.
Gai and Lee being the only exceptions so far. They were too, loathe as he was to even think it, youthful to not be genuinely nice to someone right after meeting them.
And while he is an associate of Gai's, it never hurt to be too cautious.
"Its ok. I won't hurt you" Hashirama calmly stated, coming to kneel in front of Naruto much like Gai had done and gave the boy an easy going smile. "Gai has told me much about you. And not only did I become curious, but I believe I can help you with your . . . let's say abilities"
"I have no idea what you're on about" was Naruto's immediate reply. His gold like eyes darting around the room, in case he needed to vacate the premises quickly.
"You have nothing to fear from me" Hashirama said with a patient smile on his face. "I only wish to help you. And I won't force you to do anything you don't want to, and if you'd like, teach you to harness your gifts"
"And why should I believe that? For all I know you could only be here to whisk me away to some scienticket lab to do tests on me to find out why I can do what I can do!" the brown haired Senju smiled further. Amused at the mispronunciation.
"First. Its scientific. And second, you will find we aren't much different you and I" Hashirama emphasised this by holding his hand out, and a tiny tree grew out of the middle of his palm. Not a little shrub, not one of those smaller trees people keep in pots. But a tiny tree, like a small scale version of the few he had seen around the concrete metropolis the blonde used to live in.
It honestly amazed Naruto. His eyes were wide and full of amazement. His hand subconsciously raising to reach out to touch it, to see if it was real.
But he stopped himself, just before his fingertips would have grazed the tiny leaves. His eyes darted up to Hashirama's still smiling face. "And what does you teaching me mean? Will I be able to do stuff like that?" he pointed at the tree.
A small chuckle left Hashirama's mouth. "No, no I don't think so. As far as I know I'm the only one capable of this. Just like what you can do is unique to you. And what you can do we will find out together . . . if you will let me teach you that is"
"Will this mean I will come live with you? And if it does, can Gai and Lee visit. Their weird but they're nice and my only friends" Naruto asked, peeking back over his shoulder to Gai, who had stopped crying and was now standing patiently, waiting for them to finish talking.
"Yes, I hope for you to come stay with me. It would make it easier to keep track of how much you have progressed, and where I live will hopefully keep what you can do hidden from less then savoury people"
The Senju finally stood from where he was kneeled, stretching his arms wide and gave a big bellowing laugh.
"And of course they can visit! It gets lonely where I live and it will be nice to have company every once in a while. So, what do you say?" his speaking quietened down, as Hashirama looked down kindly at Naruto "Will you be willing to let me teach you?" he held a hand out to the blonde.
Naruto only looked at the offered hand for a second. That hand represented a way for him to get stronger. A way to be able to help those who need help. To stop what happened to Karin from happening to others. So he didn't need to think much on it.
He grasped the hand as strongly as he could. A fire in his eyes much like Gai and Lee have when they get over passionate about something.
"Yes. I would be honoured for you to teach me" Naruto said determinedly.
"Excellent! We should be heading off then! Its a bit of a walk and Mito should have lunch ready by the time we get there!" moving quickly to the door, a firm grip on Naruto's hand. Hashirama opened and walked right out of it. Ignoring the blondes protests as he was dragged behind the larger man. Unable to release himself from the hand hold despite the whiskered boys unnatural strength.
"Hold on! I need to get my things! And who's this Mito you mentioned!"
Thank you to those who read through this.
Leave a review of what you liked. What you think I can improve on. Any spelling or grammatical mistakes you can find.
Also, I know this chapter is a little all over the place. But it's the setup chapter. And more will be explained in future chapters.
. . . . If I get around to writing them.
Anywho. Thanks again for reading. I do read the reviews. As such any hate will be used to sustain my life.