A/N: Yeah, I know I've got a bunch of other fics to pay attention to, but I like putting my ideas out and progress has been slow on my other stuff (borderline nonexistent on Conflux and Spirits). This idea is a combination of several Naruto fics I started but never finished. Most of them dealt with some sort of intelligent Naruto cliché. I liked the ideas I had, but they seemed too derivative of some other fics I've read… So I decided to make it a Next Generation fic. Two clichés must equal an original idea, right? Thus, I give you…

The Inheritors

A Naruto Fanfiction By MBScavenger1498

Prologue

Risen

It was an uncharacteristically cold day in Hi no Kuni. That being said, the day before had been far colder, a surprise mid-spring blizzard had hit and much of the city was now buried in snow. Luckily for the two travelers now on their grounds, the Nara were too lazy to do anything about it, so their woods were devoid of human presence. Regardless, the snow had started to melt and the ground was alternating hard-packed ice and muddy soup beneath Teishoku's rubber-soled boots. He readjusted the large storage scroll under his arm and grimaced. "Uncle, why do I have to carry this thing? Come to think of it, why are we even here?"

The man in question turned a glare on his nephew, and though it was hidden behind a roughly hewn wooden mask, the young teenager could still feel it like the tip of something sharp pressed against his back. "I've told you not to question me before, boy. Just because you're the first child to be born into the Brotherhood in decades doesn't mean I can't do terrible things to you." The man waited several seconds then decided to elaborate. "We're going to regain an asset we lost long ago. He's hidden out here somewhere and it's our job to find him, patch him up and drag him back to your father, willing passenger or not." Teishoku turned his gaze away and his uncle grunted, turning his attention back to his surroundings.

These consisted mostly of mud, trees and the occasional deer until they finally came to their destination. It wasn't that hard to notice, considering it was a moderately sized hole in the ground, probably about a foot or two deep. Teishoku's uncle turned to him. "Boy, see if you can find anything down there." With a nod, the boy in question put his hand into a seal and closed his eyes, furrows of concentration appearing on his forehead.

"Yes, I can sense someone. He's several feet down, but definitely there." With an affirmative grunt, his uncle took the scroll from him and dropped into the hole. Once he reached the center, he unsealed several candles and lit them with a match from inside his combat-vest then drew some seals in blood from a plastic bag, a considerable feat given how much of his working-surface was uneven rubble. Finally, he got on one knee, made several hand signs of his own and placed his hands on two of the rocks.

"Doton: JōshōHaka Saiken (Earth Release: Risen Grave Reconstruction)."

The rocks began to shift and after a few seconds, body parts started appearing and connecting. It was a rather grisly sight, guts and stray fragments of organs and whatnot coming back together, blood seeping back into limbs even as they knitted themselves back together. A few minutes later, they formed a full person. Teishoku jumped down into the hole and looked closely at him; he'd never seen a dead man before. He'd seen people who were dying and people who had wished they were dead, but never before had he been faced with the genuine article.

It was a somewhat enlightening experience. For one thing, dead people were a lot paler than normal people. They also didn't do much of anything. But even as he watched, color was returning to the man's face and a rise and fall began in his recently unexploded chest. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and his hand shot out, grasping Teishoku's neck. "Who… Who the fuck are you?" His voice was rasping and weak, the product of almost a decade and a half of disuse. His grip, however, hadn't weakened any, much to the boy's chagrin.

"Are you Hidan?" The man's eyes narrowed, focusing on Teishoku's uncle. "Who the fuck want's to know?" The mask hid a smirk, but the chuckle that accompanied it was evidence enough. "Is it not common courtesy to make sure you've healed the right person when they awake?" Hidan tightened his grip on Teishoku's neck. If he kept up like this, the boy would pass out. "Listen, bitch, I'm not in the mood to swap pleasantries. I have several people I have to kill beyond my usual quota, so if you don't wise the fuck up and tell me who the fuck you are, I'm gonna snap junior's little fucking neck."

The man quirked his head to the side and sighed. "You know, I'd heard you were an uncooperative one, but I didn't know it was this bad. You can relax, Immortal Man, you're among Brothers. And we need your help to further the Great Work of Jashin."

Hidan's eyes widened in recognition and he dropped Teishoku, who got to his knees, dry-heaving and gasping for air. "You're about twelve years late to be bringing the Brotherhood into this, dumbass. I told them I didn't want in when they approached me the first time, what makes you think you're any different?" The man walked forward and placed a hand on Hidan's shoulder.

"The group that tried to recruit you before was an outdated sect, we've dealt with them in the time you've been gone. We're hoping you'll come with us without a fight." There was a strange pause. "It wouldn't be any fun beating a man who can't die." Hidan's face contorted with rage at the pronunciation and he seemed like he was about to do something, but suddenly he stiffened and his eyes grew wide.

The man's grip had tightened against his shoulder and he couldn't move. It reminded him of that Nara bastard's possession jutsu. He fucking hated that asshole dickhead motherfucker!

But for all his rage, he still couldn't move. There was no use struggling, though it did little to stop him from trying. "This isn't some Shadow Jutsu you can just break out of. I've sealed every motor function receptor in your body; you can't move a muscle unless I unseal you. Boy, put him in the scroll along with the candles, I'll dispel the ritual seal." With a muffled groan, Hidan toppled over, no longer supported by the masked man's hand. Teishoku quickly ran over and started gathering up candles to reseal in the large scroll. With a chuckle, the man knelt down and undid the seal on the ground, words slithering into his fingers and disappearing somewhere on his bare arms. 'Mission accomplished.'

God, this has taken a long time to give a satisfying opening! Seriously, this thing has seen more iterations than a Grimm fairytale. Anyway, I'm hoping to get the first chapter up soon. I'm most of the way through. Leave a review, tell me your impressions. See ya!

Scavenger