Hi there and welcome to Mirai! Hope you'll enjoy reading the prologue!

Awesome fact #1: Been listening to too much "My Name" and "Departure to the Front Lines" from Naruto Shippuuden!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Naruto or this story except for Chieko.


To you, far away from here
I want to deliver the fragments of the wind from that day
Don't be lonely, I'm always here
No matter what, the wind connects us

- Namikaze Satellite by Snowkel (Naruto Opening 7)


Prologue

He heard the agonized cries of a woman in his mind. He stood up, a gentle smile on his wrinkly face. It was time. The old man made his way to the entrance of his old shack. He remembered the years of being a nomad.

Shaking his head, he focused his mind on the current events.

"It's about time for her to show up," he rubbed the back of his bald head.

Childbirth has always been a complicated affair. The old man knew the difficulties of it. He jumped up to one of the tree branches, moving quickly from one tree to the next without feeling tired as one should expect from a person of his age. He crossed several trees before making it to his destination. Opening the creaking door, he found a newborn baby wrapped in a beautiful blanket and surrounded by towering men. She cried nonstop. Her entire body trembled.

The old man glared at the men. He gathered chakra from the air, curling his fingers into a claw-like position. He ignored the lukewarm bodies lying on the ground.

"Hand the child over to me." The old man moved, taking on a fighting stance at the leader of the men's scoff. "Unless you prefer the cold embrace of death."

"And what do you think you can do, geezer?" The leader grinned maliciously.

The old man sighed. "I warned you." He released the gathered chakra in his hands and watched as it flitters through the air, piercing through the hearts of the men. There was no satisfaction as bodies hit the ground with a soft thud.

He made his way to the crying baby. The old man grabbed the baby, trying to rock her to sleep. "It's all over now. It's okay, little one." His soft voice echoed in the small wooden house. "Let's bring you home, Chieko-chan."

The baby girl stopped crying at hearing her name and opened her eyes to stare at the old man. Her fingers reached out to hold onto his long beard. She smiled and gurgled in delight.

The old man smiled. "You're going to have a hard life, Chieko. Do not worry, I'll prepare you for it."

It looked as though the baby girl understood. She stopped moving and went to sleep. She had no idea yet about how close she came to death. The old man wished to bring that secret with him to his grave.

The silent duo made their way back to the old man's home.

x

Chieko scrambled to her feet, narrowly avoiding the kunai headed towards her. The five-year old frowned as another shuriken flew towards her. The girl backflipped, using her chakra to give the upward push more strength. She smiled at her master. The old man nodded, releasing another barrage of weapons at his student.

Again, she avoided most of the weapons coming her way except one. It grazed her cheek, making the girl wince in pain.

"S-sorry!" She squeaked out, bowing her head. The old man waved his hand.

"Do not concern yourself with that. It is still a good job, Chieko-chan. Now, please go meditate and clear your mind before your next training." His attention, however, focused on the trees behind him.

"Yes, Hideo-sensei!" Chieko nodded her head and skipped off to the flower patches to meditate.

The old man sighed and took in the peaceful surroundings. The simple wooden shrine became his and Chieko's home for the past five years. It was far better than the old shack he had hid in in the past. The grass swayed in the cooling breeze. The birds found themselves a home atop the tree branches, tweeting every few seconds in delight. The sun was reflected on the small lake by the flower patches. It was a waste that it would all be stained in blood soon. But how soon? It was never easy to tell. The old man stood up straighter. Their guests had to be bored with their waiting.

"You may come out now." He turned around to face the two hidden ninjas. He bowed his head with his hands clasped together in greeting. "Chiriku-dono. Asuma Sarutobi-san."

Chiriku returned the greeting with a bow of his own. The sun reflected off his own bald head. Asuma rubbed the back of his head, a raised eyebrow clear on his expression.

"Uzumaki-sensei, it has been a while."

The old man laughed. "It has, Chiriku-dono."

Chiriku glanced at the oblivious girl meditating, "Is she the one?"

Hideo Uzumaki nodded and turned to look up at the sky. He ran his left hand over his beard, looking weary for once. He had no desire to thrust such a destiny on such a young girl but it had to be done. He sat cross-legged on the ground and gestured at the two guests to do the same. Asuma eyed the older man with suspicion and decided to remain standing. Chiriku gave Asuma a smile before joining Hideo on the ground.

"Is she ready?" Chiriku frowned, noting the girl's small stature and fidgety chakra. "Have you seen anything?"

Hideo chuckled. The darker skin ninja from the Village Hidden in the Leaves resisted the urge to dodge as a small child came barreling into him. Asuma looked down at the red head. Chieko grinned at the older ninja and took in the scent of smoke and leaves.

"Chieko-chan, didn't I tell you to go meditate?"

"But I don't wanna be rude and not say hi!" The five-year old hid her face behind Asuma, glancing out every few seconds to see if Hideo was angry.

Hideo shook his head, a smile on his face. "Of course, Chieko-chan. Thank you for your kind consideration." The old man got up, his hand right behind his back as though he needed the extra support. He patted the young girl's head. "But now, you must go meditate. You love to train, isn't that right? Then go on, Chieko-chan."

The young girl nodded her head and sped off. She waved at the two older ninja. "Bye, bye, uncles!"

"U-uncle?!" Asuma stumbled a little, his cheeks turning a little red.

Chiriku placed a hand on Asuma's shoulder. "Don't worry, Asuma. You still look young."

Hideo chuckled again. His face became stern as he turned to stare at his former apprentice. "My time is coming to an end. I need your word."

Chiriku frowned. "I'm not living at the Fire Temple now. You know that, Uzumaki-sensei. And," the young bald man glanced at the five-year old, "they won't accept her into our ranks."

A single bird landed on Hideo's shoulder. The old man smiled, offering a handful of seeds to the blue bird. "I have no desire for Chieko to live at the Fire Temple. Who knows what Chukaku-sama would do to the poor girl..."

Chiriku nodded in understanding.

Asuma frowned. He glanced at the young girl with bright red hair and lit a cigarette. "Then, what do you suggest, Uzumaki-san?"

"I would hope that Leaf Village would accept my precious Chieko-chan." Hideo turned to stare at Asuma, a slight smirk present on his face. "She would make a fine shinobi, don't you think? Hiruzen would agree. He would say that it is our duty to pass the Will of Fire."

The three men stared at the young girl who seemed unaware of the swirling chakra gathering around her. Asuma knew that he could not promise anything, but looking at the young orphan, he found himself nodding his head.

Hideo smiled. "Chiriku-dono, Sarutobi-san, you are welcome to stay for dinner."

"We have to get back to the Fire Daimyo." Chiriku shook his head. "You have not answer my questions, Uzumaki-sensei."

"She will be ready. I'll make sure of it. As for what I've seen, Chiriku-dono, I've seen my death." Hideo replied, a sharp glint in his eyes.

x

Hideo Uzumaki knew that his time would be ending soon. It wasn't like he wanted to live forever, but he wanted more time with his successor. He wanted more time with the young girl who had become like a daughter to him. Six years. He had gotten to spend six years with her. But was it enough? He ran his fingers over and through his lengthy beard. He stared at the flower patches and saw Chieko creating wreaths and crowns with the flowers.

The red head looked up and caught his stare. She smiled. Chieko jumped to her feet and ran over. Without even pausing, she placed the flower crown on top of Hideo's head. She grinned, practically bouncing on the heels of her feet.

Hideo touched his new accessory. "Why, thank you, Chieko-chan. I can look pretty now." He smiled at her with a gentle look.

Time was too short, though.

Hideo ran his fingers through Chieko's red hair, smoothing out the odd curls. Then, he stood up. The bells that surrounded the area began chiming incessantly. That was his only warning. He glanced down at Chieko, pulling her hand and leading the girl towards the study. She did her best to catch up while her heart rate increased. She glanced around the building, feeling the air turn colder than usual.

Killer intent.

Of course, she had no idea what it was called.

They made it to the study as Hideo pulled several scrolls and books into his hands. He dropped them into a pile in between them. He formed a couple of hand seals and touched his left hand onto Chieko's shoulder. A bright light surrounded the room as Hideo stuffed the scrolls and books into the light. He sealed them into her shoulder and smiled. He placed both hands on her shoulders.

"Everything is going to be okay." Hideo promised, placing his forehead on hers. Chieko winced at the sudden heat from the contact, but unlike Hideo, she did not notice the seal that formed on her forehead for several seconds before vanishing without a trace.

Her entire body began to feel hotter. Sweat formed as she shivered. Chieko had no idea if it was from the heat or if it was from the malice in the air.

"Chieko-chan, you must leave now." He ordered, pushing her out of the study and into the open air. Chieko shook her head. "Go now! We don't have much time!" Hideo stumbled a little. He straightened his posture and ignored the chills that went down his spine.

Chieko shook her head again. "But-"

"Please go, Chieko. You must leave. I'll protect you." Hideo gave his best reassuring smile. "I'll be fine." The old man wondered if there is a god and if there is one, would he be forgiven for that lie. He pushed a small bag into Chieko's arms and urged the young girl to move. Chieko gave Hideo one last look before jumping onto the tree branch and running deeper into the forest.

Hideo turned to face his attackers. It was his time to go but he refused to go down without a fight despite the lack of energy in his body. He hoped that Chieko would make it to Leaf. He hoped that she will be strong.

x

Chieko sensed it like a wave that came down on her. She stumbled on her footing and fell onto another branch. Her heart clenched as tears streamed down her face.

He lied.

She panted from the running. She should have stopped and fought alongside Hideo-sensei. She rubbed the tears from her face. Adrenaline coursed through her body and she knew she didn't have time to rest. Hideo-sensei had taught her that.

The red head pushed herself into an upright position and forced chakra to travel to her feet. She sped off into the direction of the Leaf Village. She felt the air shift as three chakra signatures seemed to be looking for her. Chieko wondered if she could fight; if she could avenge Hideo's death.

No.

Hideo-sensei would yell at her for making such an elementary mistake. She pushed forward. She had to escape them. Her chakra was almost depleted. Maybe, just maybe, she had to find another shelter. She had no idea how much further Leaf was.

She had to keep going on, she decided. The girl continued jumping from tree to tree with her hand moving to the weapons pouch by her waist. Her free hand moved the small bag that her sensei thrust at her from her back to her front. She dug into it to see if there was anything that would help her. Clothes. Ration bars. Books. Her belongings. If she had the time, she would have pondered on how Hideo-sensei knew they would be attacked. But now, the enemy was approaching quickly.

She threw a couple of kunai with explosive tags and exploded them once she got to a safe distance. It was a gamble, but she had hoped to catch the attention of Leaf shinobi that might be lurking around. After all, explosions are attention-grabbing.

Chieko continued to jump from tree branch to another tree branch. She dodged as a kunai hit the spot of where she was. She needed to decide. Should she turn around and fight or should she keep trying to run away? She bit her bottom lip and turned around to face the shinobi tailing her.

The three men stood with the forehead protectors engraved with three long, narrow ovals, with two of the ovals joined at the ends. It was the Village Hidden in the Clouds, then. Chieko knew nothing about Cloud ninjas and the way they fought. She regretted all those times she avoided Hideo-sensei when he tried to make her read up on history. If only. But it was too late for regrets and Hideo-sensei would be upset if she joined him too early in the land of the dead. Her heart clenched. She pulled out her kunai and faced them. She needed to stall to learn about her enemy.

"What do you want from me?" Chieko gripped her kunai right in front of her. She noticed several things as she scanned the shinobi in front of her. Each of them had a sword hung on his back and taut muscles. They looked ready to pounce. She didn't care about that. Swords meant that they are good in kenjutsu. However, are they normal swords or do they conduct chakra for elemental boosts? Chieko concluded that it was impossible to tell from this distance and her chakra sensing abilities weren't as refined as she hoped.

The middle one smirked and pulled his sword out from its sheath. Chieko ignored the blood dripping from the sword. "Would it matter if we tell her anyway? She's going to be dead soon."

The one on the right groaned. "Can you stop being a jackass for a minute? It's clear that the girl is trying to stall for time and you're just humoring her."

Chieko knew that shinobi would be smart to catch on to what she was doing but it didn't matter. She felt it in her heart that she would make it out alright. Hideo-sensei had always told her to believe in herself and her abilities. Well, she trusted her intuition. She found herself smiling despite the situation. Running over a couple of hand seals, she summoned two other clones. Then she started running in one direction as her clones ran towards opposite directions. She had a chance of evading or maybe even defeating her opponent if there was only one of them.

Chieko decided to take the chance.

The middle one followed her while the other two followed her clones. "Shit! Don't let her get away!"

"This was all your fault, Karai!" The man who chased after the right clone shouted.

The ninja following her scoffed but didn't respond. Chieko knew she needed a plan—a good plan. She had five kunai and seven shuriken. She used up her explosive tags and any plan involving explosions wouldn't work now. Chieko kept running, ignoring the pain in her lungs.

"Get back here and fight me!" Her attacker growled. Then, he stopped chasing the girl as a loud explosion sounded from where his teammate was. Chieko stopped as well, looking around to see what had happened. Chieko watched just in time as a man with dark tan skin and shaggy black hair struck her attacker over the head with a jagged blade unlike anything she has ever seen before. The Cloud ninja fell unconscious and the man turned around to give her a long look.

Chieko saw the man's familiar face and beamed. She was rescued. She ran forward and wrapped her savior in a childlike version of a bone-crushing hug. Tears streamed down her face. "Uncle, you're here!"

Asuma Sarutobi awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "U-uncle again…" He cleared his throat and patted the girl's hair. "You're okay now, kid."

"Hideo-sensei…"

Asuma sighed. "He didn't make it."

"I know." Chieko rubbed her tears away. "I felt it."

Asuma had no idea what to make of that and her peculiar ability. He ignored the next explosion that happened. He knew that Chiriku would have taken care of the other two Cloud ninjas. Instead, he knew that he had an agreement to fulfill. Hideo Uzumaki wanted Chieko to have a chance at life and who was he to deny the wishes of a dead man.

"Come on and follow me. I'll bring you to the safest place I know."

"W-where's that?" Chieko blew her nose and rubbed her snot on her cargo pants.

"The Village Hidden in the Leaves."


And that's it, folks! First off, thank you for taking the time to read this till the end. I know there's a lot of other Naruto fanfics that you could be spending your time on so I'm really happy you decided to choose this blossoming fic. Also, I would really appreciate it if you could review and let me know what you think about it so far!

Sneak Peek for Chapter 1:

I didn't even jump as a young blond boy peered at me curiously. I hated being weak. Hideo-sensei didn't raise a weakling. He taught me to be better than that. He believed in me. The blond boy squatted down next to me.

"Um, are you okay?" He looked ready to run from me at any second.

"I-I'm fine..."

"No, you're not!" I startled back. He mustered the best glare he could. "I hate liars."

x

I froze as images flittered in my mind.

It was Naruto but he looked older. A voice in my head announced that Naruto was the boy of the prophecy.