*sigh* Hello everyone, NeroReborn here. it has certainly been quite some time since I was active here on fanfiction. College didn't work out too well, and now I have some more free time on my hands. I probably wont be updating any of my other stories for awhile, since I need to find the original spark I had with those again. To give a bit of insight, I have been playing in a D&D group with my first original character, that wasn't based off of anything. I wanted to get a different story going with the characters from my campaign, since they are all unique and funny in their own way. (which is ironic since mine is the only one who doesn't have much humor to him.) just a couple of things to note before anyone criticizes me.
1. the campaign we are playing is a homebrew campaign. it is based in the sword's coast, but story elements and characters are custom made.
2. Ithul'nir(my OC) is a custom class called "Grim reaper." it is easy to find in D&Dwiki, and my DM and I have balanced him out.
3. Regarding the civilian counsel, Yes, Konoha is a shinobi village, but there has to at least be some governing body to oversee trading, banking, and the general resupplying of weapons and tools between villages.
4. All of the D&D characters that I will be using, will be level 17, since that's about what level I believe we would be once we would hypothetically hit this point in time.
5. This story will take place when Naruko is around eleven, about 6 months before the start of the actual anime, as to give time for the adventurers to get used to the new world, and to give time for them to regroup.
Other than that, there are several characters from my campaign that I will be adding to the story, and I claim no ownership of them. I will do my best to replicate their persona's, but I might not be very good at it. this is my most recent attempt at making a story, and I don't have a set schedule for when I will update, but I will try to update as fast as possible. Any constructive criticism is welcomed.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or dungeon's and dragons. the only character I have ownership of is Ithul'nir.
In the village of Konoha, there lives a young girl, naruko, the kyubi jinjuriki, a child cursed by fate. even now, the villagers of Konoha harm and scorn her, seeking her death, but unknown to them, fate was about to be changed. in the realm of the sword coast, 5 adventurers had completed their tasks, gaining closure of their dark pasts, and aid the last to find his love. by using an amulet of the plains, they traveled from their realm in search, but chance placed them here, in the land of the elemental nations. two of these adventurers landed in Konoha, disoriented by their sudden appearance, they are drawn by the cry's for help from young naruko.
This is their story.
"Ugh... Zalia? Are you alright?" A pale man gets up from where he landed, shaking his head. Why did kvasir's stupid amulet place them falling from the sky? "urgh.." A female voice eminates from beside him. "Ithul'nir? What happened?" Ithulnir looks over to his wife. she a young woman pushes herself up, raven black hair cascading down to her waist, framing her face against her copper skin, long ears slightly twitching as she pats down her white combat dress, giant wooden gauntlets creaking as she grips her hands. "Kvasir and his damned amulet happened." Ithulnir rises, the light of the moon revealing his red eyes, almost seeming to glow under his hood. He wears fine clothes, several silver chains reflecting the light. his form is covered by a cloak, shifting and twisting as if it were made of shadows.
Zalia goes over to hug Ithul'nir, looking around. "Where are the others?" Ithul'nir looks around, trying to analyze the area. "I don't-" His words are interrupted as a scream rips through the air. "SOMEONE, ANYONE, PLEASE HELP ME!" ithul'nir looks up, regognizing the voice to be that of a child, rushing towards it. Zalia grips her fists, running forward to follow.
They round the corner of a dark alleyway, ithul'nir's eyes burning with rage at what he sees, Zalia gritting her teeth in anger. In the alleyway, a small blonde girl was shaking with her back against a wall, several adults surrounding her with various improvised weapons, from rusty knives to broken bottles. The girl was crying, sobbing as she tried to cover her face, her arms bruised and dripping blood from cuts. "Please, leave me alone! I didn't do anything wrong!" An older man smirks, reaching down to grab her hair, the girl crying out in pain. Ithul'nir steps forward, his eyes glowing red. he casts a small spell, enhancing his voice. "THAT'S ENOUGH!"
The villagers turn towards him, looking angry that someone interrupted. The girl looks towards the Ithulnir, tears falling from her eyes as she looks at him in desperation. "Please, help me..." The man who grabbed her growled, throwing her against the wall. a loud crack is her from her as she screams in pain, a bone poking out of her shoulder. Zalia grips her fists tightly, her gauntlets creaking from the pressure. The villagers raise their weapons at the two, growling. "This is none of your concern. the girl is a demon, and must be killed." Ithul'nir raises his right arm, a sickle falling from his sleeve, attached to a long chain. "Be she demon, devil, litch, or monster, I will not stand for a child to be harmed." He suddenly whips his sickle foreward, slicing through the neck of the old man, blood spurting out as he started choking.
The four remaining villagers charge, raising their weapons to attack. Ithul'nir whips his sickle to slash through the leg of one of them. Zalia rushes forward, raising her huge gauntlets to smash another villager into the ground, sweeping her fists in a backhand to slam another into... I mean, through a wall, the rest of the wall collapsing on top of him. the last villager looks scared, seeing his buddies crushed so easily, turning to run. Ithul'nir sees this, pulling out a small bell from his cloak, ringing it once. the last villager stops, his eyes widen, before the light drains from them, falling over dead.
Zalia breaths heavily, coming down from her rage, until she hears crying, looking towards the young girl. she walks over, pulling off her gauntlets, and pulling the young girl into a gentle hug. "Shhh, its okay... their gone now." The girl looks up to her, squirming to get out of her grip, only to yelp in pain from her shoulder. Zalia looks to Ithul'nir. "Ithul'nir, we need to help her." He nods, walking over to kneel next to the blonde girl. "child, what is your name?" She sniffs, her tears falling down her cheeks, "N-Naruko…" Ithul'nir closes his eyes, opening them as they stopped glowing, a gentle smile forming on his face as he raises a hand, a soft glow coming from it. "Naruko, I need you to trust me. this won't hurt, and it will help." Naruko looks nervous, but nods her head. Ithul'nir places his hand on naruko's forehead, a soft glow covering her. She whimpers slightly, the protruding bone sinking back in as the skin on her shoulder repairs itself, her bruises clearing as her pain subsided.
Zalia smiles, hugging the her gently. "Naruko… why did they want to hurt you?" Naruko stiffens, new tears falling from her eyes. "I...I don't know... they always call me demon or moster… what did I do? Why am I hated? What did I do to deserve this?" she pushes her face into Zalia, crying into the older woman. Zalia looks shocked, hugging naruko tightly. "Shhh. it's okay. no one will hurt you anymore." Ithul'nir gently pats naruko's head, before he looks towards the entrance of the alleyway, narrowing his eyes. He pulls his sickle into his hand, as he stands between the girls and the entrance. "Whoever you are, I will not allow you to harm this girl."
Several people jump out from the shadows, each of them wearing a different animal mask. one lone figure steps forward, wearing white robes with a symbol on his large hat. "We are not here to harm her. We came to protect her." Ithul'nir glares, staring at a man with a dog mask. "Your men have done a piss-poor job of it. the one in the dog mask has been watching since we arrived." The old man's eyes widen, turning to the dog masked man, glaring. "Inu, we will have words later." Inu scoffed, disappearing in a whirl of leaves. The old man looks to ithul'nir, smiling softly. "I must thank you. Naruko is like a granddaughter to me. May I know your names?" Ithul'nir calms down, lowering his sickle. "My name is Ithul'nir Rozou'vir Ear'wyn." he steps back, wrapping an arm around Zalia. "This, is my wife, Zalia." Zalia blushes lightly, a small smile spreading on her face.
zalia looks down to naruko, realizing that the small girl had cried herself asleep in her arms, clinging to her tightly. Ithul'nir looks to the old man. "May we have your name?" The old man chuckles, puling his hat off. "My name is hiruzen. I am the leader of this village." Ithul'nir nods, looking to naruko and zalia, before looking back to hiruzen. "I believe it best to let young naruko sleep. Can we speak somewhere more secure?" Hiruzen nods, motioning for them to follow. "Come, we can speak in my office."
Hiruzen leads them to the hokage tower, a large building in the center of the village. Several of the guards lead Zalia to an extra bedroom, zalia gently laying naruko in the bed, before following to the main office. Before she leaves however, naruko whines, muttering in her sleep. "Okasan..." Zalia looks confused, before heading towards the office. Hiruzen sighs, lighting a pipe as he sits in his chair. "Okay, Ithul'nir, where do you and Zalia come from?" Ithul'nir looks down, sighing. "That... is a long explanation. to put it in short, We are adventurers from a different plane of existence. we used an amulet that was able to make a doorway to different planes. There were five of us in total, but we were separated when the amulet left us falling from the sky. The both of us landed here, but we have no idea where the others are." Hiruzen takes a puff of his pipe, looking skeptical. "That's quite a story, one I find hard to believe. how did you both survive the fall." Ithul'nir looks onward as two sleek, large black feathered wings sprout from his back, a couple feathers landing on the floor. "I caught zalia as we fell, though, I am not physically strong, so I wasn't able to stop our descent, only slow it so we didn't get any major injuries." Hiruzen looks shocked, almost dropping his pipe. "What are you?"
Ithul'nir sighs, rubbing his temples. "In our original plane, I became the champion of kelemvor, our god of death. in doing so, I became his enforcer. His reaper." Zalia nods, softly gripping ithul'nir's arm, looking to hiruzen. "In our plane, we are both elves, a race that have life spans that are typically much longer than that of any other race. The average elf lives up to around seven hundred and fifty years." Hiruzen drops his pipe, his eyes widening. "Why are you two here?" Ithul'nir shighs heavily, he seems to do it often. "One of our party, a man named kvasir, was searching for a woman who has disappeared. a woman named ahri." Hiruzen looks confused. "Then why didn't you search for her?" Zalia gently kisses ithul'nir's cheek, turning to face hiruzen. "Because, according to everyone in our plane, including the gods, Ahri never existed. we figured she possibly left our plane, hidden from the gods."
Hiruzen sighs, taking another puff of his pipe. "Do you know where your other companion's are?" Ithul'nir shakes his head. "I am unable to know where they are. I can sense their general direction, but not their exact location. One of the perks of being a reaper." Hiruzen hums, looking down in thought. "Well, since you saved naruko, I would be honored if you stayed here until you find your companions." Ithul'nir nods, but his expression gets serious. "Why is naruko treated like this? she said that the villagers call her a demon. Why?" Hiruzen sighs, smoke coming from his mouth. "What you hear now does not leave this room. This is an S-class secret, punishable by death." Ithul'nir nods, slightly on edge as he wraps an arm around zalia. hiruzen gets up from his desk, walking over to the painting of a blonde man. "This was my predecessor, the fourth hokage. eleven years ago, on the day of naruko's birth, a giant nine tailed demon fox called the kyubi attacked the village. the demon was powerful, and we were not able to kill it. only seal it. but... it can only be sealed into a newborn child. he gave his life to stop the kyubi."
Zalia gasps, covering her mouth as tears threatened to fall. Ithul'nir narrows his eyes, looking at the man in the painting, noticing the blonde hair and blue eyes. "So, naruko is the one the fox was sealed in... by her own father?" Hiruzen looks shocked, staring at ithul'nir. The pale reaper raises an eyebrow. "The resemblance isn't hard to notice. she certainly inherited her father's eyes and his hair." Hiruzen closes his mouth, nodding. "Yes, both of her parent's died in the attack, giving their lives to save her. their dying wish was that she would be seen as a hero, but... I was a fool. I told the village far too soon. Their hatred from losing loved ones was still fresh, and because of me, they now see naruko as the kyubi reborn." Hruzen looks at the couple sadly. "I have made many mistakes in my time, and I don't know who I can trust to protect her anymore. I'm asking you from the bottom of my heart, can you both protect her? I know you don't trust me, but the civilian council has gained more power than they should, now threatening to cut off trade finances to the shinobi. I whish I could do more, but I need to focus on reclaiming the power from them."
Ithul'nir turns to Zalia, his wife looking up to him, before nodding with a smile. the reaper chuckles, looking to hiruzen. "Very well, I couldn't stand by and let her suffer anyway. Though, to make it official... Perhaps we could adopt her?" Hiruzen smiles, gaining a mischievous grin. "Of course, several of the shinobi clans have attempted to adopt her, but the civilian council argued that it would give a clan too much power, but you aren't registered as shinobi, so they can't do a thing to stop it. allow me to draw up the adoption form." Zalia smile, nuzzling into Ithul'nir, the reaper chuckling softly as he hugged his wife. "I guess you get to have that daughter you wanted a bit early, Zalia."
Hiruzen leaves the room, and returns a couple minutes later with the forms in hand, placing them on his desk. "Both of you, sign here." The couple smile as they walk up, signing the papers. Hiruzen smiles, collecting the papers. "I will take these to make them official. you two should go check on your new daughter." They both nod as they head out the door. Hiruzen smiles as he stamps an approval onto the papers, chuckling to himself. "They are certainly interesting. if anything, I'm happy for you naruko."
Ithul'nir opens the door slowly, both of them peering in to see naruko sleeping on the bed, curled up in the bed. The creak from the door causing her to slowly wake up. "Huh? A-am I at the hokage tower? W-was it a dream?" The couple smile, slowly making their way in. Zalia walking forward to kneel next to the bed. "No, naruko. it wasn't a dream." Naruko looks to them startled, backing up against the wall. Zalia loses her smile, frowning softly. "It's okay, naruko. No one will hurt you." Naruko takes a few breaths, relaxing slightly. "Why are you both here? Did I do something wrong?" Zalia smiles softly, raising a hand to stroke naruko's hair, frowning slightly as the young girl flinched. "No, naruko. you did nothing wrong. We are here because..." Zalia gets a bright smile. "We wanted to get to know our new daughter."
Naruko's eyes widen as she freezes, the words replaying in her head several times. she stays stock still as she stares at zalia, looking to ithul'nir. The reaper nods, smiling gently to naruko. "No one will ever hurt you again. We promise." Naruko's lip starts quivering, tears pouring down her cheeks as she lunges into zalia, crying her heart out as she clung to her new mother. Zalia pulls her daughter into a tight hug, rubbing her back softly. "It's alright naruko. you're safe now." Naruko holds onto her, crying for what seems like hours, until her crying reduces to soft sobs and hiccups.
Zalia picks up her daughter, holding her close. "We should get her something to eat." Naruko looks up, wiping away her tears. "There's a ramen stand named ichiraku. they've always been nice to me." Zalia smiles. "Ichiraku it is then." Ithul'nir cant help but smile, seeing his wife so happy. They all head out of the tower, naruko pointing the way until they reach a small stand, wooden stools sitting in front of a counter, an older man standing behind it. "Welcome to ichira- naruko? How is my favorite customer?" Naruko smiles as Zalia puts her down, going to sit at one of the stools. "I'm great, old man teuichi! Mom, dad, come say hi!" Zalia and ithul'nir are surprised at how quickly naruko was to call them her parents, but smile as they sit on either side of her. Ithul'nir puts out a hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Teuichi was it?" Teuichi nods, taking the hand. "A pleasure to meet you too." He then pulls to lean in close, a dangerous gleam in his eye. "I you are using her just so you can get close..." Ithul'nir narrows his eyes. "I am many things, teuichi, but neither of us would ever harm a child." Teuichi nods, pulling back. "My apologies. several villagers have pretended to be friends so they can get close enough to harm naruko." Ithul'nir waves it off. "don't worry. we figured as much, but we won't tolerate it any more."
teuichi smile, looking to the new family. "So, what can I get you all today?" Naruko jumps up, her eyes sparkling. "The usual, old man." teuichi chuckle, looking to Ithul'nir and Zalia. "You two better be rich. she eats like a whale." Ithul'nir chuckles, looking towards his wife with a knowing smirk, Zalia blushing lightly. "Get my wife the same as naruko. As for me... I'll try the miso." Teuichi looks skeptically at him, but nods, going into the back as he began cooking. a young woman comes out from the back, brown hair covered by a small cloth hair net. she notices naruko, smiling as she came over. "Hey naruko, how have you been?" Naruko smiles, grinning up to the woman. "I'm wonderful, big sis ayame!" Ayame nods, smiling to naruko, before turning to Ithul'nir and Zalia. "And who are these two?" Zalia smiles, softly rubbing naruko's head, causing the young girl to blush. "As of today, we are naruko's parents."
Ayame looks shocked, before smiling, bowing in front of them. "Thank you, for taking her in. My father and I tried, but the council blocked us. They went behind the hokage's back to make a rule that Naruko can't be adopted by anyone who was born in Konoha, or any registered shinobi." Ithul'nir grits his teeth as his eyes narrow. "I may have to speak with this council. anyone who would harm a child is not worthy of such a position." Teuichi comes back with 5 bowls of steaming hot ramen, placing them down in front of the family, Naruko enthusiastically starting to eat her first bowl. Zalia looks at the soup, watching Naruko to mimic her use of chopsticks, softly blowing on the noodles before she puts them in her mouth. Ithul'nir chuckles, raising his hand as he starts to count down. "Three. two. one." Zalia's eyes light up as they start to sparkle, a soft moan of delight as she savored the flavor. "Oh, my, god, this is amazing!" Zalia starts eating with a new enthusiasm, just as fast as Naruko. Teuichi and Ayame back up in fear, holding each other as they shivered. "Oh god, not another! We're gonna run out of stock!"
Ithul'nir chuckles, slowly beginning to eat his own ramen, nodding as he chews. "Very well made. you are a great chef, Teuichi." He reaches around to pull out 2 gold coins, placing them on the counter. "I believe this will suffice for our payment?" Teuichi looks at the coins with wide eyes, taking them in his hands. "A-are these... real gold?" Ithul'nir looks surprised, before doing a facepalm. "Of course, the currency isn't the same." Ithul'nir nods to Teuichi. "Yes, they are real gold. that should cover our meal, yes?" Ithul'nir looks over, surprised that both Zalia and Naruko were plowing through their second bowls. Teuichi nods, taking the coins into the back, coming out with another two bowls, placing them down.
several minutes later, Zalia and Ithul'nir leave the stand, Naruko happily sitting on Zalia's shoulders. Naruko looks up, noticing the sun setting. "Mom, dad... where are we gonna stay?" Ithul'nir chuckles, snapping his fingers as a doorway appears in front of them. They go through, the inside can only be described as a grand mansion, several plates of food and drinks being carried by spectral servants. Naruko looks in awe. "It's amazing!" Zalia smiles as they make their way to a large bedroom. Zalia sets Naruko down, chuckling as Naruko jumps onto the large bed. Naruko feels the sheets, smiling softly. "It's... so soft..." Ithul'nir and Zalia smile, turning to head out, Zalia turning to Naruko. "The closet has some sleeping clothes, go ahead and get changed." Naruko looks to the closet, blushing as she gripped the sheets. "Mom, dad... can I sleep with you tonight?" Zalia smiles, walking over to stroke Naruko's hair. "Of course, Naruko. but get changed first." She looks down to the bright orange jumpsuit that Naruko was wearing, frowning as she sees several stitches and bloodstains. Naruko nods, smiling happily as she went over to the closet. Zalia chuckles, making her way to a different bedroom. "Come over to our room once you're finished changing."
Ithul'nir and Zalia change into some more comfortable clothes, Ithul'nir placing his sickle and cloak off to the side, Zalia placing her gauntlets on a table, smiling as she hugged Ithul'nir. "Ithul'nir… do you think we aren't rushing it a little? I mean... we only met her today, and we became her parents." Ithul'nir hugs his wife. "Zalia, she has suffered... far more than I did. I will not stand to have her suffer in this way. I don't regret adopting her. If anything, I'm glad that she makes you so happy." Zalia smiles, perking up as there was a knock at the door. Naruko peaks in. "Mom, dad... I'm dressed." Naruko walks in, wearing a pair of black shorts with an orange shirt, holding a small fox plushy. Zalia smiles, picking naruko up in a hug, bringing her over to the bed. Ithul'nir smiles, laying down on the other side of Naruko, wrapping his arms so that Naruko was in between him and Zalia, their arms holding her protectively. Naruko nuzzles into the hug, a small tear falling from her eye. "Thank you... mom. dad." Her breathing slows as she falls asleep, Zalia smiling as she closed her eyes. Ithul'nir summons his wings to wrap around his wife and daughter. He closes his eyes, smiling with his new family.
Okay, I think this went surprisingly well. As with before, I don't know exactly when I will update again, but I will try to do it sometime in the next two weeks. My friends and I are having a blast in our D&D campaign, and I will try to do my best to recreate some of the humorous moments we have had together. I hope that you all will support me in this task I have set out for myself, and I sincerely hop that I am finally able to finish one of my stories. That's all for now. I hope to see you, next time.