Disclaimer: I do not ownNaruto, it is owned by Masashi Kishimoto.
I do not have a Beta, nor am I looking for one.
This is my first story, hope you forgive my mistakes.
The Shinigami sat down in its throne with a grumpy expression... even if it was only bones, he knew his father enough to tell if he's in a bad mood.
"Another bad day, Master?"Shinigami glared at his daughter's friend for even asking that, "I'll take that as a yes."
"That mortal was lucky. Contracting me using the ShikiFūjin requires him to forfeit his soul and by extension, his life once the sealing is completed."Shinigami said, "However, for birthing the chosen one, I had decided to pardon this requirement. I took something dear to their family in return."
"What did you seal?"He asked, "It must've been immensely powerful for them to summon you."
"You are rather curious today, Verios,"Shinigami said, "I sealed the Kyuubi."
"I am merely concerned for my master,"Verios bowed, "I must excuse myself, I believe someone is calling for me."
He walked out of the throne room and headed for the training grounds, he remembered the last time he saw the Demon Fox Queen. Shaking his head from the somewhat painful memories he was glad that she was sealed once again... this was the third time if he wasn't mistaken.
In the private training ground Shinigami has provided for him and her daughter, Shi, to train for something he had no knowledge about. Nevertheless he was grateful... being the son of a low level demon and a human, he was ostracized and they sometimes even brutally beat him, his life was something like the Jinchuriki's he had heard when scavenging to put it short.
"Hey!"He looked up from his pondering to see a platinum blonde haired girl that reached her feet while some shorter strands are tied into braids. She had piercing azure eyes and a clear porcelain-like complexion, despite the raging fire that always accompanied her, "Wait up!"
"Shi,"He said, "What are you doing here?"
Shi Shinigami was the only daughter of the Shinigami and the unnamed demon, despite this she looked like a normal human girl with barely noticeable horns.
Shi stopped running next to him and smiled, "I got sick waiting for you! I thought something happened!"
He rubbed his raven hair in irritation,"You don't have to, I can handle myself... it's how I survived my first years."
"Well, I'm your friend!"She pouted, "And as you're friend I have a right to worry for you! Oh, Daddy told me to give you this letter."
'Master?'He thought, "... I can't read."
"What?!"For all the time she knew him, she had never thought he never knew how to read! Then how does he do those bounties, he was so fond of?
"You didn't have to be so loud,"Verios sighed, "And Leviathan always read then to me."
"Reads what?!"Did he read her mind?! Was his parent not just some low level demon? Or was he a low level demon with mind reading powers?!
"It was rather clear on your face,"He pointed out, "If you don't mind; read it for me would you?"
"Uh, sure."
"Verios Chaos, in 5 years you are to spy on an possible future threat in the realm of humans. While there you are to be named Kurushimi Zetsubo, I will tell you on who they are after five years... I recommend you enjoy what time with Shi you have left... This is not a request."
"What?!"Shi shouted, "What is Daddy thinking?! I object to this! Verios, don't do this! I'm sure I can convince him to make someone else do it!"
"Unfortunately,"He signed, "It seems that I have no choice. I'll meet you at the usual place." 'Seems like Master also wants me out of here... should've expected it... I wonder how long until Shi do this too?'
Verios walked with his hands in pocket through the city as he made his way where he, Shi and Leviathan mainly hung out, that being the training fields, one that was given to them by the Shinigami. As he took his time walking to the training fields, every demon and demoness he passed glared at him with hate and would've move to pummel him if not for the daughter of the Shinigami walking beside him.
Verios walked in silence, raising his hood to conceal his face. It took a while to get there, but after thirty minutes of walking and detours, courtesy of Shi getting lost, they have finally arrived. The remaining luck he had would have it, they were not the only ones there.
"Verios!" Said the only other demoness that isn't part god, a girl around the same age a Verios and Shi. She was of average height for her age (5) her long sapphire hair was tied into a ponytail with some bangs framing her cute face a bit, the girl's crimson eyes locking into him. She smiled, showing her sharper than possible canines. "How are you?"
This was Leviathan, descendant of the legendary Leviathan and daughter of the successor... all their names were Leviathan by the way.
Shi smiled an uneasy one, "We're... doing well, you?"She replied as they walked forward, her eyes sometimes glancing at the training ground. Her daddy made it look like the ones humans used, though she never went to the human world, her eyes dimmed a little when she remembered what he made Verios do. They had barely any time to hang out at it is!
The training field she and her friends favored, though it was more of a like in Verios' case, was pretty plain, with flat grass land look to it, though there were several boulders surrounding the large field in a circular pattern.
Verios suddenly got down on the ground and did his usual routine of exercises.
"I'm doing well too,"Leviathan said in amusement, "He's not usually like that? Even when he gets beaten he treats it like nothing and walks away."
"It's... complicated," Shi said, "Not really, but Daddy will make Verios leave us in 5 years to spy on a future threat. He also said to enjoy what time he had left with us."
"You think, he might make Verios leave the Underworld forever?"Leviathan asked, "I don't doubt it, but will you do it? We would miss you."
"I have too,"He paused to respond, "Master's orders are absolute, unless I make someone else my Master I can't deny anything he makes me do."
"Make one with me,"Leviathan offered and Shi offered.
They looked at each other in surprise, more shock on Leviathan's side, and they then got into an argument Verios automatically tuned them out as he focused on his training.
He's feeling something interesting might happen if he goes with the flow in this mission, that was the reason on why he even agreed... what he said before was true but this was mainly the only reason.
He was surprised on how fast five years passed hell he even dared to say yesterday he just had Shi read him the mission.
"Today's the day..."He silently said to himself, "I have to hurry, I don't want them stopping me... or following me."
Over the years, the hybrid has grown up quite a bit, with his hair being a bit spikier than he was a kid in addition of a different style. Being a demon baby fat automatically melts once he reaches the age of ten, he had grown quite a bit on the tall side, standing at an above average height for a human child, but below average for a demon.
Right now, Verios was planning on going to the Shinigami's palace for the mission. His plan was to get there fast and get out even faster and start the mission without Shi and Leviathan catching him.
"And where do you think you're going?!"So why? Why did they have to meet him as he exited the alley he slept in fact, how did they even know where he was? He never stayed in one place for too long, "Verios get back here this instant!"
'Tartarus is that way,'He glanced behind him and weighed his chances... they were not so good. Both of them were faster than him, but he knew the layout well... but, Shi has that thing that tracks him wherever he goes so shaking them off is out of the window.
When an idea came to him, he felt like stabbing himself for his stupidity. Gathering what humans calls 'chakra' to the shadows he ran straight into one and vanished.
"Damn that Shadow Sneak of his!"Shi punched the wall Verios had disappeared into, she only wanted to say something to him and now they will never get the chance.
"Come on! If we hurry I think we can make it,"Leviathan said, she looked at the girl which really haven't changed that much, growing a bit taller and more womanly.
"Right!"
"Step into the circle, and are you sure? Shi could be a very good companion andwill be someone to aid you well... in every way."Shinigami offered.
"I am sure,"
"Very well then, you're target is Uzumaki-NamikazeNatsume and Uchiha Satsuki and Sasuke. I sense they have the potential to either end this world, or save it... both bad outcomes to ours with the saving the less worse."
He brought up some pictures on what they are now.
"You are to stay in the shadows and observe them, participate in their lives as you see fit. I will provide you with the required necessities and the language they speak."
"Now step into the circle so that I may transport you to the human realm, your destination us the Hidden Leaf Village or Konoha in the Fire Country."
Doing exactly that he saw the glyph begin to light up until it was so blinding that he could not see anything, despite his enhanced vision.
Suddenly he felt two people slam themselves into his back, his eyes widened when he saw the platinum blonde hair and the sapphire hair that soon followed.
"As expected,"Shinigami said, "Shi... you chose him over the whole Underworld? And Leviathan... I have no words... Verios, or Zetsubo... Shi...Leviathanv will never return. This is a one way trip to the realm of the living."
"Leviathan... someone get me her mother, while the other two are impossible to get back unless faced with death once again. She and her family are the only ones that can traverse the living and the dead world at certain conditions."
"Sir!"A demon that had been maintaining the teleportation circle shouted, "There have been some unexpected changes due to your daughter's and lady Leviathan's sudden arrival!"
"What? Explain."
"Yes, sir! The changes are that they have been sent forward in time, approximately, three years from now!
"Ahhh!" The teleportation must've had some sort of malfunction because she was sure Dad would never sent Verios high into the air where he had no chance of surviving. She felt something cover her form in a firm hold and when she opened her eyes she saw Verios holding her and was somehow slowing their fall drastically.
"H-h-how?!" Shi shouted in his ear, "How are you?!"
On a side note Leviathan had little problem with the air as her form of the Leviathan was a dragon.
Leviathan's are from the line of the original and have always been a wide array of creatures ranging from a giant fish to a dragon like their Leviathan.
"Over there!" Leviathan pointed to a monument that had four carvings in them, "Hurry we don't have a lot of altitude." She may be a dragon but as her age proves she could only glide and not truly fly like the original.
Verios seeing that he was lower than her and doubted that he would reach their desired destination he tossed Shi to Leviathan, who barely caught her, and shouted, "I'll meet you there! Then we'll have a long, nice talk!"
She or Shi would've said more, but a sudden gust of wind blew them farther away from him.
Verios groaned when he felt his shadow kite break bits by bit, this was also another reason why he gave Shi to Leviathan... this technique was far, vary far from being mastered and with a final crack... he became one with the skies once again.
A young blonde haired girl could be found inside of her small room on the second floor, she was sitting on the windowsill her eyes glued to the private training ground in their back yard. Her eyes weren't fixated with the training grounds itself, rather the four figures within it. He moved out of the shadows and onto the roof top so she could see more clearly and perhaps learn a few things that she could practice on her own later. After all, her parents refused to teach her anything beyond unlocking her chakra and they were still actively taught her older siblings.
The girl's figure could now be seen. She had blood red hair hair with the end being slightly wavy and two cold grey eyes. She stood at a below average height for a ten-year old girl. She had two barely visible whisker marks on each sides of her face. This girl was none other than Uzumaki-Namikaze Natsume.
If you concentrate from where Natsume is staring you'll find them along with their parents in the distance. Yes, they were quite a distance away, but she was given incredible eyesight, she suspected it to be the resident Kyuubi chakra that she inherited from her mother when she was born. It seemed to have fused with her eyes.
At the training ground was the two older sister of Natsume with their mother, Uzumaki-Namikaze Kushina and their father, Uzumaki-Namikaze Minato. Otherwise known as the Red-Hot Habanero and the Yondaime Hokage respectively.
Before them was the aforementioned sisters, Uzumaki-Namikaze Mito and Uzumaki-Namikaze Narumi, trying and failing at tree climbing because of their terrible chakra control of the Yin and Yang chakra respectively. And what did she get? She got the good-for-nothing chakra entity herself.
"I heard that, brat!"
'I meant for you to!"
The one furthest to the left was Mito, who had silky red hair like their mother and her that went down to mid-back and deep violet eyes. She was extremely beautiful for a girl that is of ten years of age, she had the yin chakra.
The on in the furthest to the right was Narumi, sun kissed blonde hair that reached her mid-back and deep blue eyes, also extremely beautiful for a girl with ten years of age, she had the yang chakra.
Natsume had seen enough after seeing their mother and father smother and congratulate them for even making a small amount of progress.
Grabbing a pouch of shuriken and kunai off her dresser, don't ask where she got them, and left her barren room which only contained the essentials. She had decided to go to a secluded training ground for her own training.
Natsume stood in a clearing not too far away from the Uchiha Compound. She liked this place for its tranquility and silence it was very unlikely for anyone, less her parent, to catch her while training.
'From what I see,Kaa-san used chakra to walk up the tree. I'm guessing I need to figure out the amount of chakra needed, if I use too much chakra I'll be blown away and too little I won't stick.'
She looked at the tree, determination clear in her eyes pulled out a kunai to mark her progress. She began to gather chakra and sprinted.
Verios was falling, that was for certain and he can make another Shadow Kite to slow his fall but the chakra exhaustion would make him unconscious... those cost a lot of chakra and his control was mediocre at best. Looking below him, he saw what humans called 'sakura tree' and a girl tree climbing up it... he hoped she was a nice girl and would help some unconscious guy she had no knowledge of... he really hoped she would.
Gathering what chakra he had left he had his last Shadow Kite for the last time before embracing unconsciousness.
Natsume saw that a shadow was gradually getting bigger, looking up she saw a kite of some sort, upon closer inspection she saw that it was made of shadows; she thought only the Nara clan could use shadows and that was only for immobilization as far as she knows, which isn't much.
Back to the situation at hand at first the shadow was looking fine, but a moment after it started to break apart. Natsume was too busy watching it break apart than seeing the boy that was hanging from it fall and make a crater which he made upon impact.
She snapped out of her current state and rushed to the guy that fell, luckily he didn't fall that far from her so she got to him quiet quickly. She was shocked to see a boy around her age laid inside of a crater bigger than a medium sized boulder.
"Oh my God! Are you okay?!" Natsume gasped, "Hang on! I'll take you to the-"
"No... need," Verios groaned, he had more chakra than he thought he did, "I'm Kurushimi Zetsubou, you?"
"How are you?!" No human her age could survive that high of a fall, "Wha- Oh, I'm Uzumaki-Namikaze Natsume. Why were you falling and what was that shadow?"
'If my memory serves, this girl is a target, the one with the Kyuubi if he wasn't mistaken.'
"The shadow was my kekkei genkai," To tell the truth, he actually didn't know where it came from. His mother wasn't a kunoichi with a kekkei genkai and his father sure as hell didn't have the power to manipulate shadows. He asked The Shinigami, but even he didn't know where it came from. nevertheless he practiced with it and became quite good at it.
He tried to teach Shi that but the result was a pissed off princess and a very burnt training field. So it can't be a hiden. He felt something crawl up his spine when he remembered what Shi's father did to her when he found out, keeping living grass and trees in the underworld is no easy task even for the Shinigami.
"A kekkei genkai? I never heard of where one can make shapes with shadows, the Nara clan have something similar but I don't think that's one," She said, "I still don't get why you were falling though."
"Long story short some stuff happened and I was sent to the skies." He shrugged, "Me and my friends were separated while we were up there, I think they landed somewhere on that mountain."
"Damn, you must've been sent pretty high up." She said, "Come on, I'll help you get there, you must be new here right? Then that must mean you don't know you're way around here right?"
"That much is true, wait, what? Will you really do that? to a boy you just met no less," He asked,
"No problem," She smiled, "Besides, I was heading there myself."
"Thanks, Natsume."
Zetsubou took a step forward before something akin to an animal's growl was heard. Natsume took a few kunai in case a threat appeared, until another growl was heard, this time the location from where it cam became clear.
"Uhmmm..." She blushed, "Can we... eat first? I... haven't eaten yet."
"Same," He said, "Where to?"
"There's a ramen place that my family likes," She said, "The ramen there isn't half-bad too."
"... Ra...men?" All his life in the underworld and the time he spent in the secret library which Shinigami had only allowed him entrance to... have not contained the dish called ramen.
"You don't know?" She asked, "You're not from anywhere around here aren't you?"
"No, not even close," He admitted, "I'm from somewhere some people can't go without meeting a certain condition."
"Oh, can you tell me about it while we walk?" She asked, "And I'll tell you about Konoha."
"Are you sure?" He asked the underworld really isn't something he could freely talk about and he doubt that he could say half-truths without Kyuubi noticing the underworld, "Where I come from isn't the... most friendly of places."
"Yeah, I'm sure," She smiled, "Oh, hey we're already here. We walked faster than I thought, or maybe it was closer than I remembered."
Ichiraku Ramen her older sisters' favorite spot in the whole village. As their shop's name said they serve ramen here. It was a small restaurant.
"Choose one, I'll pay for you."
"I appreciate the offer, but I can pay for my own," To prove his point he took a wallet that looked like an wolf's fang and pulled out some ryo enough to pay for one meal, "How about I pay for yours, I have enough to spare and I have to do something to repay you."
"Really?!" She was really running low on funds and her parents always forget to give her allowance, "Thanks."
"Two miso ramen here please!"
Zetsubou poke at the noodles with a puzzled expression on his face and slowly brought up some noodles to his mouth, "... I don't like it."
"It's not that bad," She giggled, "By the way, how old are you? Are you going to the academy?"
"I'm ten," He said, "Academy?"
"The academy the Nidaime Senju Tobirama built it for military purposes and for kids that want to be a ninja, be it civilian or from a clan."
"Oh, are attending?" He asked, "You look like you want to be a ninja for a purpose, not just to protect this... village."
"Yeah, I started five years ago! If you ever decide to enroll, I promise I'll help you!"
"... I'll think about it."
"Rea-"
"Hey!"
A voice Natsume was all too familiar with was heard, "Narumi look, it's our loser of a sister!"
"Natsume, how about you treat your older sisters a meal?" She requested, "And who is this?"
"A friend," Zetsubou said shocking the Uzumaki-Namikaze family members especially Natsume, "Is there a problem?"
"..."
"Well?" He asked, "This ramen really isn't any good... Natsume once you finish yours let's go."
Natsume nodded and stood up, "I already did."
Mito tried to stop them, but something about the boy made her tremble in fear, "W-what?"
"Hey," Natsume started, "Did you... mean that? About me being your friend."
"Was I mistaken?" He asked, "We could stop,"
"No, no, no! I'm fine with it," She stuttered, "More than fine actually."
"Where is he?!" Shi began to pace after five minutes of waiting for their raven haired friend, "It's been hours and still no sign of him!"
"Calm down," Leviathan yawned, "Didn't you have a tracker on him?"
"It got lost when we got transported," Shi groaned, "Can't you fly around then come back here with him?!"
"I already told you, I can't fly," She said, "Not now, not ever!"
"There's gotta be something we can do!"
"Oh, there he is,"
"Where?!" The spiritual flames that followed her around became yellow with excitement and relief, "Veri- mphf!"
"Shh! There's someone with him," Leviathan whispered, "While we're here his name is Zetsubou not Verios, remember that!"
"I know! I know!" Shi yelled, "Hey, Zetsubou!"
"Shi," He smiled, "I'm alright here, and thanks for your help, Natsume."
"You're very much welcome," She smiled, "I'll see you later!"
Zetsubou watched her head to the fourth head that was carved on the mountain and just sat there, watching the sunset.
"You've kept us waiting!" Shi pouted, "Who's she?"
"Uzumaki-Namikaze Natsume," He said, "And was watching her pace while waiting for me entertaining, Leviathan?"
"Very," She giggled, "You should've seen it, her flames were constantly flickering and the faces she made were hilarious, but listening to her rant for hours on end was irritating."
Shi pouted, "Hey! I was really worried, you know. This village may have a happy and friendly vibe to it, but I can feel that it was only a mask!"
Zetsubou ignored her in favor of looking at the sunset, "Its getting dark, we have to find an somewhere to stay the night soon."
"I think I saw some when we were heading here..." He muttered to himself.
"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Shi asked, "Let's go already!"
"Hold you're horses," Zetsubou sighed, "We have no clue where to find one and no idea on how much it costs."
"Leviathan what do you s- Leviathan? Where did you go?" The sapphire haired girl that was standing behind them had disappeared with no trace on where she went, the grass swayed peacefully with the wind and the only thing they found was her ribbon, but that doesn't tell them where she went. They do know that she is missing no though.
"She was right here just a second ago," Shi muttered her flames changing into the color of purple, "Oh well, she could just join us later, come on! Let's look for one! I'm sure we can find one."
Her purple flames changed to red.
"Wait," A voice Shi wasn't familiar with said, "I can help you with that."
"Who're you?"
"Uzumaki-Namikaze Natsume," She said, "I know a place that's cheap and close to the academy."
"Are you sure? You already did enough for us, as is," Zetsubou asked.
"Anything for a friend," She smiled.
"Hey, Zetsubou!" Shi pouted, "What happened to not being a social person?! I thought we were you're only friends?" Not that he didn't want to have him get more friends, but she's getting bad vibes from this person, even if there was some good one mixed with those.
"Don't mind her," He said, "She's Shi Shiori, a friend of mine."
"Nice to meet you," Natsume smiled, "Hey, what's that?"
She pointed to the flames that was hovering around Shi, which were a deeper color of red than before, she swore that it was purple not too long ago. Another kekkei genkei maybe, if so she wondered what it could do.
"This?" Shi asked, "This are something I got from my dad, never asked what it was called."
Natsume led them to a two story building, from the front it looked like a fairly well kept building, there was no real damage or decay viable to the eye. A plain grey, it wasn't the most eye catching but it did look nice. Making their way up to the end of the second floor, they noticed that it seemed like there weren't any occupants of the building besides them, the dust had covered the top and bottom of the doors a clear indicator that they haven't been opened in quite some time.
The inside were fairly regular, three rooms, a living room, a small kitchen, two showers, one storage room and somewhere to do their laundry.
All in all it was a pretty nice apartment. In addition to that it was cheap too.
Natsume mentioned that her house was close by and she will visit them to give them a tour of the village, the academy if they wanted to enroll. She said goodbye soon after, Zetsubou looked at the refrigerator and saw some food he called Shi for dinner, after that they both made their way to their respective bedrooms. Shi tried to persuade him to sleep in the same room, he was having none of it.