Chapter 1:
Prologue: A Living Prison of Blood and Bone
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto don't you think that I would be working on the next Manga chapter rather than writing this?
Beta's Additional Facts: No Yamamato wouldn't. He would instead goof off and write this to make fun of his own manga.
Author: That's so true.
Anguished screams tore through the air as men, women and children experienced the final moments of their lives. Bodies limply flew over buildings, giving them the appearance of rag-dolls. Flames licked at the night sky as the whole village burned.
Konoha, the strongest ninja village in the world, sat under siege, but not by any average foe. Konoha had actually been at peace with the surrounding shinobi nations for a while, the only trouble coming from Kumo, and that sporadically.
The city, blood soaked streets, smoke scorching throats, laid assaulted by a force of nature, one that appeared without warning. A towering, crimson fox, capable of leveling whole mountains with a flick of its tail, stands just outside of Konoha, watching and listening to what he wrought with something that can only get compared to a smile on its snout. Its mere presence, more than enough to make all but the most hardened warriors sink to their knees and pass out, whipped the village into a hysterical frenzy.
It had already done more than enough to kill all those pests that would dare cage such power. All it took had been a few well-placed flicks, and the whole village grew alight with searing conflagration, making them shriek tormentingly for help before burning to cinders. The most terrifying aspect of the whole night, though, something seared into the minds of all, remained the towering fox just standing there, watching the roaring inferno, the buildings topple, and listening to the heart pumping screams. If anyone had been in their right minds, it wouldn't take a genius to figure out that the beast wanted to watch them all burn, slowly.
Occasionally, it flicked its tail and flattened a ninja that managed to hurt it without looking, or a civilian that caught its eye; like that women running away, cradling a tiny bundle in her arms. Sometimes it even roared, shaking crimson sky, for the sole reason to see pathetic humans run around frantically. Most of the time, though, it just stood there, looming over the destruction like a corrupt watcher, not even sparing a glance at the ninja swarming around its feet like enraged ants.
Unless someone dealt with the Kyuubi soon, the entire village would burn to the ground, nothing but a bitter memory of days long passed. In a bunker deep within the earth, two people worked on a way to save the village. One sat in a rickety old chair, the other knelt by a small, blue bundle, whispering words of regret.
The First Hokage had the bunker built within the early years of Konoha's birth. It sprawled for dozens of miles under Konoha. A labyrinth of dark hallways, musty rooms and forgotten armories of obsolete weaponry gathering dust, it had been out of use since the Second Great War. It smelled like a damp cave, despite its water-proof concrete walls.
Standing inside that bunker, the safest place in Fire Country, troubled the men. While they sat there the beast far above had free reign to do whatever it pleased, a privilege it seized with gusto. The bunker resided so deep in the earth the occasional beast's roar faded to nothing more than a whisper. Dust shook loose from the rare tail-strike far above, making an almost imperceptible haze. The only inhabited bunker room bathed in darkness, a few candles spaced around the only things keeping the dark at bay.
"Done." said the calming voice of Minato Namikaze as he straightened his back and stood up. He had a mane of spiky, blonde hair and gentle blue eyes holding the fire of a warrior. Moments before he finished making a very complex seal, a seal that would save the village of Konoha and thousands, if not millions, of lives. He may have been in a hurry but he couldn't leave without saying goodbye.
Gazing at an old man sitting at the end of the room, Minato got ready. The man had a weathered face lined with wrinkles, graying hair starting to thin out and a look telling the world he had survived many, many hardships. His eyes struck people the most, though. They held the burning determination of an experienced leader and a hardened gaze that told all who looked at him that in his seventy years of existence; he had made countless difficult decisions. However those eyes also held such compassion and kindness, many ninja in the past, and future, have and will have trusted him with their lives.
"Hiruzen," Minato said clearly, "I'm naming you my replacement." he smiled grimly, looking downward with a tear trailing from his eye. "Good luck with the paperwork that's going to come with this mess."
Hiruzen smiled, the expression never reaching his eyes. "Are you sure you want to go through with this?" he questioned. "I'm perfectly capable doing it in your stead. You have so much to live for. I'm an old bag of bones, and you're not even thirty. Plus-"
Minato cut him off, voice frantic. "It took me two weeks to master this jutsu all those years ago. There's no way you'll master it in five minutes! Even if you got the basics down in that time, there's still a big chance you'll mess up when using it on the Kyuubi. It's a lot safer this way."
"But-"
"There's no time to argue," interrupted Minato again. "The fox could level the entire village at any moment!"
He turned deftly and walked slowly toward the center of an enormous, intricate seal. A small, blue bundle of blankets lay motionless within it, stirring occasionally. He bent over and picked it up carefully, so that he wouldn't smear the still drying ink or disturb the occupant. Cradling the treasure in his arms gently, he gazed upon the small, tired face peeking out of it, deep, blue eyes brimming with innocence and curiosity.
"Naruto," the Yondaime Hokage began softly, "I can't apologize enough for what is going to happen, but if I don't do something, then our home and everyone in it will die. I know this might make your life more difficult than it should be, but I know that most will see you for what you really are- my son and a normal boy. I'm sorry that neither I nor Kushina will see you grow up into a young man," a single tear landed on the dozing baby's cheek, jolting the drowsing baby out of its tired haze. "but I know you will be the greatest child that will ever step foot into this village. I'm so sorry."
He laid the boy back down in the middle of the seal, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.
"Minato, please let me do it." Hiruzen started, his pipe laying in his hand, unlit, "If you die who will take care of Naruto, who will lead the village? You should-"
Minato's head snapped up, his expression and burning eyes stopping Hiruzen mid-sentence. The look etched on Minato's face held such ferocity, it would send the most rabid of animals running for its life; the look of a man who would give up his life freely and gladly so that the one he loved would live on.
Hiruzen knew nothing could stop him now. Sighing, face resigned, he said, "I'll look after him."
Minato nodded gratefully and walked to the door, only pausing to look back once. He opened it, making it groan dejectedly, and stepped through. Steeling himself for events to come, Minato slammed the door shut behind him.
If he had checked the seal he drew so hastily, he would have noticed a small, negligible mistake on one side of the seal; a curving line no more than a finger's width thicker than all surrounding it.
Seals needed very precise hands, for the smallest of errors could have the greatest of consequences. A small pebble thrown into a pond causes large ripples, and what happened in the room during the coming hour would change the course of history for thousands of years to come, for better and for worse.
30 minutes later:
Torn out of his musings, Hiruzen turned to a the sharp cries of a baby shrouded in a veil of blinding, white light. Searing light illuminated the entire room; making corners once bathing in darkness stand out, alien and timid. He watched, seals surrounding the bundle converged on the wailing blankets. After an agonizing wait, the ethereal light slowly faded away, the cries of a newly awakened newborn dieing off.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood up from his rickety, oaken chair and walked apprehensively toward the gurgling bundle. He gently picked it up and started rocking it gently, he knew the tiny newborn still hadn't fell asleep. Not soon after, the child's eyes snapped open, shocking the retired Hokage and making him freeze.
Instead of the unrestrained glee and innocence that can only exist in the eyes of a newborn child, his eyes sat engulfed by a spark of intelligence. As the Third watched, that small spark grew into a roaring inferno. Not once did the child avert his gaze, seeming to size him up.
With his heart thundering in his chest, Hiruzen's mind raced trying to find an explanation.
'I don't think this happened to Kushina. That can't be good can it?' Baby eyes pierce into Hiruzen's, the intensity of the glare making his arms lose their strength from shock. Hiruzen fumbled for the child, desperately trying to catch him before he struck the concrete floor. A cry of surprise that quickly turned to one of joy pierced the air as the child fell. Hiruzen caught Naruto when he realized that it came from the bundle in his arms.
Hiruzen stared at the child, who now giggled happily. Naruto stared back at Hiruzen for a moment before going silent. He scrunched up his face cutely and moved his lips, as if trying to say something. Gargles slipped between the boy's lips as they scrunched together, writhing around. For a few moments he held that expression, then smoothed it out and slowly dozed off, seeming to think it far more important.
Hiruzen stared at the slumbering child, thousands of possibilities running though his mind but one thing he knew certainly.
His life just took an interesting turn.
OoOoOoOoOo
"I know it's late, but we have important things to discuss." said Hiruzen, tiredly.
He sat in a raised throne. On one side of him sat the ninja council, the Aburame clan, the Inuzuka clan, the Yamanaka, the Hyūga, the Akimichi, the Nara, and the Uchiha heads. On the other side of him sat civilian members, people elected by popular vote to their positions. On his immediate right sat one of his advisers, Homura Mitokado, a man with graying hair including a beard, wrinkles lining his old forehead, and thick, green glasses over his eyes. On his left sat his other adviser, Koharu Utatan, an old woman with squinted eyes, graying hair and earrings.
Both of them had been part of Hiruzen's genin squad many years ago. They had survived many tough situations together, like when they fought the fox advancing on Konoha, evident since they still wore their combat armor. Hiruzen had to retreat to aid Minato with setting up the seal, though, and he worried.
They sat, along with the other council members, in the old council chamber under the Hokage tower. The floor, once white and rough, had grown dark and polished with decades of traffic. In the center of the floor sat the village's symbol, a green leaf. The stands in which the Hokage and the council rested had once been pale and splintered, but decades of use, much hand thumping and hundreds of moving speeches later they laid dark and pitted with marks. The walls, once a glossy black when built, faded away to a dull gray.
That place, a place that had seen much, had an almost indistinguishable air about it. If one paid attention, they could feel wisdom, frustration, and calmness coming off the walls in waves; the spirit of that room, a spirit that refused to die.
"Then let's get this over with. It's been a troublesome day," demanded a man named Shikaku Nara. He had spiky, black hair, a small goatee and a hard yet lazy face lined with scars.
Many murmurs of approval bounced around, accompanied by more than a few eye rubs.
Once the grumbles died off, Hiruzen started, "As we all know, not long ago, Minato, the newly appointed Fourth Hokage, sacrificed himself to save the village." several people, who, at first looked tired, looked depressed. Only two people showed no visible reaction, Danzo; a man with black hair, wrinkled features, several scars, a bandage over his right eye and forehead, and an emotionless visage, and the ever stoic Hiashi Hyūga; a man with long, black hair, white eyes without a pupil or iris, and an emotionless face currently tied with Danzo's in faces that would make Konoha's most famous interrogator, Ibiki, jealous. Many people also said he beat the sun in a staring contest.
Twice.
"In doing so,"continued Hiruzen, "he sealed the demon in a newborn boy orphaned in the attack."
A few fearful screeches rang.
"Kill it before it gets stronger!" yelled one hysteric councilor.
"We should dispose of it before it kills us all!" yelled another.
"Shut up you fools." muttered Danzo angrily from his shadowy corner, somehow heard over the din.
"Enough!" roared Hiruzen.
Hiruzen waited for everyone to settle down before continuing. "We are not going to kill him. He's just a normal baby boy. Do you have so little faith in Minato's skill at sealing as to suggest such a thing?"
Nobody responded.
"Danzo," Hiruzen grumbled scornfully, "you seem to have something else in mind. What do you suggest?"
Danzo's eye lit minutely while his face remained impassive. Slowly, trying to keep confusion out of his tone, he said, "I think we should put him in a special program, one that will ensure i- his loyalty to the village and make him strong enough to protect us from any threat, foreign and domestic. After all, it would be shame to let such potential be wasted."
Those who couldn't see where Danzo went with his suggestion applauded his speech. Everyone else kept their faces impassive save a single, angry civilian councilor who stared at him hotly, trying to will Danzo to burst into flames.
"No Danzo," retorted Hiruzen bitterly, "he isn't going into your R.O.O.T. program. It might have been necessary in the last war, but the only things that come out of it now are emotionless killing machines with questionable loyalties. I know for a fact that if Minato was alive to hear such a thing, he would kill you in a heartbeat." The applause died off as Danzo met Hiruzen's heart-thumping glare with an impassive one of his own. It went on like that for a few seconds before he looked away, deciding it best not to waste his time with some foolish test of bravado.
Turning away Hiruzen continued, addressing the whole council, "There is no reason why he shouldn't grow up normally. If we were to kill him it would only spit on Minato's sacrifice, and if we put him in Danzo's program that would be a far worse fate."
Silence met this.
"So, to protect this child, and to give him a chance at life, a law will be passed to stop anyone talking about what truly happened tonight unless it's to a person that already knows. Anyone that breaks this law will be executed so fast, they won't have any time to write their wills."
Uncomfortable shuffling greeted that declaration.
"All in favor?"
Everyone raised their hands, even the handful of people who thought it best to kill the child. Little did they know that the boy slumbering within the cradle across the room, would one day bring them their salvation, and their doom.
Last Edit: 3-11-11
Changed it back to past tense, tis about it.
Please tell me what ya'll think about my new writing style.