To Keep A Promise

Before you read the chapter, please note that my portrayal of Naruto is going to be different than many others and it will stray from his canon personality. Personally, I believe if Naruto had been raised differently, he would not be the same as his canon counterpart but, he will retain some traits. In this story, I will have Naruto be the reincarnation of Indra Ōtsutsuki instead of Ashura (Asura) Ōtsutsuki. Please understand that so in a sense he will not be like his canon self.

Chapter 1: A New World

As dust particles danced across the barren skies casting a blanket of darkness bellow an army of shinobi. Shinobi from every one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries stood there facing two men garbed in menacing crimson red armor, silence reigned supreme as men and women alike stood there facing two individuals who could easily be classified as carnage incarnate. Wariness washed over the army of shinobi as they stood there eyeing the duo with fearful yet determined gazes, though fear plagued their hearts they remained stubborn and still stood up to defy the two. Among the waves of fearful men were the leaders of each Shinobi Village, each Kage stood proud even though they held various wounds and fatigue was evident in their movements.

Tsunade Senju, the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato stood among her counterparts dressed in torn grey, kimono-style blouse with no sleeves, a dark bluish-grey obi matching her pants. Her open-toed, strappy black sandals with high heels was decorated with dried blood. Tsunade's straight, shoulder-length blonde hair that was tied in two loose ponytails was a complete mess, the haori she usually wore was lost in the destroyed lands that was used as a battlefield. Her brown eyes were glaring at the two crimson armored figures with hate and disdain as she clenched her fists in barely subdued anger.

Standing beside Tsunade, was her counter part from Sunagakure no Sato, Gaara the Godaime Kazekage. With fair skin, green eyes that lacked pupils that had tanuki-like black rings around them, and short spiky red hair. Decorating the left side of his forehead was the Kanji for love, dressed in a long-sleeved crimson coat and full-length dark trousers and a traditional Suna flak jacket over his coat. Strapped to his back with the help of two buckled belts was a gourd containing his sand.

An angry growl resonated from the throat of A, the Yondaime Raikage of Kumogakure no Sato. A was a tall dark-skinned man with a large muscular build, with his blonde hair combined back, a small moustache and breard. His face was very distinguished with pronounced cheekbones and tear troughs under his eyes, and a prominent crease across his forehead. Garbed in a traditional Kage haori without a shirt underneath showing off his hulking figure, loose black pants were worn over his legs and a golden belt with a boar engraved in its center.

"Those bastards just wont stay down!" A growled in annoyance as his eyes caught the sight of more humanoid figures with pale white skin, short green hair, and yellow eyes moved closer to the shinobi army.

"We wont last any longer if the Uchihas remain alive. Those White Zetsu's will continue to come towards us if they are still active, if we do not act fast then we will be overwhelmed." an elderly voice sounded out beside Tsunade.

"Onoki, Madara was enough to keep all five of as at bay, but with his damned grandson to support him how can we touch the man?" A hissed in another annoyance filled tone.

Onoki, a very short, old man with a triangular beard and a moustache that held angular corners, with a big red nose and thick eyebrows. With the top of his head being completely bald, he had long white hair on the lower-half of his head which was styled in a traditional chomage hair cut, with a yellow riboon holding the back of it in a topknot. Dressed in a green and yellow coat with a red collar, he wore the traditional Iwagakure outfit consisting of a light green version of the Iwagakure flak jacket and mesh armour. As the eldest of them all, Onoki was the Sandaime Tsuchikage of Iawgakure no Sato.

The most inexperienced Kage of them all was Mei Terumī, Godaime Mizukage of Kirigakure no Sato. A tall, slender woman in her thirties she, like Gaara she had green eyes, auburn hair styled into a herrigone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark band, and with four bangs at the front. Wearing a long-sleeved, dark blue dress that fell below her knees, she wore mesh armour under the dress, along with a matching skirt, and mesh leggings, tied around her waist was a belt with a belt attached to the back of the left along with high-heeled sandals and shinguards. None the less, the lesser experience Kage spoke her opinion in a calming tone, "A-dono, there is no need to get riled up. We cannot fight amongst each other if we wish to defeat Madara and his grandson."

"Terumī-dono is correct." Gaara said as he caught every Kage's attention. "We must combat them once again, the Jubi is being handled by Bee-dono so we must defeat the Uchiha's and free it of their control."

Tsunade merely nodded her head in approval, but her gaze never left the two Uchiha's standing above a rock formation with their arms crossed.

"Naruto." a fair-skinned man with spiky, black hair with a slight blue tint to it reached down to his waist with shoulder-length bangs framing hiss face, covering most of his right eye. Dressed in crimson armor made of numerous metal plates, forming protective guards along his chest, waist, shoulders and thighs. Underneath it was a blue high-collared, long sleeve mantle that split down the lower haf and a simple, light-brown obi and a belt. "It seems the Allied Shinobi Forces still wish to dance, prepare yourself."

"Hai, Madara-ojii-chan." came the response of an teenager with sun-kissed, spiky blonde hair, bright blue eyes, with a round face that had oddly shaped whisker-like birthmarks decorating it. Dressed in a similar fashion, unlike Madara who did not have a orange-brown Gunbai strapped to his back like he did.

"The Jubi will be hear soon." Madara spoke once more as his crimson red three tomoed eyes spun in a bored fashion. "Let us deal with these nuisances before it does, I desire to cast the Infinite Tsukiyomi soon. Peace is right around the corner, my grandson, do not fail me."

"Hai, Madara-ojii-chan." Naruto responded as he looked at his grandfather in the eye, peering into his Sharingan. "But, Jiji, is this the only way to bring peace?"

"Naruto, is your resolve wavering now?" Madara asked as he turned to gaze at his grandson with a emotionless gaze. "Man seeks peace, yet at the same time yearning for war... Those are the two realms belonging solely to man. Thinking of peace whilst spilling blood is something that only humans could do, they are two sides of the same coin. Remember the pain they have caused you, my grandson. Remember the lives taken before your very eyes just to satisfy their never ending greed. Remember the corruption. Remember your promise."

Naruto was silent for a second as his his blue eyes dimmed and pain seemed to emit from them, memories flashed through his mind reminding him of what kind of place the Elemental Nations truly was. And most importantly, memories of desperate screams and tears continued to replay in his mind. Fists clenched, Naruto raised his head with his determination rekindled, turning to his grandfather, Naruto replied, "Hai, Ojii-chan. Lets bring peace to this world."

A smirk found its way onto Madara's emotionless facade as he returned his gaze towards the shinobi army standing in front of them. Numerous screams and battle cries filled the air and the shinobi army charged forward, following their movements was an army of White Zetsu. As both armies streamed forward, Madara formed a single hand seal and built chakra into his lungs, kneading it into fire chakra. "Katon: Goenka (Great Flame Flower)!"

As a multitude of massive fireballs spewed from Madara's mouth, they shot into the air and rained down on the approaching shinobi army. Explosions of fire consumed a good portion of the army, dust kicked into the air creating an smokescreen that shielded a decent amount of the shinobi army as the first sounds of fighting rang out loud and clear, prompting more and more forces from both sides to continue their tunneled charge. Naruto watched on with a pained expression present on his features, though he did not wish for this to happen, his grandfather proved himself to be correct as they had attempted to create peace through negotiations and peace talks, but that ended in flames. With villages backstabbing other villages, Naruto had decided to go along with his grandfathers plans, even though a small part of him still desired to obtain peace through understanding rather than exertion.

Leaping into the air, Naruto sailed across the barren skies landing in between a group of shinobi. Avoiding a Katana slash, Naruto grabbed hold of his attackers arm and yanked him forward. Disarming him quickly, Naruto used the very weapon that had made an attempt at his life on the man's comrades. Slicing two men down in quick succession, Naruto impaled a woman through the stomach and kicked her into a group of approaching shinobi with an explosive tag attached to the dead woman's chest. As the explosion consumed more of the shinobi, Naruto charged directly into the heart of the Allied Shinobi Forces. Ignoring battles that surrounded him, Naruto drove deeper and deeper into the heart of the shinobi forces, taking down whomever got his way, the blonde sliced through another man and finally he could enjoy the fruits of his labor. After leaping over another man, Naruto came face to face with the Five Kage's.

"Naruto Uchiha." A growled out as he looked at the new arrival in anger and distaste. "So, you finally came for us."

As a tense atmosphere shrouded them, Naruto did not respond immediately prompting silence from every individual. Studying A, Naruto spoke in an almost pleading tone, "Please, just surrender. If you do, Oji-chan and I will not take anymore lives. There is no need for this unnecessary bloodshed, have your men surrender and we can finally take the first steps towards peace."

"Peace" Onoki spat out that word in utter aversion. "You speak of peace like you are the ones trying to bring something like that into reality. Every man and woman, every droplet of blood, every tear, every life, and every family you have tore apart. Is that how you bring peace!"

Wincing at his words, Naruto adopted a pained and sad expression as he eyed the elderly Kage. "Tsuchikage-jiji, tell me. How would you bring peace to this corrupt world, trying to do it the civil way only ended up in failure. Time and time again, we Ojii-chan and I tried to bring peace through civil ways, but this world refused to accept peace and fought for their greed."

"Then you bring peace through war?" Tsunade shouted in anger as she glared at the blonde. "You attempt to bring peace through violence, don't make me laugh."

"Humans only understand violence." Naruto concluded as he eyed her with the same sad eyes as before. "As much as we humans try to deny our animalistic side, there is no hiding it. We humans yearn for violence, our desire for war is what is stopping us from achieving peace. If we use the Infinite Tsukiyomi, every dreadful desire, every wish, every dream, will be granted without hurting others to achieve it."

As the Five Kage's silently pondered on his words, A, the easiest to aggravate of the five consumed himself in a layer of blue lightning and charged. The sudden action caught every one of them off guard, Naruto quickly poured chakra into his eyes and they began to shift into a pair of crimson red ones with three tomoes swimming in the endless lake of red. Barely managing to lean to the right, Naruto dodged a charge from A. This impressive feat was soon forgotten when a sea of sand surrounded Naruto and began crushing him, attempting to break free, Naruto cursed his luck and quickly substituted himself with a log saving himself the pain of being crushed by sand. Landing a few meters away from the Kage's, Naruto quickly unstrapped his Gubai and began kneading chakra into his lungs.

A second later, Naruto formed the Tiger Hand Seal with his free hand and spat out a stream of scorching fire. Bringing his fan into hand, Naruto added chakra into it and swung it with all his might. As a ferocious gust of wind swept into the fire, a wave of roaring fire soon came into creation and charged towards the Kage's. All five of them dodged with ease, but they did not escape Naruto's next attack unscathed. Another fiery stream shot towards them as they soared into the air, Gaara, quickly formed a wall of sand before him and the person closest to him, which was Mei. Tsunade did not have much of a counter for his attack as Onoki quickly flew towards her in an attempt of assisting his counterpart. Naruto had already formed numerous clones as they rushed into the air with a sphere of spiraling chakra in their hands.

As the spheres of chakra made contact with their targets, numerous explosions decorated the sky. Naruto was all bit curious as to how effective his attack was, the Rasengan, an attack his father had created based on the Biju's Tailed Beast Bomb was an A-Rank close ranged offensive attack. Though it was incomplete, it still held power to kill an individual if every condition was met. Much to his dismay, memories from his clones rushed into his mind and the blonde quickly dodged a torrent of scalding water sent his way. Creating some distance from him and the Kage's, Naruto took in the fact that A and Onoki had some bruised and bloodied injuries whilst Gaara, Mei, and Tsunade had minor ones. Tsunade quickly moved behind them to heal their injuries, her hands glowing in a unique green light she tended to both Rai and TuschiKage's injuries whilst Gaara and Mei stepped forward.

"Give up, please." Naruto pleaded once more as he had no desire of harming others and only wished for this nightmare to be over. "My offer still stands, if you give up now, there will no longer be fighting."

"Like hell we would give up." A snarled in barely held back rage. "We will fight till our last breath, we will never be ensnared in your damned illusion. We will not stand to see this world in that god forsaken peace you call it."

A sigh escaped Naruto's lips as he began pouring more chakra into his eyes and the tomoes that spun around in a slow paste, quickly formed a single shape. Once they stopped spinning, the Five Kage's were then given sight of Naruto's Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. Three large tomoes with circles at their tops overlapping each other at the bottoms and encircling the pupil, in the middle of that formation was a singular black pupil with a large fuma shuriken overlapping the connected tomoes.

"Then I have no choice." Naruto began as he buried his feelings and steeled his heart. "I promised to crush the corrupt shinobi system."

The Five Kage's readied themselves and eyed Naruto with wary filled eyes, the blonde on the other hand gripped his Gunbai harder and images of a beautiful crimson haired woman flashed through his mind before disappearing as quickly as it appeared.

"And I never go back on my promises."

It felt like he was sinking, as far as he could see through his half opened eyes was just darkness. As Naruto slowly sank into the blackness, all he could think about was what had happened after the final clash. The war had quickly ended with both him and his grandfather being consumed by a collapsing space-time technique. A endless rift had absorbed both grandson and grandfather, no matter how much both Uchiha's struggled, the rift remained adamant on consuming them. How a random rift that tore through space and time came to existence was due to Kakashi Hatake, the silver haired Jonin had used the Mangekyou technique, Kamui (Authority of the Gods) on them in hopes of sending them into the other dimension. That plan had failed, but with some of the Shinobi and Hachibi assaulting the Jubi, that rift had been exposed to both positive and negative chakra. As that strange combination mixed, Naruto and Madara had been consumed, sending them into the peerless darkness. Naruto had attempted to escape by grabbing onto something with his right hand, but his endeavor had been a failure when the rift closed taking his arm with it.

And that unknown location was where Naruto was currently located, where Madara had gone off to was not known by Naruto. All there was was darkness, nothing else existed in this void aside from that darkness. Sadness and guilt consumed his mental state as Naruto continued to sink, all he could think now, was a single sentence. A single sentence that originated from a promise to a single person, that single person had set him on the path for peace. And he had failed her.

I failed Kaa-chan... I'm sorry...

Repeating that sentence like a mantra, a single tear was shed. The image of a beautiful woman with long, crimson red hair and a gentle smile formed in his mind and Naruto could not help, but allow the darkness to entangle him further. As Naruto was being consumed by his emotions, the sea of darkness that was hungrily eating him away. Not even attempting to get out of his current situation, Naruto's bright blue eyes dimmed drastically. That same image of the crimson haired woman continued to flow into his mind, random flashes of memories revolving around that woman played in his head. Until a single memory repeated itself like a broken record.

Naruto focused in on that memory and nostalgia flooded his mind, he remembered that day. It was that day where his beloved Kaa-chan, Kushina Uzumaki, had comforted him when he had failed to preform Katon: Gokakyu. Her words resonated from the back of his mind, they rang loud and clear.

Don't give up, Naruto-chan. It may seem hard, and Kaa-chan can't promise tomorrow will be easy. But, if you fall, and never get back then how will you ever accomplish your dreams? Promise me, Naruto-chan... No matter how many times you fall... Always stand back up...

A light was rekindled in his blue eyes as Naruto replayed those words and a smile broke through his blank mask of self pity. Determination filled his body as Naruto channeled whatever chakra was left in his body and the first time since he arrived in this empty void, Naruto struggled to free himself. Struggling desperately, Naruto attempted to move his body, but the lack of gravity kept him afloat. Nothing in the empty void was able to propel himself, all Naruto could do was float. Though the blonde Uchiha wondered how he was able to breathe in this environment, decided against it as he had survived some unsavory conditions before and his healing factor had been able to keep him that way since he had taken up the shinobi profession.

That was when an explosion of colors surrounded the empty void, iridescent colors of every shape gave the void what seemed like a kaleidoscope. Sailing through this land, Naruto had stopped flaring his chakra as he decided it was useless wasting it in an endless void. Though he had plenty of it, he still had not recovered enough to utilize any of his techniques aside from a simple E-Ranked technique. All that chakra wasted trying to keep the Jubi under their control was sorely missed. Naruto's thoughts of escape had quickly been derailed when a roar of some beast pierced the dreadful silence, looking around for the source, Naruto spotted a massive red dragon with a horn jutting from it's scaled snout, a pair of equally red wings. Getting a look at it's underside, Naruto eyed the unprotected muscle underneath. As that dragon performed some tricks in the air, Naruto decided to take his chances with that dragon instead of rotting away in complete silence.

Flaring his chakra, Naruto was consumed by a layer of blue energy, his attempt had been a success when the dragon stopped performing it's tricks and turned to face him. Soaring towards Naruto, the dragon eyed him carefully with a golden eye and spoke in a gruff tone, "What are ya' lookin' at, human!"

Naruto blinked a few times as he recovered, Naruto pondered on what he was going to say to a dragon flying in a void of iridescent colors. Deciding to be forward with it, Naruto spoke, "Do you know how I can get out of here?"

"How'd you get in here anyway, human." the dragon said as he looked at Naruto. "You shouldn't even be alive in this place, damn humans. You're the second one that came here today."

Naruto eyed the dragon strangely as he shook his head and shrugged his shoulders thinking if he should tell the dragon. What the heck, he was floating in a endless abyss talking to a massive red dragon, there was really nothing to lose. "I was sent here in a rift." Naruto explained as he was about to ask who the other human was before the dragon cut him off.

"Damn you humans, I can't fly around without you humans interrupting me." the dragon muttered in distaste and a hint of annoyance.

"If you send me back, I wont bother you anymore." Naruto offered the dragon who seemed to rub off on Naruto as one of those delinquents everyone compared him to. "Oh ya, who are you anyways?"

The dragon seemed to ponder for a minute as it continued to stare at Naruto with it's unique golden eyes, spotting a missing right limb, the dragon eyed the boy once more. He had sent that other human to the world of humans known as Earth simply because the man was annoying him, but now this other human who had a very similar smell. He was the True Red Dragon God Emperor, with power that reign over reality, turning dreams into reality. His existence should have been known by everyone, yet like the man from before, this boy had no idea who he was.

"Well, human. I am Great Red, the True Red Dragon God Emperor!" the newly named Great Red boasted as it's chest swelled with pride. "I am the Dragon of Dragons! The most powerful Dragon to ever exist!"

After his short and very prideful introduction, a short silence formed between the two. "Sorry... I really don't know who you are." Naruto replied as he gave the dragon a shrug of his shoulders.

Great Red just huffed in annoyance as it grumbled an inaudible string of words under it's breathe before turning to Naruto. Great Red grunted in annoyance as it looked at Naruto once more. Great Red did not get to talk as Naruto interrupted him, "So can you or can you not send me back, Red?"

"Of course I can!" Great Red huffed as he sent a mild glare at the blonde who was questioning his power. "I am the most powerful existence in the world. I can turn dreams into reality, sending you back to your world is not a problem. I just don't want to."

Naruto in return eyed the dragon strangely as a plan began forming in his mind, if Great Red was as brash as he seemed to be, going back was going to be no problem. "You know, I think you're lying."

"What'd you say?"

"You heard me, I don't think you can send me back." Naruto said as he attempted to cross his arms. "Dreams into reality, please. Bet you're just making it up. If you really could do that then... Give me my arm back."

"Fine!" Great Red roared as a twitch of annoyance was seen on it's face. "I'll show you!"

In a flash of brilliant red light, Naruto's missing arm began to grow, skin, muscle, and bone formed in a fraction of a second giving him a new arm in less time than it took for him to lose it. Another light consumed Naruto, once it died down, Great Red was floating there alone. "There, that'll show the human!"

Great Red unfolded it's massive red wings and took to the endless void with a new set of tricks forming in his mind, a small thought of where he sent Naruto was quickly pushed to the depths of it's mind as Great Red shot into the endless void performing some complex maneuvers. Even if he had sent Naruto somewhere else, it did not matter. It was what that bastard got for underestimating him.

A groan escaped Naruto's lips as his eyes fluttered open, his blurry vision scanned his surroundings, multiple blinks quickly adjusted it as Naruto finally got a good look at the area he landed in. Looking around, Naruto spotted forest as far as his eyes could see, an umbrella of trees rose sky high casting a looming shadow over the earth bellow it. Cries of animals and birds alike rang out blending together to form a haunting melody which seemed to fit perfectly for a place like this. The forest could be seen as Konoha, but the trees seemed to be much smaller and their was hardly any spots where sunlight managed to penetrate the treetops. Looking at his right arm, Naruto's eyes widened dramatically as he looked at his new arm. That dragon did not give him time to look over his arm before sending him away to the Elemental Nations, or at least he hoped it was the Elemental Nations.

Picking himself up, Naruto dusted himself off and looked around looking for a path or anything to guide his way. A series of muffled sounds resonating a distance away, channeling chakra to his feet, Naruto pushed himself off of the ground and landed on a tree branch. Making his way from tree to tree trying to locate the origins of that sound, Naruto came to a stop when he spotted a androgynous-looking male who had platinum blonde hair which was styled in a short bob cut, pinkish-violet eyes, and pointed ears. Dressed in tattered brown rags and ran barefoot with another individual guiding him.

A beautiful young woman with flowing blonde hair that reached down to her lower back with uneven locks framing her face, a set of crimson red eyes, and pale skin. Unlike the other blonde, the young woman wore an attractive white dress with ruffles and decorative ornaments, whilst wearing a pair of matching white sandals.

Chasing after them was a group of men dressed in dark cloaks, eyeing this scene, Naruto watched this play out with slight interest. The younger blonde had fell down, seemingly hurting his leg prompting the young woman to attempt to pick him up. The blonde boy refused and tears escaped his eyes as he spoke in a pleading tone, "Valerie, I can't get up. Go on without me, they're catching up."

"No!" the newly named Valerie said firmly as she picked the boy up and hefted him up. "I promised to get you out of here and I will keep that promise. Come on Gasper, we are almost there!"

Naruto's eyes watched on in a bit of surprise as memories of his mother played through his mind. His thoughts were derailed when the group of pursuers rushed forward and attempted to grab them, but Naruto decided to intervene. Jumping forward, Naruto quickly formed a series of hand seals and sent a stream of fire at the pursuers. As they burned, Naruto noted that two of them hurriedly tore off their cloaks and freed themselves of the fire. It could not be said about the others as Naruto did not allow them the chance to attack. Rushing forward, Naruto punched one of them back and kneed the other, not allowing them a chance to recover, Naruto continued this merciless onslaught.

Killing one of them with a chakra enhanced punch, Naruto cast an illusion on the remaining one. As Naruto received his desired information, Naruto finished off the man in a quick and painless way, by snapping his neck. Though Naruto did not enjoy hurting others, he learned it was necessary to use force when needed. As he turned to face the blonde's he had saved, Naruto did not see them as they were running away, completely missing his assault on their pursuers. Watching their retreating figures, Naruto turned his gaze in the other direction as the newly received information had dawned a revelation in Naruto's mind.

That bastard dragon had sent him to the wrong world.

Chapter end

Anyways, hope you like it and please leave a review and thank you for reading.