Author's Note: Well, it was bound to happen. I had to get off of my lazy ass and finally write the rewrite to Just Following Orders. There will be some major differences between the two and I feel they're for the better.
Summary: Somehow the fourth survived the sealing of the Kyuubi. Able to be a part of Naruto's life, he grows up the beloved son of the Hokage. However the Kyuubi reveals to Naruto that even bright smiles hide daggers in their shadows.
Disclaimer: Naruto and co. are the exclusive property of Masashi Kishimoto.
Rise of the Uzumaki: Fall of Konoha
Chapter One: A Change for the Worse
Three figures stood atop a cliff facing each other, though two of them were standing side by side, leaving the final person by himself. Clouds had begun to gather above, their dark shade an indication of the rain that was fast approaching, especially with the lightning that kept illuminating the sky.
"I must admit, Dobe, I never expected you to become this much of an obstacle." spoke a raven haired teen, his voice calm yet with the slightest hint of rage, as he stood with his arm resting on the sword secured horizontally behind him on his waist. The person across from him and the man beside him regarded him with a grin.
"I told you, didn't I? I'm going to be the one to stop you." Blue eyes shifted from one person to the next, taking in the two who stood opposite him. The taller man on the left stood behind the shorter one, his posture letting him know that he would be a spectator to the fight that was about to take place though the blond had little doubt that he would hesitate to interfere if it appeared he was gaining an upper hand.
Two obsidian orbs closed momentarily before snapping open, now tinted red, the black tomoe, three in each eye, spinning once before settling in place.
"Don't kid yourself, Dobe. I'll kill you just as easily as I killed the rest of the rookie nine." He was trying to provoke the blond, and by the way his fists clenched at his sides, it appeared to be working. "Madara, leave."
The taller man obeyed the order, moving to walk away from the two, only to have to jump back from the yellow flash that appeared before him. The blond in turn had to jump back from the giant ball of fire that sped towards him, landing and catching the blade being swung at him between his palms.
"It's useless to try to prolong your life by trying to fight someone else, Naruto." the raven haired teen growled as he tried to put more weight onto the sword.
"I was trying to give you a chance to live longer, Sasuke." Naruto kicked Sasuke away when he saw the telltale sign of his chiddorigatana. The raven haired teen quickly went through a few hand-signs.
"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" he shouted, placing his hand near his mouth as a volley of fireballs flew towards the blond.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" With a puff of smoke several clones of the blond appeared, deflecting each of the flaming projectiles before sprinting towards Sasuke as streaks of yellow. As they occupied him, the real Naruto dashed towards Madara.
"Quite insistent, aren't you?" spoke the older man as he dodged Naruto's attacks, purposely restraining himself from attacking him. "You're fight isn't with me."
"You attacked and killed my sensei to get my attention, and now you run?" yelled the blond, eyes turning yellow with a horizontal iris. "Sasuke can wait, but I will kill you."
Madara was sent flying when he failed to completely dodge a strike from the blond, having begun using Kawazu Kumite. Without breaking his momentum he spun and grabbed Sasuke's Kusanagi, gripping it tightly before thrusting his palm at the Uchiha's stomach, propelling him away. He created a couple more shadow clones before throwing the sword off the cliff.
The clones rushed Sasuke, each fighting him with the signature fighting style of the Toad Sage. Not being used to fighting one, let alone several at once, Sasuke was having difficulties. When he was struck behind both knees simultaneously, dropping him on his knees before his arms were pulled to the sides as a foot connected with his face, he snapped.
"Chidori Nagashi!" he shouted as a strong electrical current struck each of the clones, making their muscles tense before he struck each strong enough to make them disappear. "Naruto!"
Said blond turned towards him as he charged, engaging him in a close quarters fight, where Sasuke knew he had always held the upper hand. Key word being had.
Naruto was blocking almost every single attack Sasuke made, and his blocks were somehow also inflicting damage to him. His Sharingan allowed him to see where the attacks were heading but there was a type of shockwave that followed them, striking him even if he dodged or blocked or parried.
With a final dodge he jumped back, flashing through hand signs only to be sent crashing when the shockwave of the last attack caught up to him in mid air. Picking himself up he glared at the blond furiously. He barely had a scratch on him!
'Since when has he been better than me at Taijutsu.' he wondered, unwilling to accept that he was thoroughly getting his ass handed to him. It wasn't even that Naruto was better than him, he had thus far been unable to land a direct hit on him, but whatever technique he was using never failed to hit. A flash above him caught his attention before a smirk appeared on his face.
"No matter how fast you try to dodge, this next attack will hit you." proclaimed the raven haired teen, a smirk on his face.
Naruto watched as Sasuke went through a string of hand seals at a speed that would have put their late sensei to shame. When he finished he raised his hand above his head, a lightning strike connected to the electricity crackling in his palm and remaining connected. The sky suddenly erupted into a chain of violent lightning strikes before the clouds began to swirl as a massive dragon made of pure electricity began descending towards him.
Panicking for the first time since he began the fight, Naruto quickly summoned more shadow clones and set to making something to block the oncoming attack. Holding both hands above himself, the clones all began molding chakra above him, a large ball of chakra beginning to form and spin, wind picking up and spinning around it, making it appear larger as four blades formed on it. He held the spinning orb in place until the giant electric dragon was closer.
"Kirin!"
"Fūton: Rasenshuriken!"
In an instant the two attacks met, Sasuke's Kirin threatening to slice through Naruto's Rasenshuriken, and Naruto didn't wait to see which attack would win out before he sped towards Sasuke, who was left vulnerable due to having to keep his connection to his Jutsu. Thrusting his palms forward, in an attempt to strike the Uchiha, Naruto was instead met with a supercharged Chidori Nagashi and was thrown back in the direction he had came from.
"Well, I wasn't expecting that." the blond muttered to himself, chuckling slightly. He checked his hands, clenching and unclenching them before nodding in approval. "Still, at least I managed to not have my arms paralyzed."
Across the plateau Sasuke was panting, having had to push out more chakra than necessary to force out that last electrical shock. He decided it was time to stop playing around, for if things continued the way they were, he just might lose. With the blink of his eyes he had activated his Mangekyou Sharingan, and focused his gaze on Naruto.
"Amaterasu!" he called, black flames shooting out of his right eye and speeding towards Naruto. The blond quickly created two clones who jumped in the way and took the blast as he jumped to the side. However, that was exactly what Sasuke had wanted.
Without warning he sped towards Naruto, his hand encased in electricity that let out the sound of a thousand birds chirping. He was already close enough that there was no time to dodge and there was barely enough time to make a Rasengan to counter with. As he began forming the ball of chakra, hoping he could make it in time, he became aware of a dash of pink heading between them.
Time moved agonizingly slow as he abandoned his attempt to make a Rasengan and instead summoned a shadow clone to propel himself forward to intercept the oncoming figure. His heart beat against his chest, drowning out all other noise in his ears. The sound of flesh splitting had never been as loud as it was then, as he watched, wide eyed, as a bloodied palm was sticking out of the pink haired person facing him.
"S-Sakura-chan... Why?" asked the blond, tears welling in the corners of his eyes. He felt numb, his knees felt like they would give out at any moment and his hands were shaking uncontrollably. The pink haired girl simply smiled, blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth.
"I-I couldn't just sit back a-and wait for you to take care of this by yourself." she answered, grunting in pain before smiling sadly at the blond trembling before her. "L-Looks like I won't be able to go out on that date with you a-after the war like I promised." she whispered softly as she reached her hand out to caress his whiskered cheek, the blond closing his eyes as he remembered the small promise.
Naruto walked out of the tent that the survivors of Madara and Sasuke's surprise attack were using to recuperate. He had just watched one of his closest friends die before him, and he was, understandably, shaken. He felt a wide range of emotions at that moment.
Overwhelming sadness was the strongest. He couldn't believe Shikamaru was dead, he always planned seven steps ahead in any situation. Guilt also clouded his mind, adding to the feeling of sadness in his chest. So many of his precious people had died in this war to protect him. He felt he should have been stronger; strong enough to protect everyone before it had come to this. He also felt anger, not hatred like most would have, for he felt that would have just been disrespectful to the ideals of his late master. He was angry at Sasuke for killing so many of his former comrades and at himself for not arriving sooner.
In this situation he was just thankful that he had returned before the two Uchiha had been able to find the medic group, since Sakura was a part of that group and thus had been made to stay out of the fighting and heal as many as she could. He couldn't forget her face as she healed people when he had returned. She had been crying, unable to come to terms with the fact that their former teammate, and the man that he knew she still loved had just slaughtered all of their comrades. Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino, Kiba, Tenten, and more than half of the alliance shinobi that had been at the camp.
And as much as it had hurt him, he knew he had to let her deal with her emotions by herself. He knew she was trying to convince herself that she no longer cared for their wayward teammate but he couldn't imagine her actually accomplishing the feat. He wanted to believe that she would, but he felt that it would be like her ripping out a part of herself. She wouldn't be Sakura—his Sakura-chan—If she didn't love Sasuke, just like he wouldn't be Naruto if he didn't love Sakura. No matter how much he wished it weren't so for her he was convinced it was and had accepted it.
So when she asked to talk to him after dinner that night he had never thought it would lead to what it did.
"What did you wanna talk about, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, arms crossed behind his head and eyes curious. She seemed troubled but he couldn't read her mind, though he had an idea of what it might be.
"You're going to be part of the group that is going to attack Sasuke-kun and Madara, aren't you?" Even though it was a question the way she said it made him feel that she already knew the answer. He merely nodded his head and she looked away, biting her lip as she thought of how to ask her next question. "Are you still convinced that you'll both die if you fight?"
Naruto watched her as she stared at him, waiting for his answer. She was holding herself, as if afraid that she might break down any moment. "I meant what I said; if we fight neither of us will win. Either we both live or we both die." he didn't miss the way she tightened her hold on herself, or the worry that flashed in her eyes. When she mumbled something he almost hadn't noticed she'd said anything at all. "What did you say?"
She shifted her gaze towards her feet, shuffling for a seconds while biting her lip, apprehensive to repeat what she'd said and Naruto couldn't help but think that even with her clothes stained in blood and her hair matted to her head in sweat, her eyes red from her earlier crying and the dirt that clung to her boots that she was still the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.
"I said," she began, regaining his attention, "please, don't leave me alone." It was clear it was getting harder for her to keep her emotions in check, if the way her eyes were beginning to shimmer was any indication. "Have you considered how I feel about that declaration?"
"Sakura-chan, I—"
"No, Naruto, listen to me." she cut him off, staring into his eyes intensely. "I have come to terms with the fact that Sasuke-kun is a criminal and needs to be stopped at all costs, and it hurts to know we have to kill him." she said as a few tears slid down her cheeks. "I have accepted that more than likely he won't come back and even if he does he wouldn't be the same Sasuke-kun, but..." she stopped as she sniffed and wiped her eyes with the inside of her wrist.
"But?" Naruto asked, waiting for her to continue. Where was she going with this?
"But I don't want to lose you." she whispered, staring at him as he stiffened, eyes widening. "I can imagine continuing on with my life after all this is over without Sasuke-kun in it, but not without you." she admitted, not liking the way she sounded so weak. "So please, stop thinking that way and just promise to come back to me."
Naruto was frozen in place as his brain tried to process everything that had happened, but soon his body reacted instinctively to what was happening and moved forward to embrace the crying kunoichi in front of him. As soon as his arms were around her Sakura buried her face into his chest and let herself cry. While she cried into his chest his mind was still trying to make sense of what was happening.
Had Sakura just told him she loved him? No, she was still in love with Sasuke, wasn't she? But then why was she saying she was fine with Sasuke dying but not him? Why had she said she couldn't see herself living her life without him there? Obviously their friendship meant a lot to her—it meant the world to him—but could there possibly be something more?
He was brought out of his internal debate when Sakura pulled back and stared at him, her eyes wavering as if she would break any second at his lack of an answer.
"Sakura-chan," he began, trying to think of what to say, "I didn't mean to make you sad, I just think this fight will be really dangerous and that me and Sasuke are about equal in strength." He could see that she disagreed, having seen him in his mastered Kyuubi mode, but he continued. "I would be lying if I said I was one hundred percent certain that I was going to win," he was rambling now and he knew she hated when he rambled, "and I will try my hardest to not kill him but I will also take him with me if he manages to kill me, so I don't really know what to sa—"
The world had stopped.
Suddenly Naruto was aware of every fly around them; every cricket and every mosquito. He was also aware of the fact that Sakura's eyelashes were pink, something he had never noticed before, and how puffed up her eyes were after so much crying, and the lack of sleep from the past two weeks since the enemy had gained the upper hand. He became acutely aware of the smell of the alliance soap that everyone was provided and he could detect a faint taste of vegetable soup, strange since he had opted for the chicken soup.
And after a few seconds he noticed that Sakura had kissed him. Sakura had kissed him!
It had been quick, just a peck really, only with a little more force than a peck, but that had been all it took to not only effectively shut him up, but pretty much shut him down. His brain was on overload as it tried to burn the feel of her lips against his forever into his mind. Her soft, slightly chapped lips against his own dry, also chapped ones.
When he finally came to his senses he noticed he was staring up at the night sky, and was apparently lying down. His eyes widened as he sat up, almost knocking his head against Sakura's as she had been checking him for injury.
"What happened?" he asked, feeling a dull pain at the back of his head. Sakura couldn't hold the smile that spread on her lips.
"You fainted." she answered, moving her hand to heal the lump on his head from when he'd fallen, scaring her half to death.
"I did?" he asked and she nodded, giggling softly. "What was I doi—" his eyes widened as he remembered what had happened a few moments ago. "Wait, Sakura-chan, did you...?" he trailed off, her nod and blush providing enough of an answer. "Was that why I...?" another nod, this time with an amused grin on her face, which made him blush slightly in embarrassment. "But why?"
Sakura blushed intensely, suddenly very nervous. "You said I was lying to myself the last time I confessed to you," she began, looking down at her hand as she played with the zipper on his open jacket, "and while I may have been exaggerating my feelings towards you, I do have some." she finished, afraid to look him in the eyes for fear of seeing rejection. "Besides, you were rambling; you know I hate it when you ramble."
"But what about Sasuke?" Naruto's question made Sakura glare at him softly.
"Will you ever let that go? I told you; I'd rather live on with you than him." The rosette caressed his cheek before she spoke. "You told me that you hate people who lie to themselves, and while at the time I deserved that," she leaned in closer making his heart beat faster in his chest but she stopped just a few inches short of his face, "look at me now and tell me if I'm lying."
Naruto hesitated before he willed some of the Kyuubi's Chakra into his eyes, using his new ability to sense lies on the girl in front of him, genuinely and pleasantly surprised when he found no trace of deceit. The smile he gave her was enough to let her know his answer before she leaned down to kiss him once more. Only this time he didn't faint.
A few minutes later they were about to return to the group when Sakura stopped Naruto, making him glance down at her confused once again.
"I want you to promise me that you'll come back alive." she said, her hold on his hand tightening. He sighed, about to tell her that he couldn't when she reached her hands up and cupped his face. "I don't want to hear any excuses; you are coming back, you hear me? I don't care if you have to run away, you have to come back. Promise me."
He couldn't help but smile at the seriousness with which she spoke, her seriousness to have him return to her.
"Only if you promise to go out on a date with me after all this is over." he whispered, making her smile.
"Fine. A promise for a promise." she said as she stood on her toes to give him one last kiss. And one more. And another. And then the last. And before they knew it they were in his tent, exploring each other's body in a way they had never done before, forgetting, if only for a night, about the upcoming battle that would quite possibly decide the fate of the world as they knew it. Inside the tent, however, nothing mattered except their wants and needs as they relished in their little slice of heaven if only for one night.
Naruto was brought out of his reminiscing when he felt Sakura's hand leave his face, watching in horror as Sasuke flung her to the side like a doll being discarded. In a flash the blond caught her body, cradling her for a second before placing her on the ground, closing her eyes which had dulled, a clear indication that she had passed.
"Same old Sakura, just as annoying as ever." Sasuke uttered as he walked towards the still kneeling blond, another Chidori in his hand. "I guess it's true what they say, though. Third time's the charm." he stood beside Naruto as he smirked, noting how the fight seemed to have left the blond. "Sayonara, Naruto."
He swung his hand down, anticipating the feel of his last living teammate's flesh splitting to allow his hand passage only for the feeling to never come. Instead he felt a crushing grip on his wrist and the unmistakable sense of fear.
"Sasuke, back away!" Madara yelled, trying to teleport to the younger Uchiha's side in an attempt to faze him out of the blond's grip but the speed at which Naruto moved made his father look like a snail in comparison.
Before Sasuke could even comprehend what had happened, his left hand had been severed from his arm at the wrist, and he had been kicked away to give the blond room to grab the face of the man who had teleported in front of him, pulling him down before he knew what was happening and allowing a knee to connect with his face, shattering the mask that covered it. With a grunt Madara was sent flying away and Naruto was on Sasuke once again, picking the Uchiha up by his hair.
Sasuke opened his eyes to look at Naruto—noting the blond was covered in pure energy—his Sharingan letting him see what was going to happen but his body not nearly fast enough to stop the fist from connecting, or even launch an Amaterasu from his eye. What he'd seen with his Sharingan was Naruto let go of his hair and actually real back before striking him, moving so fast gravity hadn't even had a chance to take effect.
As Sasuke lay on the ground writhing in pain, six figures appeared on the plateau, each appearing to have Heterochromia Iridum. Each one had one red Sharingan and a pale purple Rinnegan. They stood surrounding Naruto, who flashed bright yellow before two of the people disintegrated, the rain washing away their ashes.
Madara stood baffled at what had just happened. He had just called the resurrected bodies of the of the previous Jinchiruuki of the Bijuu he had already extracted when two had been disposed of, the only indication that Naruto had been the cause being how he had glowed yellow for a split second.
Another flash later, the person standing to his right had also disappeared, and Madara picked up the silent message from the blond. He could have attacked him, but didn't. Deciding to go on the offensive before his last two bodies were destroyed, Madara willed them to attack the last living Jinchiruuki.
As they neared him Naruto dodged the first, shifting his gaze towards Madara before he slid his hand down the green haired girl's side. A second later she disintegrated as well.
Madara stood astonished. He'd seen what Naruto had done to the resurrected body, also knowing that the blond had allowed him to see it. As his fingers brushed against the girl, Naruto left behind dozens of minuscule Rasenshurikens. The little bombs wasted no time in destroying the body. It gave him a sense of despair at the thought that he could have already succumb to the technique, only being spared on a whim.
Before he could reflect further he sensed the telltale sign of Susano'o being summoned, also noting with disdain that Naruto had dealt with the final resurrected Jinchiruuki. He saw Sasuke ascend onto the plateau having been kicked off to a lower level by Naruto earlier, his face full of rage, Susano'o's skeletal body forming around him, so he decided to jump away, leaving the blond Jinchiruuki to the younger Uchiha.
"Naruto!" shouted the younger Uchiha, his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan flaring in his eyes. "I'm going to enjoy killing you!" he had barely finished his sentence before Susano'o was reaching out to attack the Jinchiruuki.
Naruto quickly disappeared, dodging so fast he appeared to teleport. He reappeared outside of the giant chakra manifestation's reach, right hand outstretched as he began forming his newest technique, the Bijuu Rasengan. The ball of chakra was halfway formed when a large chakra arrow impaled itself into his left shoulder, almost ripping his arm off with its force.
"I'm not going to let you do anything else, you will die now, Naruto, by my hands." Sasuke was grinning maniacally, willing Susano'o to attack once more when he saw Naruto abandoned his effort to form his Rasengan in order to direct his chakra to his wound in an attempt to heal it.
A second arrow flew at the same lightning speed towards Naruto, who ran forward to intercept it. Not knowing what the blond was up to and not taking any chances, Sasuke shot more arrows, aiming a few further on the outside, to cut off any dodge attempt.
To his surprise Naruto jumped on top of the first arrow and continued to advance towards Sasuke, using the other arrows as stepping stones, growing closer at an alarming rate. As he neared he began forming his Bijuu Rasengan. Just as he was about to thrust it forward, Susano'o's appearance changed, now holding a sword and shield, which it used to block the oncoming orb of destruction.
Sasuke grunted as the force of Naruto's attack forced him back a few feet, realizing that he could not let that particular technique hit. He glanced towards Naruto, watching the blond return to his original appearance before his eyes changed to indicate he had activated his Sennin chakra before summoning several shadow clones, which scattered around Sasuke in pairs.
Naruto stood further back then his clones, waiting patiently for the moment he would activate the Kyuubi's chakra. When he saw Sasuke's Susano'o change appearance again, in an attempt to take him out before he did anything he gave the signal. He knew he was playing with fire, if that chakra arrow connected before he had a chance to turn his body into pure chakra he would be in serious trouble, but he had to get through that damn chakra manifestation. He only had one chance at this since he had to use his last two Sennin clone reserves to power his shadow clones' Rasenshurikens.
As soon as Susasno'o transformed, the shadow clones began forming the blue orbs of spinning chakra and wind. Sasuke saw what they were doing and quickly willed his guardian to change back. The clones launched their attacks sending four Rasenshurikens towards Sasuke who just barely had enough time to block three with Susano'o sword and shield, the last one connecting against the manifestation's back, causing some damage but not enough to be cause for concern. Or so he thought.
Naruto had dispelled his clones the moment they threw their attacks and activated his Kyuubi mode, appearing behind the giant chakra being and quickly forming another Bijuu Rasengan, thrusting it forward against the spot where his clone's Rasenshuriken had hit. Susano'o roared as it was attacked again, Naruto's Rasengan ripping through and opening a path to the young Uchiha, whose eyes were wide in shock.
"Sasuke!" yelled the blond as he jumped through and punched the raven haired teen out of his guardian, causing the chakra manifestation to disappear.
Sasuke landed and flipped to his feet, trying to regain his composure, but his blond opponent was not going to give him a chance to do so. With a yellow flash Naruto was in front of Sasuke, grabbing him by his throat before slamming him on the ground, knocking the wind out of him.
For a second neither moved, both glaring into each other's eyes, sapphire into coal.
"All she wanted was for us to be a team again, Sasuke, and now that can never happen!" Naruto yelled, his grip on the other teen's neck tightening. "She's gone all because of you and your petty revenge!"
"Don't you dare act like you understand what it feels like to lose everything because some village elders fear your clan! They made Itachi kill his own clan to protect the village and then they labeled him a Ronin! Konoha deserves to burn to the ground for what they did, and if I killed some random Konoha bitch along the wa—"
His sentence was interrupted by Naruto's fist.
"Don't you ever insult Sakura-chan! You don't deserve to even think about her after what you did!" Naruto screamed, shaking in anger. "And I met Itachi during the war, he was the one who volunteered for the mission. He said he wanted you to protect Konoha, not try to destroy it!"
Sasuke glared at the blond harder. "Liar."
"It's the truth; why do you think he kept himself alive long enough for you to finally get strong enough to kill him? He wanted to help you get rid of your hatred and live your life in peace as a loyal Konoha Shinobi."
"Shut up!" Sasuke shouted as he plunged a two fingered Chidori into Naruto's side, piercing his ribs. "Don't lecture me about things you don't understand, Dobe. Your village didn't even try to settle the situation peacefully, they struck the first blow." he finished by twisting his fingers inside of Naruto's chest, making the blond grunt in pain.
"I'm not going to sit here and argue with you," Naruto said through clenched teeth, "but you're out of chakra so I'm going to take you in to answer for your crimes."
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." came Madara's voice as he appeared behind Naruto, his hand turning intangible before he thrust it into the blond's chest. "While I'll congratulate you for managing to almost emerge victorious, you got cocky. You had one chance where you could have fatally wounded me and you didn't because you were too confident." As he talked Madara had grabbed ahold of Naruto's heart and squeezed lightly, making the young Jinchiruuki groan in pain. "I'm debating whether or not I should kill you right now or capture you and extract the Kyuubi."
"If you don't kill me right now you better pray I never get a chance to kill you myself later." Naruto stated, making the man behind him smirk.
"Good point." he said as he began to pierce the blond's heart with his fingers.
What he hadn't noticed was that Naruto had created a clone and mad it activate the Kyuubi's chakra, even though he had been told it would be dangerous to do so. The clone quickly made a Bijuu Rasengan and teleported behind Madara, thrusting it into the unsuspecting man's body. The blond knew it would connect since he could still feel the pressure the man was putting on his heart.
Sure enough, the orb of destruction made contact with Madara, digging into his chest before expanding, the chakra too powerful for the clone to control, sending Naruto and Sasuke flying off the plateau into a small valley. While Naruto just barely survived the fall Sasuke hadn't been so lucky, falling onto a jagged rock protruding from the ground, impaling his stomach.
"Well, that sucked." Naruto said as he rolled over, his body screaming at him in pain and he knew he had some broken bones, though the Kyuubi was already working on healing him. He turned to look at the raven haired teen and couldn't help the tears that welled in his eyes at the realization that he was the last living member of team seven. He tried to hold it in, he really did, but eventually the tears fell as sobs escaped his mouth.
"It's not fair." he cried, staring up at the sky as rain fell from the sky, as if it was just as sad as he was. "No one deserved to die—she shouldn't have died—she shouldn't have even been here." he continued to let the sadness consume him and, in his despair, decided to stop the Kyuubi's chakra from healing him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, brat?" the demon yelled, forcing more chakra out in an attempt to overwhelm his jailer.
Naruto merely smiled sadly, closing his eyes so he could talk with the beast. "I'm tired, Kyuubi, so I've decided to join my team in their eternal rest." he explained, hearing the Kyuubi growl in disapproval.
"If you think I'm just going let you kill me you're dumber than I thought." with that it pushed an incredible amount of chakra out of it's seal, the chakra making the ground tremble slightly. "Naruto, I am not going to let your stupidity in this moment of despair kill me!"
"What do you care? You'll just come back in a couple of years. I won't ever see my friends again." Naruto was beginning to struggle to keep the Kyuubi's chakra from healing him. "I'll never see Sakura-chan again."
"Like I care about your problems!" Kyuubi roared, again increasing the amount of chakra being pushed out, almost doubling it. "Do you know how much it hurts to die?"
"I'm about to find out, so let me die." Naruto continued to argue, not noticing that the constant release and suppression of so much chakra was beginning to warp his surroundings, as well as encase his body. The more they argued and increased their attempts to overpower the other, the longer each warp was, reaching the point that Naruto was flitting in and out of existence.
"Damn it, Kyuubi, just leave me alone!" Naruto shouted one last time, pushing the incredible amount of chakra back inside his seal, causing his body to glow one last time before disappearing from the valley.
When he opened his eyes he felt two distinct things. One was an overwhelming sense of disorientation. His head was spinning and he felt like the world was shaking. The second thing he noticed was that the Kyuubi had apparently given up on it's attempt to heal him, since he could no longer feel it's chakra trying to flood his own chakra system.
When he finally regained control of his balance he stood up only to note that the world really was shaking. Looking up, his body froze in shock as he took in what was happening in front of him. The Kyuubi was loose.
His growing feeling of panic was diminished slightly when he noticed that the giant chakra beast was held in place by familiar looking chains.
'I know those chains.' he thought, following the chains to their source, and sure enough he found it. "Okaa-san?" he uttered, looking at his mother as she struggled to hold back the Kyuubi, shouting something to the man beside her.
"Minato, take Naruto and run, I don't know how much longer I can hold back the Kyuubi!" The blond haired man next to her merely shook his head beginning to go through hand seals and Naruto finally noticed what was happening. His father and mother were about to sacrifice themselves to seal the Kyuubi into the baby on the ground a few feet behind them—who he noted was probably him.
Several questions flooded his minded once; the most important one being how had he gotten to this point of time and why? Having no time to ponder on such seemingly useless things at the moment, he did the first thing he thought of.
His body having gotten used to the Kyuubi's chakra he rushed forward, gathering enough residual chakra from the air to turn into pure energy long enough to surprise his father and knock him out.
"What the—who are you?" Kushina asked, eyes widening in horror as some strange person knocked out her husband. When he turned, his body changed from looking like pure fiery energy to that of a battered and beaten blond haired, blue eyed whiskered teen. 'Wait a sec; whiskered?' she thought, stealing a glance at the baby wrapped in a blanket over in the corner. "It can't be..."
"Okaa-san, listen, I don't know how I got here but I think I'm here to save you and Tou-san." Naruto shouted, making Kushina stare at him in shock. "I need you to hold Kyuubi long enough for me to seal him. I saw Tou-san's hand signs but I need to know what comes next." It was obvious his mother was too shocked to respond and he understood why but they were running out of time. "Okaa-san!"
Snapping out of her baffled state of mind, Kushina answered her son. With a nod the handsome, she had to admit in pride, blond teen set to work on summoning the Shinigami and for the first time she realized what he was going to do, panic rising in her chest.
"What are you taking this burden for, it should be me who sacrifices herself to save you!" tears were welling in her eyes as her son stared at her, a sad smile on his face.
"Things don't turn out so good for me—for anyone in the future. Maybe if I can save you and Tou-san things will be different." he answered as the Shinigami's hand entered his soul and exited his body, heading towards the Kyuubi. The flailing Chakra beast cried out as it's soul was pulled out, it's body shrinking drastically. "Crap, I don't know the next part of the sealing ritual!"
"Hakke no Fūin Shiki!" Kushina shouted, summoning an altar on which the baby Naruto lay, a seal on the ground. Naruto turned to his mother, his expression clearly thankful, while hers was conflicted in resigning to watch her own son sacrifice himself and wanting to stop him.
As he set himself to get ready to seal the Kyuubi, the chakra beast decided it wasn't going to get sealed again and moved to crush the infant they planned to seal it in. Naruto reacted quickly and moved to intercept the beast's claw, grunting in pain as it ripped through him, still heading towards his younger self. Before it could reach, Kushina jumped in the way, hunching over her infant son, coughing out some blood as she too was impaled.
"Kaa-san, why?" Naruto asked, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes as he watched a woman he loved die to protect him all over again. His mother looked back at him with a smile on her face, blood staining her chin.
"I've only known you for a few minutes," she began and he knew she was referring to both him and his infant version, "but I can't just sit back and watch you die."
Naruto couldn't help the tears that fell from his face, saddened by the fact that he had failed to save his mother.
"I'm going to seal the Kyuubi, and I'll seal some of your chakra into... myself so that you can help... me control the fox when... I have to learn to control it's chakra. If there's anything you want to say, say it now." he stated, pausing every time he had to refer to his younger self, tears streaming down his face.
His mother merely nodded, gathering what she wanted to say, out of the thousands of things she wished she could say. In the end she glanced behind at the older version of the infant under her as she spoke to her baby.
"Were you a fussy eater?" she asked, receiving a blush from the teenage blond. "Of course you were, what with your dad being the ramen fanatic he is." she commented, chuckling sadly. "Did you take a shower and go to sleep early every day?"
"Maybe." he answered, again making her chuckle.
"Did you manage to make some real, true friends, or at least one?"
He nodded adamantly, grinning. "Yes, I made friends who I could count on." Kushina smiled at that.
"I'm glad. I'm sure you were great at Ninjutsu, and a model student at the academy, right?" her question had a bit of a threatening tone in it, making him grin.
"I'm sorry, I was the class clown, but I am strong enough to be Hokage." he answered, Kushina shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks.
"Well you are my son." she felt a warmth in her chest at being able to call him that. "What are the three vices of a Shinobi?" she quizzed him.
"Don't borrow money, save what you earn from missions and no drinking alcohol until you're twenty." he answered, gaining a smile of pride from his mother, something he had never received and which made him feel sadder that he couldn't save her.
"Good." she uttered, before looking him straight in the eyes for her next question. "Did you find a girlfriend? Was she like me?"
Naruto couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. "Yes, the girl I fell in love with was a lot like you, Okaa-san, maybe that's why I fell in love with her so young, though it took her a while to realize her feelings for me." his mother's expression was heartwarming as she let a cry of happiness out.
Kushina turned to look at the young infant beneath her. "I'm glad you're going to grow up into a fine man who is going to make your mama proud." she said before she leaned down to press a kiss on his whiskered cheek. Then she turned towards her husband lying unconscious on the ground a few feet from her. "Just look at the mighty Yondaime." she chuckled, before staring at him with so much love in her eyes. "I love you and I hope you can forgive me for leaving you behind." she broke out in tears as she finished, letting Naruto know she was done.
The blond nodded, forming a familiar set of seals and praying it would work, otherwise he would be shit out of luck. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
With a puff of smoke an orange and black toad appeared, glancing around at being summoned by a foreign chakra. It's eyes landed on the form of the Yondaime lying unconscious on the ground before taking in the sight of the Kyuubi impaling two people, one who he recognized as the Yondaime's wife.
"Kushina-sama!" it yelled about to run forward before the teen behind her called him.
"Gerotora, I'm going to seal the Kyuubi's yin chakra into a seal that I need you to take to Ero-Sennin—I mean Jiraiya-sama." Naruto pleaded, getting a nod from the toad, who was still confused. "I want you to tell him that the Yondaime sent it to him." Again the toad nodded. "Good." He cast one last look at his father and then at his mother before steeling himself. He planned to seal his body along with the yin chakra, so as to get rid of the proof of his meddling. "Seal!"
Hiruzen stood frozen outside the black barrier that surrounded his successor and his wife as they fought to seal the Kyuubi. He had grown worried when the transparent barrier had turned black, dark enough to block his few of the inside.
'What are you doing, Minato?' thought the aged former Hokage, fearing he knew. There was only one technique that the young Hokage knew that could seal a demon like the Kyuubi and Hiruzen knew Minato wouldn't hesitate to use it to save Konoha and his family.
"Sarutobi-sama, the barrier's disappearing." yelled the Shinobi next to him. As stated, the barrier fell, allowing them to enter.
They walked over to the ceremonial altar of the Hakke no Fūin Shiki, inside of which lay the newborn Naruto. Glancing around Hiruzen took in the forms of Minato and Kushina and knew what they had done. They had sacrificed their lives to save the village. Kneeling down, he picked up the infant, cradling him as a tear fell from his eye.
"Your life will be difficult as the new Jinchiruuki of the Kyuubi no Yōko, especially as an orphan." he spoke to the baby in his arms, as if it could understand him. "I'll try to help you be a normal child for as long as I can by passing a law that prohibits talking of what you are." he turned to the ANBU standing behind him. "Please, summon some more ANBU to retrieve the bodies of the Yondaime and his wi—"
"Ow, what the heck hit me?" came a voice from the left, shocking Hiruzen. "Kami-sama, no! Kushina!" Minato shouted as he went over to his wife, cradling her in his arms, tears falling from his eyes. "Kushina, please, you can't be dead. Who's going to raise help me raise, Naruto?" he asked, his voice cracking as he cried. Suddenly his eyes widened. "Naruto!"
"Minato, you're alive." Hiruzen murmured in shock and relief. The blond Hokage looked up at his predecessor and saw the bundle in his arms. Noticing his eyes, the aged man handed the younger man his son.
As soon as Minato had Naruto in his arms he cradled the infant like he was his last reason for living, which wouldn't be far from the truth. The way the man sobbed was uncharacteristic of him but he had so much going through his head at the moment. What had happened? Why couldn't he remember anything? How was he going to raise Naruto without Kushina to help him?
"Minato, come let's head back to the village and get Naruto-kun to the hospital so they can check on him." Hiruzen could practically feel the man's grief as he nodded numbly before touching Kushina's body and teleporting them away.
"The nurses say Naruto-kun is perfectly healthy." Hiruzen began as he walked into the room that Minato was in, having also undergone a check up for any injuries. The man had complied but he was still walking around defeatedly. Currently he was just looking down at his hands, though he had perked up at the news of his son.
"That's great. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to him." he admitted, twisting the ring on his finger absentmindedly before sighing. "Before you ask, Hiruzen, I don't know how I survived the Shiki Fūjin, I honestly don't even remember using it."
The Sandaime sighed, leaning against the wall. "Is there any way it could have been Kushina who used it?" the Shiki Fūjin was a technique that killed the user afterwards, so unless Minato used a different way to seal the Bijuu, the only other possible explanation was that Kushina had been the one to use the forbidden Jutsu.
Minato was quiet for a second, contemplating the suggestion, before he shook his head. "She would have been too weak from holding back the Kyuubi to do anything, not to mention she'd just come out of labor."
With that said the former Hokage was honestly stumped. There was no other way to seal a Bijuu without either extensive planning or a large group of people, each with a huge amount of chakra. Minato'd had neither the time nor the people.
Before either could bring up any other speculations, a white haired man walked into the room, panting.
"Old man, I heard what happened, how's..." his eyes widened as he saw the blond young man sitting in the room, very much alive, "Naruto... Minato, you're alive?"
"Hello, Jiraiya-sensei." Minato greeted. His master looked as if he had just seen a ghost.
"Gerotora said you'd performed the Shiki Fūjin to seal the Kyuubi, how are you alive?" Jiraiya asked, walking over to his disciple. The young man simply sighed.
"I don't know, I don't remember using the Shiki Fūjin much less summoning Gerotora. All I remember is getting ready to summon the Shinigami and then waking up to find my wife dead." Minato explained, his fists tightening on his lap, squeezing his eyes shut to bold back his tears as he thought of his wife, and of how he would never get to see her smiling face again; never feel her touch or look into her eyes.
Hiruzen and Jiraiya stood watching their young Hokage deal with his emotions, not wanting to disturb him for neither really knew what to say. Hiruzen's wife had been attacked by the man who attacked Kushina but she was alive. Jiraiya decided to just place his hand on the young man's shoulder. Hiruzen however had at least one more question to ask.
"Minato, who was the masked man who attacked Kushina?" the Sandaime asked, not becoming offended that the blond took a while to respond, likely having not fully registered he was asked a question.
"He claimed to be Uchiha Madara, but I honestly don't know." Minato finally answered, looking up at his senior Shinobi. "He used some sort of space/time Jutsu and he could control the Kyuubi so it might be true." the two older men looked worried as they took in the new information.
"Whatever the case this is troubling. Someone wants to destroy Konoha and his ability to control Bijuu makes him a very real threat." Hiruzen stated before shifting his gaze towards his student. "You'll have to put your spy group on full alert, we will need to keep track of this over everything else." he ordered, receiving a nod from the white haired man. He then turned his attention to the other occupant of the room. "Why don't you go spend some time with your son, Minato?"
Minato immediately nodded, heading out of the room before stopping at the doorway, glancing back at his master. "Come, Jiraiya-sensei, meet your godchild." he stated, a small smile on his face as the man nodded and followed him.
They walked over to the nursery and asked one of the nurses to bring them the blond infant. The nurse seemed reluctant at first since the baby in question was still so young but relented at the Hokage's pleading look. As soon as he had his child in his arms again Minato visibly relaxed, placing a kiss on his whiskered cheek, before turning and presenting the infant to Jiraiya.
"He looks just like you." Jiraiya said as he held the baby in his arms, awkwardly. He saw the whisker like birthmarks and wondered if they were an influence of the fox's Chakra. "What's his name?"
Minato thought for a second before answering. "Uzumaki Naruto." he answered, deciding to give him his wife's maiden clan name, both since he had no real clan and to honor her memory. Jiraiya smiled as he felt the boy shift slightly in his arms. Deciding he'd held him enough he returned the baby to his father, again noting that the blond man relaxed as he held the infant.
Several hours later Minato found himself in a private room with his son sleeping in a crib. He was watching the infant sleep, his index finger held snugly by a tiny hand. He had been reflecting on several things and yet he still felt as lost as he had been the second he woke up earlier. The only thing he was sure of was that he would provide his son with anything he would ever need, and support him in whatever he did. He ran his hand gently through the soft golden tuft of hair on his son's head before leaning down and kissing his cheek, whispering an oath.
"I'll protect you with my life, like I should have done with your mother."
- Six Years Later -
A young blond boy walked down the street, waving hello to all the people who greeted him. His blue eyes were vibrant enough to make sapphires feel inferior and his sun kissed yellow hair stood out all over the place, much like his father's. He was on his way home from his first day at the academy, still happy with all the friends he had made.
The first one he had made was Kiba, a brown haired boy who had been upset with having to sit still all day. He had met him simply because they sat next to each other. They were very similar, they both wanted nothing more than to go outside and play all day.
His next friend he had also met because he sat next to him. Shikamaru was very lazy and just sat hunched over with his head resting on his crossed arms on the table. Still, Naruto had liked the way he could catch hi, anytime he tried to move to draw on the other boy's face when the blond thought that he was asleep. He vowed to get him eventually.
His last friend he had made that day was Chouji, Shikamaru's friend who Naruto only got to play with during lunch outside, since the boy sat on the other side of Shikamaru, across the gap of their tables. He envied all the snacks Chouji had brought and was thankful when the boy had agreed to give him a cookie, though with how big it was that was more than enough.
There were other people Naruto hoped he could make friends with soon, like the shy kid that sat in front of him, Sasuke. He felt that he could be good friends with him and had wanted to play with him but the raven haired boy had decided to stay inside and read a book on kunai.
He continued to walk before he heard a high pitched voice behind him, calling him.
"Naruto-kun, wait up!" yelled the voice of his friend, Sakura. He had been ecstatic when he had noticed she was in his class, but hadn't really bothered her as he saw she wanted to make friends with some of the girls, and he was trying to play with some of his new friends, knowing he could play with Sakura after school. Though he had forgotten in his excitement to get home and tell his father of all his new friends.
"Uh-oh, she's probably mad that I didn't wait for her." Naruto said to himself, and sure enough, Sakura was heading towards him with a look of agitation in her eyes.
"Why didn't you wait for me?" she asked as she neared and Naruto flinched, thinking she was going to hit him, since it wouldn't be the first time.
"Ahh!" Naruto shouted as he ran down the street, Sakura hot on his tail. "Don't hit me!"
"Stop running, I'm not going to hit you!" Sakura yelled trying to keep up with her best friend. Honestly, he acted as though he didn't deserve it when she hit him, like the time he'd put a worm down her shorts and she'd socked him so hard he'd lost a baby tooth.
Naruto didn't listen to her words, continuing to run all the way to the Hokage tower. The guards said nothing as two blurs of yellow and pink ran past their doors, having gotten too used to the Hokage's son and his friend's antics.
In his office, Minato was just finishing signing a deal to provide protection to the merchants coming from Nami no Kuni when he heard a familiar sound. Soon enough he heard his door burst open along with his son run into the room with his pink haired friend chasing him, both shouting for the other to stop running. He couldn't help but grin when Sakura managed to outsmart Naruto by cutting him off as he ran around the desk. The rosette tackled the young blond to the floor, laughing as she proclaimed her success in catching him.
"Hello, Naruto, Sakura." Minato greeted, grinning when the young girl jumped off his son and stood straight, a blush on her face.
"Hello, Hokage-sama."
"Hi, Tou-san!" Naruto shouted as he ran around the desk to give his father a hug, which the man returned.
"How was the academy?" he asked the two kids, getting a, 'Good,' from his son's friend, while his son went on a much more enthusiastic explanation of his day.
"And then Chouji gave me a cookie that was bigger than a ramen bowl!" Naruto finished, holding his arms out to exaggerate the size of the cookie. Minato smiled as he humored his son.
"Wow, that's big. Did you say thank you?"
Naruto nodded, reaching into his backpack to pull out a wrapped package. "I brought some for you, Tou-san." he said as he held out the now unwrapped giant half cookie.
Minato reached forward to break a piece of for himself before seeing the look on the rosette's face as she stared at the cookie. "Why don't you share the rest with Sakura?" he suggested, making his son turn in surprise.
"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan, I forgot you were here. Do you want some?" asked Naruto as he approached the girl, holding out the cookie.
"Oh, no, Okaa-san says I shouldn't have sweets before dinner or it'll ruin my appetite." she tried to reason only to have Naruto shove a portion of the cookie into her hand.
"Come on, Sakura-chan, one cookie won't hurt." he said before sitting next to the girl and munching on what was left of the cookie in his hand. The rosette looked at Minato, expecting him to tell her she shouldn't eat it but he merely smiled, moving his hand across his mouth in a zipping motion.
"Your secret's safe with me." he told her, watching her sigh before looking at the cookie in her hands, staring at it for a second before finally giving in. It was hard not to, Chouza's wife made some of the softest and most delicious cookies around.
Soon enough Sakura had to leave and Minato suggested Naruto take her home, telling him to meet him at Ichiraku's afterwards. The young blond obeyed and left with Sakura.
"So, Naruto-kun, why do you wanna become a Ninja?" Sakura asked as they walked, holding her bag in front of her while Naruto walked with his hands crossed behind his head, eyes squinted shut. One brilliant blue eye opened and glanced over at her, making her blush lightly. It was very pretty.
"I wanna be the next Hokage, like Tou-san." Naruto answered, looking up at the Hokage mountain. "Why? Why do you wanna be a Ninja, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, turning his attention to the girl walking next to him.
Sakura's face reddened at the unwanted close inspection and she looked away, thinking. "I don't really have a reason." she admitted, not being able to think of a suitable answer. She didn't want to say that it was because he was going to be one so she wanted to be one too for fear of him leaving her behind and not playing with her anymore. Naruto however became shocked.
"How can you not know?" he questioned, flailing his arms around animatedly, gaining a giggle from the girl.
"I can't think of anything besides I just wanna be a Ninja." she told him, watching him return to normal beside her.
"That's not good, Sakura-chan, we need to find you a reason to be a Ninja." he muttered to himself, already beginning to think up a million possibilities, most of which involved the girl flying or having some other superpower. Not super strength because that was for boys and Sakura was a girl.
"It's okay, maybe my reason can be to help Naruto-kun become Hokage." she suggested, her eyes widening as she caught what she said. The blush that covered her cheeks only grew when he looked at her with a large smile.
"Really? You'd help me?" he asked, his eyes sparkling as he waited for an answer. Sakura nodded, her own smile growing on her face. "Okay, with Sakura-chan helping me I'll be Hokage in no time!" Naruto declared, pumping his fist up in determination, causing Sakura to giggle.
- Four months later -
Time passed and Naruto and his class found themselves outside, about to participate in their first ever sparring session, a lesson in Taijutsu.
Since they had begun the academy Sakura had become friends with a blond girl named Ino, who kept telling her she needed to act more girly if she wanted to be a good Kunoichi. Naruto didn't like Ino since she was starting to make Sakura change into one of those girls who spent time talking about make up instead of practicing her kunai throwing or something else.
Naruto stood inside the ring of the sparring circle their sensei had drawn, facing his opponent, Uchiha Sasuke. Though Naruto felt bad for the fact that someone had killed most of his clan, he didn't like him because Ino was always telling Sakura that if she liked him she would be cool.
'Just what's so cool about this guy, anyway?' thought the blond as he glared at Sasuke, who stood with his hands in his pockets, an angry scowl on his face. 'I'm going to beat him and then I'll be the cool guy.' Naruto reasoned, nodding his head in approval of his plan.
"Begin!" yelled their sensei, letting his hand fall to indicate the start of the fight.
Naruto ran forward, using his above average speed for a six year old to catch Sasuke off guard, tackling the raven haired boy to the ground and holding his fist above his face, a few inches away from connecting.
The class stood in awe at the quick win, the boys cheering while some of the girls booed. Naruto looked over towards Sakura and saw her smiling at him, giving him a thumbs up.
"As expected of the Hokage's son." said their sensei, clapping, making Naruto frown. Sure he had become fast because of running from his dad when they played or he was trying to escape punishment but he liked to think he would be fast regardless of whether his dad was Hokage or a carpenter.
"I want a rematch." Sasuke stated as he stood up, glaring at the blond.
"Sasuke, one should learn to lose gracefully." their sensei chastised, shaking his head, about to call the next pair.
"Screw that." he turned towards Naruto and looked him right in the eyes. "Rematch."
Naruto smiled, crossing his arms behind his head. "Fine, I'd be happy to kick your butt again." Sasuke smiled as their sensei sighed and ordered them to get ready.
"Begin!"
Again Naruto sped towards Sasuke but this time the young Uchiha was ready. He spun around and brought his foot up, hitting Naruto in the middle of his face with his heel, effectively knocking the blond out cold as well as breaking his nose. The screams of shock and fright never reached the blond's ears as he wasn't really there to hear them.
Naruto found himself somewhere strange but at the same time somewhat familiar. He was in a sewer, somewhere he seemed to frequent while he slept, though why he had no idea. His curiosity getting the best of him he began wandering down the passage, following it until he reached a large room, large enough to fit the Hokage tower twice. At the far side of the room there was a large set of bars, with a relatively small piece of paper in the middle of a square that resembled a lock.
He walked in, awed at the size of the room and curious about what was behind the metal bars. Once he was near enough he saw a large mass in the darkness, though he couldn't make out what it was. As dense as people said he was, he knew better than to get closer than he already was once he saw that there was something behind the metal bars.
Suddenly, a giant red eye opened, shifting around frantically before locking on his form, making him gulp. Pretty soon another eye opened and settled on him as well.
"So, after six years you've come?" spoke a low, gruff voice, sending shivers down Naruto's spine. The blond boy wondered what it meant by that. As if sensing his upcoming question, the voice spoke again. "Do you even know who I am? What you are?" Naruto shook his head, making the voice growl in annoyance. "I, boy, am the mighty Kyuubi no Yōko," it paused, as if wanting to see the boy's reaction to the revelation before continuing, "and you, human, are nothing but my cage."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, frightened when a row of large sharp teeth appeared under the pair of eyes.
"Just what I said, you are my cage, the only thing stopping me from roaming free and destroying your village."
"So I'm like a hero?" Naruto questioned, feeling a sense of pride, knowing he was capable of stopping the beast that could level mountains with the twitch of a muscle.
"No. The humans of your pathetic village think of you as nothing more than a human incarnation of myself. They hate you for existing." Kyuubi stated, making the blond's eyes widen.
"The villagers love Tou-san and me!" Naruto shouted, receiving nothing more than a laugh from the beast.
"They love your father for saving them, but they hate you, for you walk around with the very being that killed their loved ones. They will never see past their irrational emotions. Even your own father blames you for the death of your mother."
"Shut up!" shouted Naruto, interrupting the demonic fox. "Tou-san loves me, and he says Kaa-san loved me too. You don't know anything, you've been stuck in a cell for the last six years, don't tell me how my family thinks of me!" with that Naruto turned to leave, ignoring the laugh of the Kyuubi.
"Don't believe me, but when they decide to finally kill you for what you are, remember that I could've helped.
A blinding white light was the first thing to greet him as he woke up, sapphire eyes blinking to get used to the brightness. He tried sitting up but found he couldn't. He also found his throat dry and he noticed his father was sitting in the chair next to his bed, sleeping. He chanced a sweep of the room and found himself in a hospital, the one place he hated more than the dentists office. Deciding he needed to know what had happened to him, Naruto squeezed his dad's hand, which had been on the bed near his.
"Tou-san, wake up."
With a groan his father woke up, rubbing his eye before looking down at him, his eyes widening in relief.
"Naruto. Oh, thank Kami-sama you're awake." Minato said, bending forward to hug his son. "I was so worried, I don't know what I'd do without you," his words made Naruto smile and he decided to forget his weird dream, "I already lost your mom, I can't lose you as well."
Any other day Naruto wouldn't have been bothered by his father's sentence, but the weird dream came back to the front of his mind again. It made him wonder if his father would be anywhere near as worried if his mom was still alive.
Shaking his head to rid himself of such thoughts, he turned to his father. "Tou-san, what happened? Why am I in the hospital?" he tried to scrunch his nose at the word hospital but found he couldn't. Glancing down he saw his nose was covered in a white cast. He looked at his father in confusion.
"You got hurt sparring, the doctors say you'll be alright but you broke your nose. You've been out for three days, son." Minato explained, the memories coming back to Naruto.
The spar, his victory, Sasuke's rematch challenge and then the last thing he remembered was a heel heading towards him. Before he could ask anything else, a familiar voice called him from his right.
"Naruto-kun!" yelled Sakura as she ran into the room, hugging him as soon as she was close enough. At the doorway Naruto saw Sakura's mom, a woman he almost never saw. Again, any other day he would not have taken notice, but as it were he couldn't ignore the look she was giving him, seeming agitated that she had to bring her daughter to the hospital just to see him. When Sakura spoke she brought him out of his thoughts. "Everyone misses you at the academy; they can't wait for you to come back."
Naruto merely smiled, touched by his friends' feelings. A few minutes passed, during which Sakura had left and Naruto had grown agitated at an itch that had decided to spring up on his cast-covered nose. "Tou-San, my nose itches!" he whined, only gaining a grin of amusement from his father.
"Be patient, Naruto, the doctor's on his way to change your bandages." Minato explained, watching as his son tried to find an opening in the cast to scratch his itch for the umpteenth time.
Soon enough, though to Naruto it felt like forever, the doctor arrived, apologizing for the wait before beginning to remove the cast on Naruto's nose.
"How long will it take for his nose to heal, doc?" Minato asked, curious as to how long his son would look like he wore a light bulb on his face.
"It will take a while, the damage was pretty severe and it will leave a sca—" the doctor stopped mid sentence as he stared at Naruto's nose, which appeared perfectly fine, not even a scar being left behind. "I've never seen anything like that." he murmured, turning the boy's face to look at him from different angles. "Remarkable. Truly remarkable."
"What happened?" Naruto asked, his voice coming out nasally due to the doctor pinching his nostrils. Somewhere in the back of his mind be knew he should be in some severe pain from what the doctor was doing to his broken nose.
"Your nose has already healed." the doctor stated, glancing at the Hokage. "Did you have a medical Ninja come and fix his nose while I was gone?" at the Blond man's shake of his head he proceeded to fill out something on his notepad.
"Does this mean I can go home?"
It had already been three weeks since Naruto had woken up in the hospital from his mishap during his first sparring session, and while for the most part he continued on with his life as though nothing had changed, he couldn't help but pay close attention to how everyone looked at him, or whispered as he walked by, or the tone of voice in which they talked to him.
Over half the people he saw would force themselves to smile at him and ask how he was doing in a false happy voice. Another good portion of people would look at him in either agitation or sorrow in their eyes, though most tried to hid sit behind a smile. Some people, though this group was few in number, would look at him in downright hatred, while another group of about the same number genuinely adored him, like his father and the owner of Ichiraku's Ramen Stand.
When the new teacher joined the academy, Naruto quickly noted that the man fit under the group that looked at him in either annoyance or sadness, and that the man tended to be harsher on him than the other students. When another new teacher joined, Naruto noted that the silver haired man was under the group that downright hated him, but hid it behind a mask of kindness.
"Back again, brat?" he Kyuubi asked, noting that the blond had returned yet again. He had been coming frequently for about a month already, often just standing there, staring, for a few minutes before leaving, and sometimes staying for longer. He was beginning to grow tired of feeling the boy's eyes on him while he slept. "If you want to say something, say it. Otherwise stop disturbing me."
"How can you help?"
To be continued...
Author's Note: So there's the rewrite of Just Following Orders, I hope you guys find it interesting. It took me a while to think up the new plot and even longer to actually write it down but I did it.
Some Notes;
I had Kushina activate the eight trigrams seal because I figured she as an Uzumaki would know about seals like that.
... That's it actually, but if anyone raises any concerns I'll address it in the next chapter.