Chapter 1: And So Life Passes
It was the early morning and the birds were singing their springtime song, the many cherry blossom trees of the temple were newly bursting with beautiful pink petals. The ancient pockmarked stones and wooden pillars of the temple seemed to rejuvenate in the dancing sunlight. The birds perched along the old sloping roof top trilling their songs, sometimes they would stare down at the odd beings moving around in the early hours of the morning.
A single withered looking monk dressing in slightly rumpled white robes brushed at the pave stones seeking to clean away some perceived dirt. He shambled to and fro and every so often took a moment to look at the birds and the sky. Deep thoughts circled in his mind worry being the most prominent in his thoughts, worry for the future of the temple and his charges.
As the days stretched out in his mind, the future looked bleak to the old monk. He could remember the times when the villages were first formed, and that war had been so common then. The need to pit strength against strength seemed to be a natural state of being for humans, a need to match hate with hate. Now it seemed those days would return again.
His name was Konorugi and he was a keeper of a small out of the way temple in northern fire country. Only a few acolytes studied or communed here, it was nothing like the main temple near the capital which was always busy with a great number of ninja monks.
The old monk paused as he stared down into a small pond filled with smallish koi, they would need feeding for certain. He nearly shied away from his reflection, his bald wrinkly face only serving a reminder of how truly bone achingly old he was. His mind returned to current events such as they were.
Konoha had been in the midst of tense diplomatic negotiations with Kumogakure, Kumo it seems decided to try and use the free opportunity of access to the leaf village to 'acquire' certain bloodlines, the most obvious one being that of the Hyuuga's Byakugan. The situation had quickly spiralled out of control, the ambassador from Kumo had ended up dead and the Hyuuga had been forced to sacrifice one of their own to smooth over feathers. That would have been the end of it but for one very important piece of information that Kumo gained.
Konoha's Jinchūriki was nowhere to be found in the village, it eventually came out that one of the delegation sent to Konoha was prodigy sensor whose task was to assess the strength of Konoha's container and to verify the Kyuubi's presence. The problem with this was that Kumo now believed that the Fourth Hokage had indeed killed the Kyuubi as Konoha proclaimed to the masses. They believed it would leave the village without the powerful deterrent for years if not decades with no guarantee of the Kyuubi being recaptured.
In their eyes Konoha was as vulnerable as it had ever been and it seemed it was too late to fix.
It might be wondered why Konorugi would know anything at all about the intricacies of ninja politics, indeed what business of his would it be? It was his business because he was the caretaker of Konoha's Jinchūriki, one Uzumaki Naruto.
He had received a messenger hawk only yesterday night detailing everything that had happened in the last few weeks. Sarutobi had made a mistake, he had never accounted for the possibility that someone would realise that the Jinchūriki was absent, proving otherwise would be impossible now. Even if Naruto took up residency in Konoha it was too late already, Kumo was already certain in its Intel and any counter intelligence would likely fall on deaf ears.
It seemed both countries were getting into an alert posture, already several minor incidents had occurred on the border. Merchant caravans going missing and trade had reduced to the point where it was rare to see goods from the land of lightning.
It seemed a terrible war was a very real possibility.
Konorugi sighed and looked up into the clear blue sky, he prayed with all his might that he would not live to see a fourth shinobi world war.
The tinkling of childish laughter lilted into the air, the dual shouts of both joy and frustration grew louder as the white and yellow blur launched itself out of the temple and into the daylight.
"YAHOOO!"
Spiky yellow hair glinted in the light as the young child leaped clean over the old monk. Clutched in his fists was a set of monk robes coloured bright blotchy pink. The child proceeded to swing the clothes like a flag of conquering glory.
"GET BACK HERE!"
A screaming monk of almost purple complexion thundered after the boy in his small cloths. The elderly monk noticed the man had two sets of delightfully painted whiskers adorning his cheeks. He could only press his wizened fingers to his temples to slowly message them, why was he always so loud in the morning? That boy had the energy of thirty grown monks put together!
To his failing eyes the two blurry figures raced around the once peaceful courtyard, across finely kept grass and rock gardens. The old monk could only sigh internally, it was a song and dance often acted out when new ninja monks visited.
"That's enough Naruto-kun! Give Reijiro his robe back and complete your morning meditations, think on your actions. You will give me an explanation afterwards." The old monk's voice was as dry as the desert, almost as desiccated as his own features.
They both froze in mid movement, one set of features mortified while the other sullen and pouty.
"Fine..."
Naruto tossed the robes to the half-naked monk and trudged back into the small temple, most likely he would sulk for a while before apologising. Reijiro however had no excuse for rising to the child's provocations, Naruto was a high strung child often given to his passions as was only natural. As a fully trained ninja monk Reijiro had no excuse for losing composure.
"I apologise master…I lost my peaceful center." He bowed at a steep angle before disappearing from his sight. Children now days, always so flighty and careless. He could remember when this world squashed that innocence as a matter of course…it just made him feel so very tired.
Naruto was a bright boy if a bit maddening in his temperament, he also couldn't stand the stiff discipline of the ninja monks. He had no patience for the long periods of contemplation often fidgeting uncontrollably or day dreaming.
As for the boy's training Sarutobi had asked that he teach him at the very least the basics as at the time he had envisioned that the boy would return to the village to join the ninja academy to complete his training. He tried his very hardest to instil as much morality and philosophy into his mind, after all a Jinchūriki could wield great power and he only hoped Naruto would wield it for the right reasons and not for war or simple destruction.
It seemed that Naruto would be leaving this place for better or worse, he just hoped the boy could understand.
The six year old yellow haired boy dressed in a loose fitting white robe sat stiff backed in front of the shrine glaring up at the funny looking images of gods with ringed eyes. The room smelled of incense and herbal candles, Jii-chan always had those stupid things burning in this room.
Naruto pouted with all his might, that stupid monk deserved it all right! Always so stiff and lifeless, he couldn't stand it when people didn't show their true feelings! He could tell when people didn't say or do what they truly meant, he didn't understand why everyone always hid their thoughts and feelings. The only one that didn't was Jii-chan, he would tell him exactly what he thought and felt about his actions.
Okay fine, maybe he shouldn't have messed with the guy's robes, but when he arrived that guy was so stuffy he couldn't stand it. Just a little prank to set the blood flowing, force him to come alive!
He was probably going to have clean out the koi ponds or clean all the laundry for certain after this. Jii-chan always had some kind of ironic punishment…like the last time he had done some graffiti in the small village nearby he had made him clean the whole village, every wall and house! Come on Sonogi village was so grey and boring, it needed some colour!
Either that or he would have to endure another of Jii-chan's long lectures about…well stuff in general, he didn't always understand it all but the old man said he would eventually. Naruto just took him at his word.
He scratched at his spiky hair and rested back on his elbows as he looked up at the redwood ceiling. He had been here as long as he could remember with the old man looking after him, training him and teaching him about the world. From what Jii-chan had told him he was a native of Konoha, the ninja village. As to why he was here the old man only said that as an orphan he had been brought to the temple after the Kyuubi attack because there hadn't been enough room and the orphanages to go around.
Naruto often wondered about his parents, obviously they had died in the Kyuubi attack but what had they been like? Had they been awesome ninja? Or just a regular family trying to make a living? From what he could understand the Kyuubi had made no distinction in its wholesale destruction.
Maybe he would go to Konoha and visit to see if anyone knew of them? That was definitely on the list of things he wanted to do, that and travel the world. He had spent so much time hearing about all the wonderful things in the world, about the different peoples and nations that he wanted to see it for himself!
Still that was sometime down the line, he still needed to finish his learning then he could journey out into the world. There were so many different lands he could visit he couldn't wait! The legendary ones interested him the most for certain!
He glanced around as a few of the guests started morning prayers, one or two monks and some others guests from the surrounding villages. He sighed, he supposed he better start getting the morning offerings completed. Jii-chan would be even madder if he didn't do that.
He sometimes wondered about the visitors the temple would get, some of them were super weird and not just ninja monk weird. Sometimes civilians would visit the temple but there were the odd few times you would get a real weirdo that stuck out somehow. Naruto couldn't really explain it other than it felt like they were pretending somehow. He always made a point to stay clear of those ones.
He made the finishing touches on the shrine and went to sit on the outside veranda. Jii-chan was just finishing up, he putting his broom away in the tools shed. Slowly the man made his way to the front steps of the temple, he sat down next to him and stared forward.
"Naruto will you ever learn not to antagonise people you have only just met? Tell me did you do the right thing?" The old man spoke without inflection or indication of disappointment.
"Jii-san…he was being snobby all last night, acting like we're second rate monks just because we're not from the main temple!" Naruto felt the need to defend his actions even if he accepted that it wasn't exactly correct.
"And is that our problem or his own?" Naruto frowned in confusion as Konorugi continued, "Everyone is on their own individual journey to enlightenment, and did your actions in any way aid that progress?"
"….No, but…" Naruto looked down eyes shutting into slits.
"What would have made him realise that his perceptions were wrong? What would have made him look inward and reassess his beliefs?"
"….I guess, showing otherwise, proving that we weren't as he believed." Naruto looked even glummer at the admission.
"Indeed...lashing out will never change anyone's mind. You must show them the truth through action, conviction and belief. Set an example and people will understand." The old man smiled to himself, it was a lesson they often considered in contemplation. He just hoped Naruto would take it to heart.
"Now…you must clean every koi pond today and the bronze idols. Consider it penance for your actions." The old man seemed to hesitate before standing, "And Naruto…we have a lot to talk about tonight, join me inside when you are finished."
Naruto frowned as he watched the old man go inside the temple. That was strange, he had never seen Jii-chan look so uncertain before…
The wind blew quietly during the evening, leaves danced on the air having parted company with their homes. The sun was making its slow way down to the horizon as nightfall approached.
A silent shadow watched the temple from the treeline, wolf's job was a simple one. Stop all foreign or unauthorised intruders from reaching the temple, for the ANBU of Konoha it was considered a punishment detail which involved countless hours of watching a blond kid wreak merry hell on the surrounding countryside.
If Wolf was honest it did have its amusing moments considering the trouble the kid could get into, and the upside was that he didn't have to go on dangerous missions for a time. Still it could get very tedious such as in this occasion. The boy had been working all day cleaning out the various ponds on the grounds. Watching him battle with the slippery koi had been amusing to see all things considered but it still didn't make up for the monotony.
He cast his mind to recent events, it was bad all things considered. The elemental nations were now in a state of diplomatic turmoil, Kumo now believed that Konoha's Jinchūriki did not exist, that the village had lost the Kyuubi when the Fourth "killed" it. Indeed the Anbu doubted that Kyuubi had ever been damaged enough by any ninja no matter their strength to force it to reform. Truly the Fourth's inflated reputation really wasn't doing Konoha any favours in this case.
Of course the backroom allegations were refuted by Sarutobi-sama but it was proving otherwise that was the problem. From what he had heard a plan was in the works to "demonstrate" the Kyuubi's power. How that could happen he had no idea, Uzumaki was mostly untrained and didn't even have any idea of what he contained. Even if they captured a Kumo sensor and exposed them to Uzumaki Kumo would simply believe that the sensor ninja had been comprised with miss-information.
In the meantime everything was beginning to heat up, more ANBU scout missions and minor proxy skirmishes using disguised ninjas. The bread and butter of a run up to war, a war that could trigger a fourth shinobi world war. He had lived through the third and it was only the Fourth's absurd skill with the Hiraishin that it had ended so quickly. While its effectiveness decreased with the skill of the victim the vast majority of the foreign ninja forces were made up of ninja of limited skill, lambs to the slaughter against a technique like that.
Another war would be fought the hard way. With no upcoming prodigies with the skills needed to wreak mass scale slaughter of that nature a new war would be fought kunai to kunai. In other words a long slog against what could be argued as the most dangerous of the hidden villages to date.
With two fully realized Jinchūriki capable of controlling their biju forms the possibility of defeating Kumo seemed remote with the current standards of Konoha ninja forces. Wolf's black thoughts were interrupted by an incoming source of chakra, several in fact.
He waited patiently, the chakra signatures seemed unhurried and were keeping a reasonable pace. Still he readied himself by hiding his chakra more tightly. Several masked ANBU members appeared around him on various tree branches. He noticed that the masks were completely blank, no animal signatures with a single "Ne" marking. Root? There were rumours of course about the super black ops division, but weren't they disbanded by Sarutobi-sama?
"Anbu-san you are dismissed, we will take it from here on orders from the Hokage." The lead ninja joined him on the same tree branch. He was clad in regular Anbu armour with a back mounted tanto blade.
"…Do you have written orders from Sarutobi-sama?" He glanced around rest of the squad, they were paying no notice to the conversation, seemingly all of their eyes were on the temple in the distance.
"Of course…" The man pulled out a scroll and handed it over, "Everything is in order."
Wolf opened the scroll carefully and quickly read the contents, it was a simple recall message with the Hokage's seal and signature. A small touch of chakra verified its authenticity. "I see, I will leave you to your mission then."
"Please do Anbu-san, we have a busy night ahead of us…"
The surrounding Anbu abruptly disappeared into blurring shadows leaving behind a very mystified and concerned Wolf. He could tell by their manner and purpose that they were indeed sanctioned by the Hokage, but he had a bad feeling that this was what he had heard about. A plan to demonstrate the Kyuubi's power.
He wished he could do something but he was under direct orders. He just hoped Hokage-sama was making the right decision.
"Naruto-kun….come sit with me."
The old man sat in seiza next to the small fire pit, the day's activities had finished some hours ago. The rest of the guests at the temple having long since retired to their rooms. Naruto sat down opposite him with none of the same poise and grace. He raised a concerned look towards his caretaker.
"What is it Jii-san…you mentioned something about this in the morning…"
The old man seemed to slump slightly in his stance, slipping into more of a slouch than the uncomfortable rigidity of seiza.
"You have asked before about where you come from…I'm sorry Naruto…but I never told you the full story." His gaze slipped down with his bowed head. Naruto wasn't sure what to say, he had kind of always suspected that maybe there was more to the story…
"It seems events have progressed beyond anyone's control. The truth is you were sent here to live with me not by mere chance. The leader of Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi the third Hokage, sent you here to be raised." Naruto's eyes were wide with attention, so maybe he suspected there was more to the story but for the Hokage to be involved?
"He feared for your safety, that enemies of Konoha would try to hurt you, even kill you." Konorugi looked older than he ever had before in Naruto's eyes, but his burning questions would not wait.
"But…why? Konoha must have lots of enemies, why go after me?" Naruto could feel a sinking feeling approaching, he knew he wasn't going to like what was coming next.
"I'm sure you've heard the story of the Fouth Hokage killing the Kyuubi?" Frantic nodding was his response, "Well…that story is a lie, ninja know of no way to permanently kill a Biju, they can only be sealed in a mortal vessel for a time."
It took a moment for Naruto to understand what he was being told, and in a flash of certainty he realized the truth.
"I'm the vessel aren't I? That's what the weird inky thing on my stomach is whenever I channel my chakra!" His hand clenched around his abdomen imagining he could feel the mystic design burning on his skin.
Naruto didn't know how to feel…it all felt so distant to him, almost unreal. He had never imagined anything like this, even in his wildest fantasies. He had a Demon sealed inside of him, he didn't know what to think of that.
"It's safe right? I…I mean the Kyuubi can't get out can it? The fourth was really awesome that way wasn't he?"
"You are indeed the container of the Kyuubi and as far as my knowledge of seals stretches I believe it is safe as such a thing can be." The old man frowned and continued, "You still must be vigilant at all times Naruto, you have been given a great burden of power, using it without just cause could destroy everything you are."
A flash of fear spiked through Naruto's heart…he could use it…as in the Kyuubi's power could come out? He might not know much about the Kyuubi but from the stories it was a renowned legendary monster of nigh impossible power. The idea that even a piece of that power could come out was…terrifying.
"Do not fear, should there come a time there will be those around you to help prevent any danger to yourself and others." The old man smiled slightly trying to convey a reassurance he wasn't sure he could offer.
"So…what happens now?" Naruto's dull gaze fell on the finely carved stone paving around the fire pit, it had small designs showing dancing flames. His hands slowly formed tight fists around his white robes.
"For now you must return to Konoha, there you will train in the Ninja academy, eventually you will choose either to become a Konoha ninja or a simple citizen." The third Hokage at the very least assured him it would be up to Naruto to make that choice.
Naruto supposed he should feel happy, getting the opportunity to train as a real ninja. He had always imagined his life would involve some travelling before trying to become a real fire temple monk. Sure he had imagined himself as this kick ass ninja warrior but somewhere inside him he knew it was just wishful thinking.
Now all he could think about was that he would be leaving his whole life behind. The temple, Jii-chan, the stupid grey villagers and all his favourite haunts in the forest.
"Sleep now and in the morning a ninja will be here to bring you to Konoha." Konorugi tried to smile reassuringly but Naruto could see even he was straining to put on a brave face.
The cinders of the fire pit had long since gone out leaving them in a cool darkness, Naruto couldn't even lift his gaze to look the old man in the eye. He knew he should feel angry at having his whole life just…change literally overnight. It was all happening so fast he wasn't sure if he even wanted to go to Konoha. If anything living with an elderly monk had taught him think more carefully about his choices.
Without a word Naruto left the old man to his thoughts and wandered into the main hall of the temple. He stared at the dark panelled wood in front of him as his bare feet padded on the polished wood.
A gentle creak sounded in the corridor ahead, his eyes snapped up in sudden focus. He had always hated the dark, living in a temple combined with all those ghost stories made him pretty jumpy at night.
For a moment he saw nothing but a black outline, but slowly he could make out the naked unsheathed blade before him and what looked like an inhumane creature holding it. Crouched low to the ground in a near animal like stance it looked ready to pounce.
He did the most natural thing for a six year old after that.
"JII-CHANNN!"
Which was screaming at the top of his lungs! The now human like creature lunged forward, the blade slicing through the air with almost impossible speed to his eyes. He fell backwards in a heap, his white robes cut away from his darker tunic. White hot adrenalin shot into his bloodstream and shocked his legs into movement.
Bucking quickly he took off at a mad dash down the corridor screaming his lungs out as he went. He could feel that dreadful shadow stalking him from every dark corner. He could hear the household rousing now, out of the corner of his eye he could see Reijiro and two other monks-in-training appear in their small clothes clutching long quarter staffs.
Naruto ran with all his might to the main shrine where his Jii-chan was, his body didn't know what else to do. Whatever that thing was he knew he couldn't fight it. He tripped and fell on one of the fancy rugs present in the main hall. Rolling to his feet he took a moment to look back.
He wished he hadn't.
His eyes went wide as he watched one of Reijiro's fellow monks split in two, a shower to blood and viscera splattered across the room in a macabre fountain. The terrible blood soaked blade responsible was still connected to the monster he had seen before, but this time he could see the monster clearly.
It wore a plain white mask and was man shaped, its body was covered in blood soaked panelled armour. The original colour might have been grey but the blood splatters had covered it from mask to toe.
Naruto could see Reijiro trying to confront another of these monsters attacking, his quarter staff sped quickly through the air in complex patterns. It seemed he was able to keep up with these creatures! Naruto felt hope in his chest as his prank victim beat back the masked horror.
Naruto's heart nearly stopped in his chest when another of the masked men appeared from thin air, its blade already descending with vicious speed. Naruto tried to make his body move to try and stop it but he couldn't move from the fear. Reijiro paid the price a moment later as his head was struck from his shoulders.
Naruto was paralysed, his eyes were locked open as he kneeled on the ground gazing forward sightlessly. His hands twitched at the gruesome sight. This was…what kind of evil was this? What monsters were they!
Tears leaked from his eyes as another attacker joined them, bringing the total up to three. They seemed to amble forward slowly without care. They froze the next moment, tense and prepared.
The space between them was filled in an instant as a figure wearing a long white robe appeared once again from nowhere.
"Jii-chan…." Naruto's voice was strangled with fear, he could barely speak never mind move.
"Ninja…ANBU…why have you done this?" Konorugi's voice was parched of all inflexion, his knees bent as he readied himself.
"…." There was no response from the faceless monsters…ninja he now knew.
"I see…"
The old man straightened settled into a taijutsu stance. Naruto could only feel fear for his Jii-chan, he was going to fight them all? After Reijiro and the others died? His eyes widened even further…he…he couldn't lose everyone!
"Naruto…Run." The next moment he was moving like a blur, his opponents also disappeared in a haze of high speed movement. The thumps of heavy blows meeting flesh filled Naruto's ears as he fought to control his own body. The next moment he pulled himself from the ground and started running as hard as he could.
He could barely see where he was going from the tears in his eyes, tripping over nearly everything between him and the rice paper sliding doors. A blur of half seen movement caught his eye just before his world turned to pain. A heavy armoured sandal met his face, the force threw him right off his feet, Naruto bounced twice before coming to a halt back where Jii-chan was fighting.
Groaning he forced himself to try and get up again, he could feel blood pouring from his nose and mouth choking him.
It took him a second to realise everything was silent, the sounds of fighting had stopped. His eyes widened as he looked up, the moon light was showing everything to his young eyes in sharp contrast.
His grandpa stood above him, the three ninja stood around them. His pale white robes were stained with blood as three blades pierced him from three different directions, his withered hands were tightly gripping two of the blades as blood poured from his fists. The emotionless ninja masks stood in stark relief in the moonlight, the splashes of life blood lending them a demonic nature.
"Naruto…." It happened in slow motion to Naruto, his grandpa fell like the greatest oak in the forest and all he could hear was his heart beat getting louder and louder in his head.
His vision was beginning to fade, the last thing he saw was a shining blade slowly making its way towards him…
The dripping of water could be heard echoing endlessly. Vast rusted pipes pulsed faster and faster as chakra thundered through them with ever greater intensity. A towering gate marked the entrance to the jail cell fitted only with a slight piece of paper marked 'seal'.
Deep in the wet darkness two slitted red eyes opened with a snap, hateful scarlet chakra ignited and boiled forth in a tidal wave drowning the sewer like dungeon. The slitted eyes narrowed in age old caustic fury…
"I will not die because of you weakling!"
'
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Author's Note:
Hi all, I've tried my hand and Naruto fanfiction before but failed because I based the story on "powers" and not plot. With this idea I was inspired by "Sage" but decided to take shape in in a different way.
You can imagine Naruto is not going to be able to look at Ninja in any charitable way in the foreseeable future.
I'm still thinking about what I'm going to do with him, I can't see him wanting to go near Konoha after this, not a chance.
If you're wondering about Root, they actually do have a mission there and they are carrying out the Hokage's orders. Sarutobi is no wall flower, he knows when to get his hands dirty and for the right reasons. If anyone can give me the thirds reasons you get a cookie for sure.
Anyway I'm trying to think up a combat style for Naruto, if he's not going to learn monk jutsu or ninja should it be samurai techniques? Or should he just try and create his own powers from the little he has seen? I would appreciate any REALISTIC suggestions :p.
Also nice Kurama is overated. I like angry Kurama its more interesting :p.
Anyway hope you enjoyed it pls R&R.