Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story aside from the idea of it.
So... here we are again. It's been awhile, and again I apologize for that. I won't waste anyone's time with a repeat explanation to this redo, if you want one, look at the older version of this story. So, let's get started.
Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves, was a relatively peaceful village. Tonight, a celebration was underway, as tonight was the seven year anniversary of the defeat of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the most powerful of the Biju, by the Yondaime Hokage. The celebration was a time of joy for many, but also a time of sadness and mourning for those lost in the attack. This sadness was quick to turn to anger as the night went on, and the alcohol clouds the senses.
This anger was usually taken out on one thing, one person. This person was a young blond haired child, named Naruto Uzumaki. Every year, the villagers would form a mob, and hunt down the small child. The reason behind these attacks, while originally unknown to the boy years ago, was slowly pieced together over years of insults and physical attacks.
The villagers believed him to be the Kyuubi incarnate, due to their hero sealing the demon away into the child when he was born. It would make sense wouldn't it, the newly born boy being unable to resist the power of the demon fox, allowing the baby to be possessed. After all, his face had whisker marks on his face, he had ungodly amounts of stamina even for a child, and he would heal from nearly any wound in an insanely short period of time.
Of course, they were wrong in this belief, but that mattered little to them. They wanted a scapegoat, even if it was a child. In their eyes they truly believed they were avenging their lost loved ones. This however came with a consequence they were to short sighted to see.
Naruto hated the village, of course he would, and who wouldn't given the circumstances? He lacked the power however to do anything about it. That was the main reason that he did not consider himself the Kyuubi, if he was truly the fox, he would have killed them all long ago.
Now he waited in his shabby apartment for the villagers to come for his birthday beating. He had learned years ago that hiding did him little good, as the villagers usually had ninja with them, and hiding from them was impossible for such a young child. As he waited however, something caught his eye. In the center of the room, a faint glow had begun to appear.
The glow grew into a blinding light, causing him to avert his eyes until it subsided. When he turned back to it, he saw a small box where the glow was. Cautiously, he approached it, wary of a possible trap or explosive. When he got close, he carefully nudged the top off of it, jumping back in case of an explosive.
When it didn't explode, Naruto looked into the box. Inside the box was a mask. It looked rather plain, with the lower half being a whitish tan, and the upper half having both purple and red surrounding the eyes. In several places, cracks had formed in the material, with two particularly large cracks on either side of its face, giving it a slight smile like quality to it. Carefully picking it up, Naruto noticed the small note placed underneath it.
It simply read, 'Wear me, and even gods will tremble at your approach.' Naruto considered this, could this mask really give him what he wanted, what he craved? It sounded foolish to him, after all, how could a mask give him such power? Still... what if it could? What harm would come from simply giving it a try?
His musings were broken by the sound of someone trying to break down his door. Deciding to at least try, he placed the mask on his face, just in time for the door to be broken down by a katana wielding ninja. Naruto however did not see this, as his vision faded the moment the mask was placed on his face.
When his vision cleared however, he was in a pitch black room, the only source of light being a small candle resting on a table. At this table, a man was sitting. He had a blood red hood pulled over his head, continuing into a semi cloak, covering most of his upper body. His lower body was covered in pitch black armor. Covering his face, the mask that Naruto had just moments ago put on.
Before Naruto could do anything, the man said in a rather deep menacing voice, "Well? What are you waiting for, come over here." Seeing no other real options, Naruto began to cautiously approach the table. When he was close to the table, the figure gestured for him to have a seat.
Seeing his reluctance, the figure said, "Go ahead, I won't bite... Unless I need to." The way he said it left no room for an argument, so Naruto sat in the seat opposite of him. Now that Naruto was closer, he could see the figures eyes, the unnatural red colored sclera and a golden iris further serving to unnerve the boy.
Naruto, while afraid, was still a child, and children are curious by nature. He asked in a fearful whisper, "W-who are you?"
The man perked up ever so slightly at the question, before answering, "Hmm... Isn't it rude to ask someone's name without giving yours?" Realizing his mistake, Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the stranger raising his hand to silence him. "There is no need to say anything, I know who you are. Who I am however, is far more important at the moment. I am Jack of Blades."
Now that Naruto knew that this man's name was Jack, he decided to ask, "If you don't mind me asking Jack-san, where are we. The last thing I remember was being in my apartment, then blacking out."
Jack let out a slight chuckle at that before answering, "We are, in a way, still in your home, yet at the same time, far away from that wretched little hovel." Seeing the confusion on the boys face, Jack begins to explain, "You see boy, while your body is still there, your mind is here, and it's all because you chose to put on my mask."
Still confused, though slightly less so, Naruto asks, "What do you mean your mask Jack-san?"
Jacks answer held a level of malice that the boy had never heard, and that was saying something, "Boy, that mask is mine, and has been mine for countless millennia, do you understand?" Seeing Naruto give a fearful nod, Jack continued, "The reason that my mask appeared before you is that you have my blood running through your veins, do you understand boy? You are one of my last surviving descendants, and the only one to hold the hate and malice needed to call on your ancient blood."
Taking note of the look of surprise on Naruto's face, Jack continued, "Yes, in fact, in some ways I was were your bloodline began countless ages ago, on a world much different than this one."
"What do you mean 'a world different than this one?" The boy was only getting more confused as Jack went on, and he was desperate to get answers from the man.
Jack gave Naruto an appraising look before saying, "To answer that, you would need to go back to the beginning and hear the tale of you blood, in which I will demand your full attention, will you be able to give me that?"
Seeing the blond give a determined nod, Jack took in a breath before beginning, "At the start, before the worlds were full of insignificant humans, when the realms were ruled by angels and demons, even then was I an ancient and powerful force. One of three members of a group known as The Court. Alongside me in The Court were the Knight of Blades, and the Queen of Blades. We appeared before the people of a world named Albion, and demanded servitude, they refused."
"Do to they're refusal, we burned the world, till the skies were filled with smoke, and the earth blacked to cinders. Again, we demanded servitude, and again they refused. And so we raised the very oceans, and flooded the world. Once again, we approached them, offering them peace, yet again they refused. This time, we used our power to drive the entire world mad, and they finally kneeled before us."
Looking to see if the blond was still paying attention, and seeing that he was looking with rapt attention, Jack continued, "We ruled for many years, uncontested by any who would try and stop us, and over those years we reached our powers into the stars, conquering others who would call themselves gods, however, at the moment they are of little importance. What was important, was one mortal born on Albion. A man named William Black. He was unlike the other humans, he was able to resist us."
"And so I appeared before him, with a deal. He willingly serves us, and he would be given the mightiest sword the world has ever seen. He agreed, and I thought I had won, but the sword... that sword was beyond what I thought it was. It made him a counter offer, give it his soul, and he would have the power to destroy The Court. He took its offer, and challenged me to combat. I was arrogant, thinking I could defeat him with little effort, and he took advantage of my arrogance."
"That... was the first time I died, though I managed to seal my power and soul into my mask. Black went on to kill the Knight and Queen, and ruled Albion for many years before passing on the torch to his children. Somehow he had gained immortal life, as he returned to the kingdom over one hundred years later, under the name Scythe, and killed his children who had ruined his peaceful land with war."
"Eons countless years later, there was a boy, a Hero. One of Scythes blood, who could reawaken that cursed blade. I had regained a form, and led a band of bandits to his home, and burned it to the ground, taking his mother and leaving his sister for dead. Years later, it came full circle, and the child of Scythe killed me, just as the ancestor did. He then killed his sister with the sword, The Sword of Aeons, to awaken its full power."
"It was not that simple however, as my soul had escaped the battle, and I possessed a great dragon to fight the Hero once again. Yet history has a tendency to repeat itself, and this time, my soul was trapped in my mask, which the Hero now had. He had the choice of destroying me or wearing the mask for power. That was when he fell, as he put the mask on, allowing my soul to enter his body and possess him."
"However, the Hero was old at this point, and our battle had worn more heavily on him than I thought. He died there, and I would have as well, had he not had a child before. I passed my soul into the latent power of the bloodline, using what I had once sought to wipe out to keep myself alive. As time went by, I saw the world change, and new gods rise."
"Millennia passed, and the world again changed, and the times of magic came to an end as science and industry rose. Many people still had latent power, and none more that Cole McGrath. His power was over the very element of electricity, being able to unleash untold destruction and heal his own wounds with the electrical energy of humans. He eventually merged with a being known as the Beast, giving him near godly powers, and able to awaken the latent power in some humans, while destroying others."
"It was not too long after that point that those humans figured out how to leave the world once known as Albion, and venture into the stars. It is here that the blood line disperses across the infinite cosmos, and it was a being called Revan who came here after leading his forces to victory in a war between two mighty forces known as the Jedi and Sith. Revan was perhaps one of the strongest, as he was able to lead his forces to conquer an entire galaxy, and crush all opposition, quite literally in some cases. When he came here, he was surprised to find humans already here, but over time he came to be seen as a hero to the populace when he defeated a mighty demon, and it was after this, the elemental nations came to be."
When Jack finished, Naruto was left in awe. He was the descendent of what seemed to be the most powerful beings in the whole universe... and yet there was still one unanswered question in his mind. Hesitantly, Naruto asked, "Jack-san... if you know who all of those people were... would you know who my..." He trailed off after that, leaving Jack to finish his thought.
"You mean your parents, don't you?" Seeing Naruto nod, Jack continued, "Ah yes, I very well do know who they are, but who they are may surprise you. Your father was the savior of this village, Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash, and your mother was Kushina Uzumaki, the Red Death." Seeing the look of shocked disbelief, Jack saw an opportunity, and took it, "Yes, quite interesting isn't it, how your father so carelessly sealed away a demon into his own child, and how your mother left you for dead not long after."
"Wh-what? I... I still have a mom? She's still alive but she... She left me? Why, why would she leave me?" Seeing his reaction, Jack smirked behind his mask, this was exactly what he needed.
Filling his voice with a sarcastic pity, Jack said, "Oh yes, she was ever so heartbroken over the death of her beloved husband, and the fact that the monster that had killed him was sealed into your gut, well, as they say that was the straw that broke the camel's back... If only there was a way for you to be able to get some kind of... revenge."
Naruto's mind was in over drive as it took all this in, from his ancestry, to the revelation of who his parents were. What Jack had said about his parents though was what stood out the most to him. As he thought about Jacks words, he couldn't find any faults with what the man had said, and slowly he was filled with anger, anger at his parents, and anger at the whole god damned village. Then, the last word Jack said hit him.
"Revenge..." It was barely a whisper, but the anger behind that word was like music to Jacks ears, "You... You can help me get that can't you? You can give me the power to get it..."
"Yes I can..." You could hear the smirk behind Jacks mask as he spoke, "But, you have to want it, you have to agree to allow me to give you this power... Will you?"
Naruto didn't need to think about it, his mind was already made up, "Yes... Yes I want it, I'll agree to whatever is needed to get it, just GIVE IT TO ME!"
Raising his hand to Naruto's head, arm glowing with power, and undoubtedly still smirking behind that mask of his, Jack says, "For every choice... a consequence." With that, he places his hand on Naruto's forehead, and a blinding flash fills the darkened room...
The villagers all had malicious grins as they made their way into the demon vessels house, all of them intent of causing him serious harm. The fact that the boy was just sitting there, wearing some stupid mask, not even trying to hide or run disappointed several who were looking forward to another fox hunt, while others just wanted to get it over with. One man, armed with a meat cleaver, approached the boy, the sadistic grin only growing as he raised his arm over his head.
He never got to finish his swing. Naruto's head snapped up, letting everyone see the demonic coloration of his eye before a wave of power erupted from his body. The man with the meat cleaver was completely destroyed from it, turned to dust, while the others who remained were simply thrown back with enough force to send some people flying through some of the walls in the building.
Fearful shrieks came from the crowd outside, not only from the power, which they undoubtedly believed was the fox breaking free, but from several of their friends being shot from Naruto's home. Speaking of him, he was walking through his front door, letting everyone see him. With all eyes on him, he spoke in a tone far too deep for a child to be able to make, "After an eternity away from you all... Jack of Blades is back."
The villagers were confused, it was plain to see, but at the same time their fear kept most of them rooted to their spots. Only the insanely brave and extremely stupid were able to do or say anything. One particularly stupid member of the group stepped forward and said, "So the demon finally show its true self, well now no one's going to stop us from killing you!" The crowd began to cheer, all ready to kill the being that they believed had ruined so many of their lives.
Jack watched, a detached level of amusement as they continued to rile themselves up. He allowed them to do so, if only to distract them from the gathering storm above. It was impossible to keep them from noticing the red lightning coursing over his arms however. It was around then they noticed the storm, and that the lightning in the storm matched the color that was on Jack. Some of the smarter members of the crowd managed to put the things together, most of them being ninja.
Before they could even try anything, the sky unleashed its fury, a colossal bolt striking the center of the crowd. Those closest to the epicenter of the bolt were completely disintegrated, while others were simply scorched by the intense heat. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, while the screams and moans of those who were injured by the lightning bolt resonated through the area.
Despite the carnage left from the bolt, Jack couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at it. He was clearly unimpressed with the level of destruction left, and was more than likely expecting a much more powerful reaction. With a simple flick of his wrist, one of the injured civilians was pulled directly into his waiting hand. Clenching his hand slightly, he sent a current of electricity though the injured man. He screamed briefly, before his body began to shrivel and seemed to become nothing more than a withered husk.
As Jack released him, he turned to dust, shocking and terrifying the already horrified populace. Jack however had a scowl on his face that none could see. He muttered to himself, "Something's missing, but what could it be…" His musing was interrupted by a cat masked ninja wielding a katana who attempted to remove his head.
What she did not expect was for him to grab her wrist mid swing and pump her body full of enough electricity to cause her to begin thrashing in his grasp. She barely registered that he let go of her as she hit the ground, nerves still shot from the jolt. Looking down on her, he bent down and picked up her fallen katana, an appraising eye passing over it. A slight nod of approval was the only indication he gave after looking it over.
Looking back at the crowd and noticing how several were attempting to run, Jack decided to test just how much power he had from his old life, and with a small flex of his hand, he had his answer. A series of blast like noises filled the air along with a flash of red, and when it died down the area was filled with a large number of strange creatures.
The majority of the creatures were rust brown in coloration, and appeared to be very heavily armored. They had rather beastly heads, and made a constant strange shrieking noise. However, to the civilians, the most terrifying part was their weapons. Each one wielded a double bladed sword, easily the size of a person and glowing an ominous red.
They all had their heads turned to Jack, waiting. With a dismissal tone, Jack said, "Well? What do you lot want, an invitation? Kill them." Then the screaming began as the monsters gave off one resounding screech and lunged towards the crowd. Then the screaming began again, louder and filled with pleas for mercy. Of course, none would be shown to such lowly beings.
Turning back to the downed Anbu, Jack raised his newly acquired blade high above his head, primed to bring it down, when his mind flashed back to a young man in very much the same position as the girl. The desperation, the fear… the acceptance of fate. A deal which saved that man's life, while also throwing it away. With that image, came a name, Maze, one of Jack's most loyal servants during his time.
Lowering the blade, he spoke to the woman before him, "Do you wish to die here woman?" A fearful shake of the head was all she could muster, and even that was straining her to the breaking point. Leaning down to her level, Jack continued, "What would you be willing to give to survive, hmm? Don't bother answering, as there is only one thing I will take. Do you want to know?"
She nodded as fiercely as she could, hope beginning to fill her eyes. A dark chuckle filled her ears as he had his masked face right before her own, demonic eyes filled with a sadistic glee, and he spoke one word in a dark whisper, "You." With that his hands whipped out and latched onto the sides of her head, a pulse of energy coming from them. As he continued to pour more and more power into her, she screamed a blood curdling cry.
In her mind, she could feel him savagely attacking her in such a way that she could do nothing to resist. She could feel herself losing who she was, and how she was beginning to care less and less on what the monster before her did to her. Watching images of her life begin to twist, distort, until they held little meaning to her. Slowly her screams began to die as Jack withdrew from her mind, her form still racked with pain.
Jacks face filled her eyes, a look of sick amusement in them as he asked, "Surely such a price is acceptable to you?" A hoarse whisper was her response. Jack leaned in closer, and she barely managed to raise her voice to be heard, "Yes… Master…" Nodding his head slightly, Jack said, "Good. Now then… Sleep Yugao." And with a wave of his hand, her eyes shut, and a look of peace came over her face.
Looking up, he took notice of how his Minions had made short work of the crowd and were now milling about, waiting for more orders. With another wave of his hand however they all dispersed in the same manner that they appeared in, leaving him alone in the street, surrounded by the rather grisly remains.
He was not alone for long however, as soon, a squad of fully armed Anbu had surrounded him, weapons draw and ready to strike. Before they could make a move towards him however, a voice full of authority said, "Wait!" The Anbu stiffen at the command before following it, backing off ever so slightly. Moments after the command was given, an elderly man walked towards Jack, eyes locked firmly on him.
He seemed to be taken aback by the carnage surrounding him, but continued on at any rate. He stopped only a few feet away from Jack. When he stopped, stood there for a moment before saying anything, "Naruto… Naruto is that you?" The response he got was clearly not what he wanted, in the form of a dark chuckle.
"I'm sorry to disappoint, but at the moment Naruto is unavailable, though I'll be sure to pass on that you wanted to talk to him." The voice that the old man hear is clearly not what he expected from the ever so slight tensing of his body. The next word from his mouth has a hint of fear in it, "Kyuubi?" Again a chuckle is the response, before Jack said, "You were closer with the first guess. My name is Jack, and the two of us have much to talk about I believe."
He was tense and silent for several minutes before he spoke, "Anbu… stand down and bring Neko to the hospital. I will personally escort… Jack here to the Hokage Tower for questioning." The Anbu were clearly unhappy with the decision, however they did not disobey and followed through with their orders. When the old man turned back to Jack, he said in a tone that would have instilled fear in lesser men, "You WILL answer my questions when we get there Jack, do you understand?"
"But of course, after all, I have several questions of my own that need answering." With that, they both turn and begin the trek towards the Hokage Tower.
So, what did you guys (and girls) think? At the moment, I really do need some feedback on some matters regarding this. Mostly in what you lot want to see kept from the old story. What you can expect to see make a comeback later is: HK-47, Anko, Halibel, Naruko, and most of the armies that he controlled. What I hope to hear is regarding what you think I could add to this story, or what other things from the old version you want to see make a comeback. Also, to address the two cut ancestors, Sauron and Demongo, well… Ultimately, I did nothing of note with them before, and decided to just cut them rather than keep them around doing nothing.
Also one last question for all of you. I have several ideas that I have done nothing with, and I want to know, would you like to see some more fics, or should I focus on my already existing ones. More fics means a bigger variety, but also means less consistent update s between them (Granted there hasn't been much anyway, but still) Alright, well later.