This story is based on three concepts:
One: Speed is god's third gift to mortals. It is a force that is not to be underestimated and never to be misused. It can allow one to feel as if they are truly free, no chains of ridiculous laws( ones that have no right existing) holding them back.
Two: The Sword is god's second gift to mortals. With a sword a mortal can ascend from their humanity, can understand the true meaning of movement with purpose, and will never take life for granted.
Three: God's most coveted and generous gift to mortals was Forgiveness. With true forgiveness even those of the blackest hearts can be redeemed. With forgiveness one can understand the true meaning of enlightenment.
Needlessly said, Naruto( Uyoku) is not a ninja in this one.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Chapter one: The Beginning of a Legend; Uyoku's Father
Riki, a young man of at most eighteen years, watched as a crowd of civilians brutalized the Kyuubi child with sadistic pleasure. He grinned as he watched yet another led pipe slap into her side.
One word ran through his mind as he enjoyed the sounds of her pain, Justice.
Riki had lost all of his family to the monster that had attacked four years ago. Everything he cherished was gone in the blink of an eye, incinerated by a random burst of the beasts demonic power. His only reason for living was the pain of the creature that tore his world asunder.
The crowd slowly began to dissipate, only a few still angrily screaming civilians staying behind defiling the girl in all but the worst ways. That was at least one thing the Hokage could be proud of in the treatment of the Jinchuuriki; never once had anyone even thought of molesting the poor child. Whether for the fact that they felt touching Uyoku with any purpose but to cause her pain was a sin, or because they were to proud to commit such an atrocity even to a demon, all that mattered was that they did not.
After another few minutes the last of the weeping angry father's left, Uyoku barely able to stand and her body badly bruised.
Finally, Riki thought. He jumped down from his perch on a nearby roof top and picked up a stray pipe that the crowd had left behind.
He could not used conventional weapons, like kunai or shuriken, because, to the trained eye, they left visible traces of the weapon used. It would not due for the aged Hokage to suspect his troops of this act of both mercy and cruelty.
Riki watched the girl move as he approached with the pipe in hand. She favored her left arm, but would not for long. The creature had unholy regenerative ability. He had seen her recover from a broken neck in only seconds. He would need to crush her skull, destroy the brain, if he wanted her dead.
Uyoku apparently sensed hi approach. She turned to face him, but kept her head lowered, the horrid cut of her hair, another defilement from the civilians, shadowing her eyes.
Riki stopped within arms width of the girl and held the pipe in both hands as he raised it above his head.
Uyoku began to shake.
Riki grinned and tensed his muscles, adrenalin adding more strength to his arms in the exciting prospect of the final death of the demon.
Uyoku finally looked up at her attacker, her electric blue eyes shining.
Riki froze when he looked into those eyes. He could not move to even breathe when he saw what those eyes held, their endless depths revealing to him three of the most powerful emotions mankind had ever come to know.
Raw anger, so deep and rooted that it would drive an ordinary man mad just looking into her eyes. Rage so vast it could swamp an entire nation and not leave a soul in its wake. But the rage was dwindling.
The next was even more powerful.
Determination. Where the anger dwindled the determination only grew in strength. Riki could see that what ever this girl wished to achieve would be hers. It may not come to her easily or quickly, but it would come and nothing would stand in the way of her goals. Nothing would stop her from moving forward.
The third was what had frozen Riki in such a way that he could not breathe, it's strength out weighing the first two in the way the Universe would out weigh the Earth.
"I forgive you," she told him before holding her arms out to the side and closing her eyes, awaiting the final blow.
But it did not come.
It would never come.
Riki dropped to his knees the moment she closed her eyes, released from the hold she had on him. He gasped for breath as the sudden realization came to him.
He was wrong.
What ever he thought this girl had deserved was wrong. What ever pain the girl had endured was unjust. What ever foul words tossed her way were misguided.
Uyoku opened her eyes after a few seconds, wondering when the blow would come, only to find her attacker in tears, blubbering apology after apology, begging for forgiveness from his crimes.
Uyoku took a couple steps forward and wrapped her small skinny arms around the man's neck in a hug.
"I forgive you," she whispered to him once more.
Slowly the man wrapped his arms around her, hugging her back and thanking her over and over.
After a short while the man pulled himself away to look into her eyes once more.
"I...I will protect you," Riki said, hopeful for her approval.
"I know you will...Papa," the girl said, just as eager for his.
Riki gave a small smile and hugged her to him again. From that day onward he would rather face one hundred demon foxes than have Uyoku call him by any other name.
--- Thirty minutes later at the Hokage Tower---+
Riki sat in the waiting room, holding a sleeping Uyoku in his arms gently, ignoring the stares of disgust. He was waiting patiently for the Hokage. He needed to talk about adopting her, otherwise she couldn't legally live with him.
An ANBU with a rabbit mask had originally tried to take Uyoku from him, but Riki would have none of it. He knew the ANBU was probably ordered to have Uyoku's best interest in mind, but if they were as attentive as the Hokage would have liked then Uyoku wouldn't have been beaten that very night.
Finally, after what seemed an eternal wait, Riki was allowed into the Hokage's office.
"Oh, dear," Sarutobi said in an exhausted voice when he saw Uyoku's condition, "What happened, Benso-san?"
Riki sat down in an available chair gently, so as not to wake the small blond, then told the story up to the point where the crowd left.
"I am sad to hear that the villager's can not see the difference between the fox and it's jailer. But I must question something, Benso-san. If you were witness to all this, why didn't you step in to help her? I mean, obviously you hold her no ill-"
"Because I was going to kill her, Hokage-sama," Riki said quickly, tears appearing in the corner of his eyes, "I was going to use a led pipe and crush her skull in. Not even a real demon could recover from that."
The Hokage slumped in his chair, depression and age pressing on him more heavily now than ever.
"Why... Why didn't you, Benso-san?" Sarutobi asked through a sigh.
"She forgave me," Riki replied, looking down at the four year old as one would a high priest, "She looked into my eyes and forgave me, Hokage-sama. Whether or not I deserve it she forgave me and that is something a demon could never understand."
"I... see. Thank you for bringing her here," Sarutobi said, glad to have at least one more person on Uyoku's side, "I will make sure she is well looked after." He held his hands out for Riki to pass him the little girl.
Riki responded by holding her a little closer to himself and said, "I wish to adopt her."
Now Sarutobi was genuinely surprised. Even the people who knew that Uyoku was not the fox wouldn't think of adopting her. And even if they wanted to they couldn't, the Shinobi Council had forbidden her adoption by any active ninja of the leaf, afraid that the demon in her would learn of their weaknesses through them and destroy the village.
"I'm sorry, Benso-san, but the entire Shinobi Council has forbidden any ninja from adopting her. Unless you wish to give up you car-"
Sarutobi was interrupted by Riki tossing his head band to the side.
"I promised her I would protect her, Hokage-sama. If that means I can no longer be a ninja then I will retire and use what knowledge I have currently to protect her."
"You will not be allowed access to training grounds, or the equipment shops," Sarutobi warned.
"Then I will train outside of the village's walls and order my equipment from across the borders of fire country. I will do what ever it takes, Hokage-sama," Riki said, the fires of determination lighting up his amethyst eyes.
Sarutobi stared into those eyes, at first a little startled by the force behind them, then a smile began to grow on his old face and he began to feel just a few years younger.
"Very well, Riki-san, but what about when you are not there to protect her? You must be aware that even with you as her father she will not be safe twenty four/seven," Sarutobi had a twinkle behind his eyes. He now had ample excuse to give Uyoku at least on of her heirlooms.
"I... I will teach her to defend herself," Riki said.
"But civilians are not allowed to educate others in the way of ninja," Sarutobi almost wanted to smirk.
"I... I..."
"Give her this," the Hokage said suddenly, pulling a short sword from a hidden compartment in his desk, "It was left to her by her mother. I would have given it to her sooner, but until now she would have had no one to teach her how to use it so it would have done her no good."
"But, Hokage-sama, I am not versed in the ways of the sword," Riki said as he took the sword.
"Her mother told me that all Uzumaki's develop their own style, so it does not matter. Simply spar with her to help her develop. Her skill will come to fruition on it's own, given time," Sarutobi said, then paused to give a slightly grandfatherly smile, "Just be sure to expect an old man to drop by from time to time." Sarutobi brushed what was left of the blond hair out of the small girls face.
Riki thanked him and left, still holding Uyoku.
As Riki Benso held the sleeping girl in his arms he could feel that he had truly made the right choice. That in protecting her he had taken the first step to changing their world.
--- Eight years later, Konoha Ninja Academy roof---+
"...And my goal is to kill a certain man," Sasuke said in his normal monotone, finishing his introduction.
This one will have some problems with the concept of teamwork, but I'm sure that if he is half the genius the village portrays him as then he'll get the hang of it, Kakashi thought to himself.
"Now you, Blondie," Hatake pointed at the second female of his team. She was small, standing at a meager four foot five inches. Her hair was horribly cut, short spikes sticking up in ever direction. She wore a white long sleeve shirt with a blue sphere on the front an orange spiral inside of it, a yellow cloth bracelet on her right wrist, loose blue jeans, and a pair of cheap running shoes. Most notable was the sword strapped at her waist on her left side. It was carried in a white sheath, the hilt was wrapped in white fabric, and the guard of the sword resembled the spread wings of a falcon.
"My name is Uzumaki Uyoku. I like my papa, the occasional bowl of Ichiraku ramen, and reading. I dislike overly sweet things, poor spelling, and ignorance. My dream... is to be the first ever non-shinobi Hokage."
--- End Chapter One---+
A/N: Hope this is at least somewhat satisfactory. I myself like it.
As a side: I'd like you all to know that the fourth chapter of Sleeping Dragon, if any of the readers of that happen to be reading this, will be up shortly. Just need to tweak a few things to my liking and it'll be up in... well probably a few days.
