Chapter 1: Seeds
I knew someone was behind me the minute I heard the snap of a twig. I was used to people hunting me. It was rare for me to go at least a week without encountering a group of ninja looking for me. I didn't know why I was Public Enemy #1 but I didn't bother questioning anything. Usually Jiraiya would find me and come to the rescue and soon after we'd be on the move again looking for another place to stay. I felt sorry that the old man had to sacrifice everything for me But he'd always been there and I was thankful, even though I didn't tell him.
But Pervy Sage wasn't very close to where I was now. I had left the town inn we were staying at to come into the forest and train. Pervy Sage had always put the importance on learning how to protect myself and I really did want to get stronger. Look where it's got me now.
I turned quickly to face the figures behind me and withdrew a kunai from the pack on my thigh. I stared at them, an eyebrow raised. They didn't look like the normal ninja in black robes that usually came after me; they were decent looking. One of them had red hair which was tied up in a high ponytail and black eyes. He wore a large grin on his face which seemed inviting at first, but I remembered that he was a stranger and strangers were dangerous. The other one was more intimidating. He was tall for my age and his eyes were hard and a dark shade of brown. His hair was long and brown, reaching down past his shoulder blades. He had no shirt but did wear a pair of loose pants tucked into black open-toed boots. Both of them had no forehead protector which means I had no idea what village they were from.
My first instinct was to run. These people seemed way out of my league. But curiousity got the better of me, "Who are you?" I asked them although I was mentally screaming at my stupidity.
"Hello, there! I am Roshi and this is Han. I'm sorry if I did scare you by any chance. I didn't mean to." Roshi said. I looked at the other boy who must've been Han. He didn't look like much of a talker.
"Go away!" I spat hoping he would listen. Roshi only lifted his hands up in surrender and smiled.
"I'm sorry if I startled you. I understand how you feel, after all I used to be in your position before I met Han. In fact me and Han actually came here to help you," Roshi hastily explained.
"I don't even know who you are! How do you expect me to just go with you? You could be one of those black robe guys!" I said. I would never admit it but I was scared to death of those people. Pervy Sage told me stories of how Konoha had fell to their destructive power. How the Fourth Hokage had stood up to them and sacrificed his life for his wife, who was being hunted by those Men. In the end both of them had died but the monster inside the Fourth Hokage's wife had not fallen into their clutches. Pervy Sage seemed like he fell into a trance whenever he spoke about it. And then tears started to run down his face until I brought him back to reality. I didn't understand what was wrong but I knew something about those people were scary if it was enough to bring Pervy Sage, who was always smiling and jubilant, to tears.
"I know, I know. I don't exactly make the best first impression but...just give me a chance to explain myself and maybe you could consider the offer I'm making?" Roshi pleaded. I didn't trust these people one bit. Like I said, I had no idea who they were or what their true motives were. Roshi seemed like a good guy, but looks were deceiving. And Pervy Sage always told me to never talk to strangers. I had broken that rule already and I wasn't going to take it a step further.
Before I could say anything, Han grunted, "Enough with the negotiating, there's no point in sugarcoating anything anyways. Just give it to him straight Roshi."
Roshi looked at his friend for a second and frowned. He said something to him quietly so I wouldn't hear and Han clenched his fists, clearly something had angered him.
"Sorry, Han can be a bit-" An explosion cut him off. It came from behind in the direction of the small town me and Pervy Sage were staying. My jaw dropped and my feet moved immediately. I ran faster than I ever thought was humanly possible. I heard someone yell something but I ignored it. The only thing that mattered was the Inn and Pervy Sage. Pretty soon I was on all fours, which seemed strangely natural. The world blurred past me in mixtures of green, brown, yellow, and white. I jumped over tree roots and pushed through bushes and shrubbery. Finally the forest was behind me and instead I ran down alleyways and through noisy streets. People ran the opposite way, screaming and crying out for help. I kept going until I had reached the inn.
There was a huge crater where the inn was supposed to be. The surrounding buildings had chunks of them taken out, as if someone had reach down from the heavens and trapped the area in a glass orb. The people in the inn were scattered around me, groaning in pain. Some of them had weird black sticks protruding from their body. But I didn't care about them. I only cared about Jiraiya.
My eyes locked on to some movement down the street. I spotted Pervy Sage fighting six people all at once. They all had orange hair and moved swiftly. But that wasn't all that stuck out.
Each one had a black robe on and black piercings. Red clouds were painted all over it. I froze in fear. Jiraiya's voice rang in my head, They are way outta your league, Naruto. If you see them, run as fast as you can.
But I couldn't. Not if he needed me.
I took out another kunai as I had dropped the one I was holding previously and began to run to their position. As soon as I was close enough I threw my kunai their way. It sailed toward one of the orange haired fellows who had his hair up in a long ponytail.
A weird guy with spikes sticking out of his head grabbed the kunai in midair and broke it into pieces. A maniacal grin was plastered on his face as he tilted his head to the side.
Suddenly all of them were looking at me with those creepy eyes of theirs. It was a purplish sort of color with lots of rings around the pupil. They looked very strong. Way out of my league.
"The Nine-Tails." The one with long hair spoke. He smiled deviously. I didn't move at all. I had no idea what a "Nine-Tails" was but I didn't want to find out.
"L-leave Pervy Sage alone!" I managed to say.
"We will. Now that we have you." The other one with short spiky hair and a monotone expression said.
I gritted my teeth and got into a fighting stance.
"Naruto don't! Run!" Pervy Sage suddenly yelled, he emerged from another small crater and formed a series of hand signs. From his mouth came a stream of fire which they all dodged. One of them, Spikes, landed right in front of me. I fell onto my butt which would've been funny in any situation other than this one.
He tilted his head to the side again and his hand shot out, grabbing me around the neck. I flailed helplessly in the air and scratched at his arm. But it was cold and hard, as if he wasn't even human.
I cursed and swore at the monster but he didn't even budge. Before he could do anything more I quickly formed the hand signs for my signature jutsu.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" I said. Two duplicates of me appeared and emerged from two plumes of smoke behind me. They reared their fists back and prepared to punch the creature right in his ugly face.
But hands shot out of his shoulders and grabbed my doppelganger's arms. He flung them into the air and they both landed against a building. Soon after they disappeared in another cloud of smoke.
Despair and fear settled in quickly. There was no escape. His grip on me was tight and even more hands grabbed onto my feet and arms, holding me in place. This couldn't possibly be how I died. I was supposed to travel the world with Pervy Sage and learn that blue spirally thingy he promised to teach me. I was supposed to grow up and become the best ninja there is. I was gonna take back Konoha from those stupid Akatsuki fellows and make Jiraiya proud. Make my mom and dad proud, wherever they were.
I had my whole life ahead of me and suddenly it wasn't going to be there anymore.
Everything would end here.
I heard screaming and grunts of pain but I drowned it out. All I could do now was close my eyes and wait for the inevitable.
But the thought of Pervy Sage, holding his own against those five guys, possibly dying by their hands made my eyes snap back open. I took a deep breath and allowed my mind to race, searching for something to get me out of this mess.
"I won't die!" I suddenly exclaimed trying to buy myself time. "Not here! Not now! I am Uzumaki Naruto and I refuse to die!"
Power surged through my body and confidence replaced the fear and hopelessness that once dwelled in my mind. I fought against those hands that now pressed me down into the concrete below.
And to my utter shock, they broke into a billion metal pieces. I pulled in my legs and flung them upwards, throwing the mechanical monster off of me and onto the ground a couple feet away from me. I got to my feet and made those same hand signs.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" I yelled. This time, a dozen doppelganger's came to my aid. I smiled and pounded my fist against my open palm. "Come at me!"
Spikes got onto his feet with the same idiotic grin on his face. He charged at me, propelled by jets in his feet. I ducked to avoid his first punched and rolled away.
I got to my feet and threw a barrage of shuriken his way, my clones mirrored my actions. Spikes easily avoided the projectiles, but it allowed me two send three clones his way, they moved quickly and tried to hit Spikes with a barrage of punches and kicks. Finally one of them landed a blow to his stomach which did little damage.
"Keep throwing everything you have at him!" I ordered. The clones nodded and kept on launching shurikens and kunai. Spikes jumped backwards away from the clones to dodge the weapons, but it left him open. I surged forward as the clones nearest to him landed hits on his face and body. I jumped in the air performing a somersault and flying through the air, my leg outstretched. It slammed into Spikes' face and I used it to launch myself backwards.
Spikes slammed into the ground and skidded to a stop. My clones returned to my side and I took that window of time to take a look behind me. Pervy Sage wasn't doing so good. His hair tie was no longer present and his spiky white hair now fell down around him. His clothes were battered and cut everywhere. However he was still fighting, still on his feet. However to my surprise, two familiar figures were fighting with him. Roshi and Han. My eyes met Roshi's for a split second and he smiled at me.
I took four doppelganger's with me and let the others hold off Spikes. I charged forward with as much speed as I could muster and landed right next to Pervy Sage. We were still on the same road but this time the damage was greater. Some of the buildings around us were on fire while others were collapsing as we spoke. The five redheaded men that were still fighting didn't even look tired. They seemed bored.
"Naruto! I told you to run you idiot!" Pervy Sage called.
"Can't get rid of me that easy!" I grinned and he smiled back, shaking his head slightly.
"I wish I was like you sometimes, Naruto." He said softly. I looked at him funny, he never said stuff like that. And I wasn't that special. At least not yet.
"What?" I asked. But a black spike landed near my foot and eliminated all chances of a conversation.
I looked around. Five of them were fighting, three were fighting Han, who was surrounding by hazy white steam, and Roshi who was making the ground redden beneath him. Two were fighting us. One was the spiky haired man, Mr. Monotone while the other was the man with the high ponytail which I decided to name Ponytail.
"Four, Five, Nine. Three birds with one stone." Mr. Monotone said.
"Listen, Naruto, this guy is stronger than you, even stronger than me. The first chance you get I want you to get outta here and don't look back." Pervy Sage ordered. No chance that was happening.
"No, I'm going to fight by your side, Pervy Sage." I insisted.
"Naruto! I'm not joking around! You will die. And there's no way I'm letting that happen. I made a promise and I intend to keep it." He proclaimed. "There's been a lot of bad in my life and I don't always make the best choices, but I have faith in you, Naruto. You have the power to make a difference in this godforsaken world and if you die now the world will remain the same. You are the one good thing in my life left and I don't want to lose you too."
My eyes widened. Pervy Sage had always been this stupid pervert with a grin on his face and a weird toad fetish. He'd been my master, my guardian, my teacher, and the only adult figure in my life. Yet he'd never told me anything like this. He'd never tell me any of the soppy stuff, only deep meaningful things about the ninja world and stuff like that. Now here he was, practically telling me he loved me and didn't want me to die before his very eyes.
I hate to say this, Pervy Sage, but you don't always get what you want.
I ran forward with renewed courage and prepared to fight once again. But instead Pervy Sage grabbed my arm and threw me behind him. He then slammed his hand into the ground. I watched as a giant cloud of smoke suddenly shot up from the ground and air slapped my face.
"JIRAIYA!" A booming voice suddenly exclaimed. From the smoke came a giant toad with red skin and a navy blue coat. I couldn't believe this was even possible, that Pervy Sage could summon such a beast.
Pervy Sage took one look at me and then at Roshi and Han who were fighting against the other three men. They seemed to be on their last legs too.
"Roshi! Han! Get Naruto away from here!" He suddenly told them. Han jumped away from the battle and to my side. His hands clasped around my arm and dragged me to my feet. I couldn't even say anything.
"I'm sorry to do this, Naruto. Goodbye," Pervy Sage whispered. Tears streamed down his face and the same happened to me. He turned away and stared at the giant toad who seemed to be spewing curses. "Gamabunta get ready!"
"Pervy Sage! Don't do this to me! Please!" I begged. But Han threw me over his back and ran toward the forest in the opposite direction.
"Gamabunta! Get ready to give it your all!" He yelled to the giant toad that suddenly emerged from the smoke. I kept yelling and flailing but Han had an iron grip on my legs. I looked as Roshi moved his hands and let out a stream of what looked like lava, my eyes widened at the sight of it. The three men jumped back, obviously avoiding the sudden wave of scorching magma.
Roshi looked at us and ran in our direction.
"Put me down! No! Jiraiya, don't do this!" I screamed. The other men in black robes tried to chase us but they were cut off by Jiraiya and Gamabunta who had unsheathed his sword and was preparing to fight off a weird dog.
I cried and sobbed and choked and screamed and cried some more. It's just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream. I repeated over and over in my head. But it wasn't. This was real life. This was reality. And reality was a bitch.
The last thing I heard before I completely blacked out was Roshi's soft voice, "Such is the fate of a jinchuuriki."