Summary

Naruko Uzumaki, pariah of the Hidden Leaf, was forced to live on the streets of her village after she gets thrown out of the orphanage. But when the villagers go to far and a mysterious man saves her and takes her away to reveal things of her past and abilities she could not have dreamt of. Will she be able to see past her hatred or will she destroy the Leaf with the powers she has gained? Read and find out.

Prologue (part 1)

It was a warm night. The children of the tribe were currently sitting in a semi-circle across an old woman. She wore her once black hair in a ponytail which reached down her back to the floor. She was sitting cross legged with her back towards the main fire of the camp. In the flicker of the flames her eyes were momentarily eliminated, before the light of the flames continued its dance. Her features were wrinkled and with her now nearly white hair, they were a testament about the life she had spent on this earthly world. Her eyes showed that she had seen her share of thing and, if need be, she could still fight. Her outfit consisted of a leather armor that looked as old as she was and leather bracers around her forearms. And then there was the symbol of her status, a coat sown together from the pelts of wolves leaving the center one with its head, to be used as a cap. It lay on the ground next to her. The old woman was no ordinary woman however you see she was the tribe's holy mother.

It was a title given from one generation to the next. To gain the title, the Holy Mother that came before would have to choose an apprentice, teach her in the tribe's legends and ways and when she deemed the apprentice was ready, the apprentice had to kill and devour her. It was an ancient ritual from a time way before any now living mortal could only remember as stories about mythical times.

As the woman sat there, eying the next generation of her tribe sitting there silently, waiting eagerly for her to begin her story. Yes it was that time of year again where the tribes would assemble in their village. It was a village that held a long and bloody history, a history she would tell the younglings every year. It was the place where they would meet, exchange females and where the young ones would be given their first metal.

Of course nowadays the tribe was not as isolated as it was in mythic times and over the millennia that came and went they were forced into contact with civilization. It was to be expected with the petty squabbles the mortals did it was inevitable, and maybe it was for the better. As now their village was not only occupied by traders, their gods and smaller families who preferred the domestic life over the ones they led in the wilds of this forested land, but also from outsiders from mortal settlements…

She sighed, looking back at the younglings she started to smile. She always liked telling the tales of ancient times.

"So children… For me the time has once again come to tell you of our tribe's history. For you it will be the first, so listen closely and only ask questions when I tell you to…"

She waited for the children to nod their heads, the she continued.

"Now what can you tell me about our tribe?"

The children thought for a second and then some lifted their hands. The Holy Mother perked up wolf like ears appeared through her hair. She always liked surprising the younglings. They never found out about their true abilities until this time of year.

"Yes, you there."

She pointed at a little girl on the right.

"I know that the tribe is consisting mainly of shape shifters."

"That is correct though also incorrect. All of our people are born shape shifters, whether they utilize this power is up to them. It is our custom, that you young ones learn this before you head out to our Holy City, where you will earn your first metal. After that is done you will train with your metal until the Council of Hunters, decides you are ready for your blood bond. And once you have that bond you can become a hunter, if that is the path you wish to follow. Does everyone understand that you are not to talk about this with anyone who has not also passed to the stage?"

Again, the group in front of her nodded.

"Good, now does anyone know anything about our history?"

Again some children would raise their hands and she would pick one of them. This time she chose to let a boy speak.

"Well if our stories are to be believed, our tribe was on the edge of extinction, because there were those, who would hunt us down systematically out of fear of our knowledge and our skills."

"Yes, sadly, those stories are true. In mythic times there was once a being so powerful that it was capable of destroying all that we knew. It was a neutral entity, corrupted by those who would seek its powers for their own cruel ambitions. And as the being was corrupted further and further, it eventually was going to destroy what it was meant to guard.

Then there came a man who had knowledge of things that were thought impossible, he fought the beast and then sealed it into his body becoming what outsiders call a jinchuuriki, a human sacrifice. And so the world was saved and as the seasons came and went the mortal split the beast's life force, its spiritual energies or chakra into nine new entities. When he then died he left us the gift of what outsiders call ninjutsu. Then the cycle repeated itself. The humans were too afraid of what they didn't understand and sealed away some of the entities and created more jinchuuriki.

It was during the great wars of the humans where our tribe was discovered. The humans found out about our abilities and wanted our help to fight. The tribe declined however, stating it was none of our business and so we were hunted. If they couldn't have our power, no one could. The tribe went into hiding and our numbers still dwindled. It was during a period where many of the outsider settlements were founded that our tribe came out of hiding.

You see, going by blood we are hanyou. We are no full demons nor are we full humans. This fact prevented us from going to the realm of demons where, according to ancient legend, our tribe was exiled due to our doings with mortals. And we couldn't go to the humans as there were many who distrusted and outright hated our existence. This all changed however when one of the nine entities the Sage had created found us on what was his territory. It gave us permission to walk its lands and would protect us if necessary.

Then there was a party of humans from a human clan that found us next. Their clan head had invited us to join the village and we thanked him for the offer by being his clan's silent guardians.

Then came yet another war and our demonic rescuer was sealed into one of the human clan. Of course we now protected them both and followed the jinchuuriki to the settlement where she had been sent off to marry. When she became too old she passed our savior on to her daughter and made her the next jinchuuriki. What we did not know at the time was that over half of our tribe died in the events that brought the daughter to the jinchuuriki. The fact was the entire human clan had been eradicated by a joint front of different villages, which left us with only one task. Protect the last members of the clan.

Soon the jinchuuriki had married and bore a child to the world however there were complications which resulted in our savior being manipulated by a human and was forced to attack the village it had lived in. Many of our tribe died during that battle.

In the end it was those events that triggered the paths that lead up to today. The leader of the village sacrificed him to protect his village and to seal our demonic savior into his new born child with a seal that would cost him his life. And so we kept to our duty, guarding the child as much as we were allowed and in the end it all went well."

The old woman sighed once again and looked at the young children in front of her. Soon they would start their journey, soon.

"Are there any questions?"

A boy raised his hand.

"Yes, could you tell us the story of the little child with our protector?"

The Holy Mother smiled and nodded.

"Of course I can, but I must warn you, some of the things that have transpired in the past are not very nice. So those of you who do not wish to hear the story can leave. You're lessons are over for today."

Some of the children left, but the majority of the children stayed. The Holy mother smiled anew and started her tale.

"Like I said it all started with…"