In remembrance of Trevor Lowry aka TheKyuubikid23, may he rest in peace.

6/20/2011 - 17

Well, as you've all probably guessed, this is a fic I adopted from the a fore mentioned author who tragically died. I decided to take up the story and make it my own in his memory.

As such, this story will take main priority on my list of projects with 'Paths We Take' in second and 'Lies Beneath' in third. I'm going to freeze 'The Shifter' for now as I can't think of anything for it, but rest assured, it will be continued and finished in due time. Just be patient.

Now...I don't own any of the characters, places or attacks, except the one's I make/dream up, oh and the plot is all mine too!

Jinchuuriki's Return

Prologue

A Story to Tell

"Daddy can you tell me a story please." Said a young girl, about 6 years old. She had long silvery hair that cascaded down her back to her waist and bright, blood red eyes with slits for pupils and...fangs? She wore a plain black dress that looked like it was made of silk which reached down to about her knees. Her name was Moka Akashiya, and she was a vampire.

Moka was looking up at her father, Issa Shuzen. He had short trimmed silver hair just like his daughters' and also had blood red slitted eyes as well. He was about 6'0 to 6'1. He wore a black formal shirt with a white under-shirt, black slacks and polished black shoes. He also wore a black cape around his neck giving him an almost regal appearance, if a bit vampiry.

Said man just looked down at his daughter who was trying her best to give the most adorable puppy dog eyes she could give. He kept repeating a mantra in his head

'I will not fall victim to that face. I will not fall victim to that face." But, apparently even a great vampire lord can be defeated by the dreaded puppy dog eyes. Issa just sighed in defeat, cursing his luck that his daughter had picked up that...demonic...technique from her mother. "Okay, fine, I'll tell you a story about a boy who carried a horrible burden, but was a hero,at least to some, in his time."

When Moka heard this she jumped for joy then took a seat in one of the nearby chairs. Issa went over to a nearby chair and took a seat as well, pulling up closer to Moka. "Now Moka, what I'm about to tell you is all true, so please don't interrupt me. Okay?" He asked getting a nod from the little girl.

"Well then, let's begin shall we? It all started about three thousand years ago, when even my grandfather was just a child. Back then, there was a continent that was dubbed the 'Elemental Nations'. The elemental nations were presided over by five main countries. These countries were called the Land of Fire, the Land of Water, the Land of Earth, the Land of Wind and finally the land of lightning. Of course there were many other smaller, countries, but those five were the biggest and strongest, with the Land of Fire being the overall most powerful." Issa stopped to look at his daughter who looked very intrigued.

"Now, back then humans used a power source called chakra."

"Chakra? What's that?" Moka asked only to stop when she looked at her father's face.

"It was like Yokai, only less potent and not deadly to humans. Now, chakra is the manifestation of both physical and spiritual energy. When you combined these two energy's you got chakra. Now chakra could do amazing things, it let you just walk up walls, make clones of yourself or even control the elements in all their fury."

Hearing this, Moka just could not believe it. After all, humans were weak, frail creatures. How could they do something most demons could only dream of doing, and then-some.

"Anyways, these countries were always at war with each other to see who was the strongest. For each country they had a hidden shinobi village. You see back then shinobi or ninja's were the main military of each country next to the Samurai. You had Konohagakure no Sato or The Village Hidden in the Leaves, Kirigakure no Sato or the Village Hidden in the Mist, Kumogakure no Sato or the village hidden in the Clouds, Sunagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Sand and Iwagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Stone. The story takes place in Konohagakure about a young boy named Naruto Uzumaki, the Jinchuuriki of the powerful Kyuubi no Kitsune."

"What's a Jinchuuriki? And who was this...Kyuubi no Kitsune?" Moka asked only for Issa to chuckle a bit.

"A Jinchuuriki is a human who had a great demon sealed inside of him or herself. Thus it actually means 'The Power of Human Sacrifice'. And Kyuubi, well, you'd know him better as the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, the lord of all Kitsunes." When he had said this, it got a gasp out of Moka who by now had her eyes so far bugged out they threatened to pop right out of her head.

"Now Naruto in his younger years was hated and beaten by the villagers and shinobi of the village." This had gotten a confused look from Moka as you could tell when she tilted her head to the side with a questioning crossing her face.

"You see Moka, the Kyuubi at the time attacked Konoha on the day Naruto was born. So the leader of the village, the Fourth Hokage, sealed the beast inside of Naruto. But in doing so it cost him his life."

"So when people heard that Naruto held the beast inside of him they tried to have him killed for they were afraid that the demon would break free from its host, or that Naruto was the demon fox that took over a dead baby's body. It was also because many saw the Fourth Hokage as a hero, and seeing Naruto as the fox that killed him..." Moka just gasped when she had heard this. They had wanted to kill a new born baby for what he held inside himself? "But the Third Hokage had tried to convince the people of Konoha that the Fourth Hokage wanted the boy to been seen a hero. But humans cannot understand what they truly fear." When Issa had said humans with so much malice and venom in his voice that it made Moka shiver.

"Wait daddy if you hate humans so much why tell a story about one?" Moka asked only to get a small but sad smile out of her father. "Moka, the reason I'm telling you this story is because Jinchuuriki weren't treated as human beings, they were treated as monsters, as an object of intense fear and hatred. Worse then what they do to monsters in this day and age." This had gotten a confused look from Moka. "You'll understand as I continue the story so please, no more interruptions." Issa said, but it was more like a command that Moka knew if she spoke, she'd be in trouble.

"Anyways as the years passed by, Naruto had been beaten, burned, used as target practice, even had over three hundred assassination attempts by the age of six." When Moka heard all of this she felt tears start to form.

'How could anyone survive living like that?' she thought. Her father, perceptive as he was, caught the question as it showed on her face.

"Your right Moka no one, not even humans, should have been subjected to something like that, but he had been, and he survived by pure determination, a strong will to survive and to show those around him that he wasn't a monster or a demon as they had called him. That he was just a little boy looking for someone to love him and take care of him." Issa said with a slight frown showing as his daughter was silently crying to herself.

"Moka if you don't want to listen to the rest of the story tell me now please."

"N-no father I'm fine please continue." Issa just looked at her for a few seconds before sighing to himself.

"When Naruto was six, he joined the ninja academy to protect himself from the villagers and shinobi that would earthier try to kill him or beat him till an inch of life." Moka just shook her head understanding what her father was saying.

"He went to the academy until he was twelve. There he learned how to kill, swiftly and quietly, leaving not a trace."

(Small AN: going to skip most of this story as it's basically the canon.)

"So the Uchiha had ran away from Konoha in order to gain power to kill his brother, so the fifth Hokage, Tsunade Senju had sent out a team of ninja, supposedly the Uchiha's friends, to capture the traitor and bring him back to Konoha. Naruto was in the team and was the only one to catch up to the Uchiha."

"The mission failed, the Uchiha had made it over the border from the Land of Fire into the Land of Rice after almost killing Naruto in the process."

"What happen to Naruto?" Moka asked

"Well, when everyone had returned with nothing but bruised and broken bodies. The council of Konoha, mostly the elders and the civilian side of the council, decided to hold a meeting." Issa then looked at Moka knowing the next part he was going to say would shock her to no end.

"What happen then? What did the council decide?" Moka asked in an innocent voice.

Issa could only shake his head and began his story again in a more somber tone. "The council had decided to seal Naruto away for they thought he was a threat to Konoha. Of course the fifth Hokage wouldn't have any of that, so it was written off as an offense against him." When Moka had heard what her father had said she could only look at him with a blank look.

'They wanted to seal him away because they thought he was a threat.'

"B-but why would they do that?" Moka asked in a quiet voice but could see tears about to spill.

"Because when Naruto was facing the Uchiha, he ended up having to use the Kyuubi's power. So the council, in all their wisdom, thought the demon was trying to break out of the seal that it was confined to." Issa stopped for a moment to catch his breath and prepare for the next bit. "After a while, about 3 years from what I understand, he faced off against the one who had started the whole mess with. The Snake sage, Orochimaru. They ended up fighting with Naruto releasing the Kyuubi's power once again, this time enough power to be felt even from his home village. When he returned, the council once again convened and the civilians along with the elders voted to seal him away. This time though, the Hokage couldn't do anything and the civilian council got their way. The Shinobi council and the Hokage were livid of course, but it was already done. He was supposedly sealed away under the Hokage's Tower, never to see the light of day again, not even allowed a single visitor."

"But if he was sealed away, where is it now?" Moka asked while thinking of find a way to free Naruto.

"I have no idea Moka." This had gotten a confused look from Moka.

"You see Moka, the world was so much different back then, that no one truly knows where the seal is. Over the years, many have tried to search for the seal, myself included, but none could find it." Moka then jumped out of her chair after a moment of contemplation and shouted out,

"Then I'll find it one day and release him when I do!" Issa could only laugh at his daughter determined face.

"I see so you've already fallen for him even though you've never met the boy, huh, Moka." Issa said only to laugh harder when he saw his daughter's confused looking face. "Well when you do find him, be sure to bring him back here. I would love to meet the young man." Moka could only nodded her head in affirmation all the while sporting a determined look on her face.

"Well anyways, I truly hope you do accomplish you dream Moka, but right now it's time for bed." Issa said while giving the little girls kiss on her forehead. Moka just giggled but started to head for her room.

"Goodnight father."

"Goodnight Moka"

As the little vampire left to her room she had only could only think of one thing. 'I will find and set you free, where ever you are, Naruto Uzumaki.' And with that thought in mind, she fell into a peaceful sleep.

Unknown cavern deep in a forest

A dim light could be seen as writing all around the walls and on the floors started to pulse with energy, only die down after a few minutes later and then pulse with light once more. A mass in the middle of the room, seemingly floating on a gentle wind, seemed to twitch as if it was slowly waking up from a long sleep. Only one thought passed through the things mind, "Soon..."

Well I hope that was a good re-start. I just went through and edited a few parts to make the sentence structure more...well...structured and add just a bit more detail. A few grammatical changes and inserting of an unholy amount of commas later...BAM! Here you go.

Again, this story will be my main priority as of now and I don't plan on letting this one slide like my other ones. Updates may come a bit slow for now, but be patient, I got a lot on my plate with school wrapping up, possible job and of course, summer time (read 'Lazy Time'). Expect one, maybe two updates a month for now. Long life and health to you all.

Oh and remember, flaming will be burned and trolls slayed. Thank you.

Edit: Edited to try and fix some stuff that was pointed out in reviews on both this and the original.

Wonijs – Thank you for pointing it out. I didn't catch it when I edited the chapter. So I made some changes, but the basic facts are still there and Naruto will be sealed after the fight on the bridge with Orochimaru. At least then he is...somewhat known after his travels with Jiraya and doesn't have such a good standing with the Konoha populace.

To anyone else: I did mention that Issa's Grandfather was around at that time, right? So that is where Issa got all the names and stuff, from his Grandfather telling him stories.

~Sepherif

R.I.P. Trevor Lowry (aka, TheKyuubikid23)