Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; all credit goes to Masashi Kishimoto for creating this series

Prologue: Remnant


Konohagakure, more commonly referred to as the Village Hidden in the Leaves or Hidden Leaf Village, was incredibly active on this particular day. Today, the Ninja Academy was holding their graduation day celebration for all the students that had successfully passed the test and were deemed worthy of being called Genin, junior ninja. In total, thirty aspiring youths were celebrating the fact that the next day they would be part of a platoon and begin their training under their assigned Jonin, elite ninja, instructor. However, none of them would realize how far they would have to go to prove that they were shinobi worthy of praise and none of the Jonin wanted to tell them how difficult their road would be from here on. All they desired was that the young children enjoyed themselves while they could.

The streets were illuminated by the colorful lanterns hanging on brown poles that were now spread throughout the business district and residential areas of the village. In addition, many of the buildings were adorned with streamers in order to make the store or house alive and full of activity. The few residents that knew how to play instruments such as the flute were spread throughout the entire area in order to spread the wonders of music to all that gave them a listen. There was suppose to even be a puppet show from the two or three Konoha ninja that knew the secret arts of the mechanical doll turned weapons. They went all out for this new tradition they plan to establish from this year forward, wanting it to advance even further as the next generation evolves the technology involved.

"Choji, don't overdo it with the food, alright? You don't want to end up in the hospital."

"Don't worry about it, Shikamaru, I'll be fine."

Two young boys entered a dango shop as two girls that looked to be the same age left the facility. One of them, the girl with yellow hair tied in a long ponytail with a bang hanging over the right side of her face, had a smug look on her face as he moved her hands to behind her head. The second female had long pink hair was glaring daggers at her while trying her best to restrain from punching the blond one. Normal people would be scared that they were about to get into an all out brawl, but everyone in the Hidden Leaf knew about these two by now and that this was quite the normal altercation between the two.

"Take that, Sakura! Sasuke gave me a glance when he passed us while he was leaving the restaurant! He most have noticed that I'm a way more fitting girl for him!" the first girl remarked as the smug look on her face grew.

Sakura quickly got into the first girl's face and placed her fist a few centimeters away from her chin. "Shut it, Ino you pig! It was clearly because you kept shouting his name and put such unnecessary attention on Sasuke! He was giving you a death stare!"

Ino stuck her tongue out before staring at the other girl again. "Jealous are we? You're making up fantasies just so you could still cling on to hope that Sasuke would fall for someone like you."

"Oh yeah? We'll see which one ends up imagining fantasies tomorrow when we get our teams. True love will conquer all and put me with my dear Sasuke!"

As the two girls continued to glare each other, reaching a point where their foreheads were touching, a male around their age stood in the shadows of a nearby building. It was hard to take notice of the brown haired one wearing black shades and a light blue shirt with a collar that covered half of his face. A beetle landed on the bridge of his nose with no sudden reaction from the child. It was pretty clear that he didn't talk much. "…Noisy."


"Come on, Sasuke, there's no way you'll beat me! Isn't that right, Akamaru?!" a boy wearing a grey hoodie with brown fur coming out of it shouted to a small white dog in excitement. A yelp came out of the canine's mouth as it jumped from the top of the boy's head. The jacket wasn't the only thing that made him seem feral. His brown hair looked untamed while his eyes looked like they belonged to a lone wolf. Continuing with the dog theme, fangs stuck out of his mouth and his fingernails were long enough to resemble claws. The human and animal let out a roar in unison to their opponent in the sparring match in order to make him cower in fear, but there was no intimidating the youngster that stood across from him.

"Kiba, I only agreed to this match because you were beginning to annoy me as much as Naruto," a kid with raven black hair retorted as he ran his hand threw his bangs. "Someone like you couldn't even leave a mark on my forehead."

"Is that what you think? When then…let's get this started!" With that, the two jumped into the air and began clashing knuckles. The music playing in the corner was drowned by the sounds of Kiba's growls and Sasuke's grunts. A crowd was beginning to form around the two, getting attention to the shop they were fighting in front of in the process. The two ignored the thanks of the store owner for the customers as they continued to clash fists, the boy with black hair having a slight advantage over his opponent.

Unbeknownst to them, a girl with dark blue hair observed their fight from a distance with her pure white eyes. She was worried for both of them despite the fact it was just a friendly spar.


Among the kids celebrating was a boy with spiky yellow hair. His orange tracksuit made him easily distinguishable in the large crowd, as well as his green goggles that he wore around his forehead. More importantly, his facial expressions made him looker similar to a certain hero of the village that many in the village were inspired by. The name of this child was Naruto Uzumaki, a kid that lost his parents to a great beast commonly known as the Nine Tailed Fox. Despite coming from a line that should have netted him sympathy, he was often looked down by everyone because of the fact that the same demon was sealed inside of him in order to protect them. Many of the adults couldn't separate the child from the fox, and refused to acknowledge his few notable achievements as a result.

Naruto continued fighting for his dream even if only a handful people encouraged him to keep moving forward. He believed with all his heart that by becoming Hokage, everyone would be able to look past the beast inside of him and he would finally be seen as a ninja worthy of respect. Becoming a Genin was the first step in completing his dream, but he knew that the road ahead was still a very long one. For now though, he was willing to take a break on his journey and relax. He should be able to just enjoy this festival set up for him and his former classmates.

"Hey, Naruto! Come over here for a second!" a voice yelled loud enough to get Naruto's intention. A smile grew on the boy's face as he ran closer to the source of the sound. The last time he heard this voice was in a forest clearing, telling him that he graduated and became an official shinobi. His smile turned into a grin when he met up with the owner of the voice.

"Iruka-sensei! Came to see the future Hokage on the most important day of his life, huh?" the boy asked in an excited tone.

The man talking to Naruto was Iruka Umino, the main instructor at the Ninja Academy. A smile was plastered on his face as he scratched the bridge of his nose. His head was decorated with white bandages, but that didn't stop him showing up to the festival for his former students. The brunette was wearing a green flak jacket with a red spiral on the back and blue pants in addition to a blue cloth tied around his forehead with a metal plate with a leaf shaped object attached to it. He was wearing the standard attire for ninja that had attained the rank of Chunin or higher.

Iruka was one of the few people that saw Naruto as something other than a failure or the Nine Tailed Fox. While he originally thought the same way about the boy as his peers, the man was eventually able to bond with him after realizing that he also had a hard time growing up with no parents. The two began seeing each other as brothers, despite the fact Iruka yelled at his student a lot during his time at the Academy. The only reason he was so harsh was because he truthfully wanted the child to accomplish everything he wanted to in life no matter what. Naruto realized this too, which was why he didn't hate Iruka like most of the other adults that treated him with blatant disrespect and instead respected him greatly. His admiration for his teacher even led him to use a forbidden jutsu that he originally learned to impress him in order to protect his life after Iruka defended his honor from a piece of scum.

"I just can't want to see all my students on their big day? Besides, I was just heading over to Ichiraku…"

The boy quickly jumped in place before the grin on his face grew even bigger. "Sensei! Treat me to some ramen! You promised me you would after you gave me your headband!"

"Really, Naruto? You're not a kid anymore. Are you sure you don't want to eat anything else instead?"

"No way! The Fourth Hokage had ramen almost every day when he was just starting out and look what happened to him. Besides, ramen is even better when someone else treats you!" the blonde one responded with an excited tone.

"Oh, Naruto, you haven't changed much since becoming a Genin after all," the man thought while chuckling. He was really glad that the blondie reached a monumental moment in his life. He was proud of him as both his teacher and as his friend. He let out a small cough before giving his answer. "Alright, if you really want to I guess I can treat you, even though rookie ninja like you should be paying for your own meals now."

"You're the best, Iruka-sensei!" the boy ran off in excitement towards the ramen shop as his former teacher continued looking at him in admiration.

"I wonder how the Fourth would feel about Naruto. Would he be honored that someone was really inspired by his actions to the point he was being imitated? Or would he tell Naruto to follow his own path? Well, it's not like he's copying the Fourth in every way. He's already well on his own path to becoming a Hokage. I wouldn't even be surprised if he did end up surpassing you."

While he was trapped in his own thoughts, Iruka's glance switched to a large mountain that could be seen from almost anywhere in the entire village. Resting on the brown rock were four giant chiseled pieces that were shaped to look like heads. This monument was very important to everyone that called this place home as they all represented someone that every citizen could call a hero. They were the greatest shinobi to ever be part of the Hidden Leaf Village, the faces to the four previous Hokage, the leaders of Konohagakure that established the stability that everyone was able to enjoy.

"Iruka-sensei! What's keeping you?! Come on and hurry up already!"

The man turned his head from the distance and started walking towards the voice that called him. The future was still far ahead. There wasn't any need to worry about if Naruto would end up surpassing the previous Hokage yet. Instead, he should focus on the present and be there for the young boy since there were only a few other people he could talk to about anything.


"Well, Obito, we're going to see if this batch can pass this time. Must be infuriating to see people not feeling the same way you did, huh?"

While most of the village was loud and decorated to show the festive mood of the youth, some areas were kept intact to allow those that didn't want to party a place of silence. Among these locations was a green field known as the Third Training Ground. A grey stone with countless amounts of names carved into it was at the center and served as a memorial for all the ninja that gave their lives to protect peace during any of the Great Shinobi Wars. Many friends and family would gather around said stone and pay their respects to their fallen precious one, expressing how much they missed them and how they've benefited in life because of said sacrifice.

Among those that visited this essential gravestone was Kakashi Hatake, a shinobi that was feared as the Copy Ninja because of a jutsu that he inherited from a friend that died to save him and another. Many commented on the fact that he didn't change much in over ten years. He still had his signature white spiky hair, wore a black face mask, and his black eyes still looked the same as when they did when he was twelve. However, he now wore the normal attire for Jonin ninja: a blue tracksuit with matching blue sandals, a green flak jacket with a red spiral on the back over his tracksuit, and a blue cloth with a metal forehead protector attached to it over his left eye. The look on his eyes showed that he had a lot on his mind at the moment.

It was because he was trapped in his train of thought that he failed to notice a young woman around the same age as him walking next to him. While she also wore the flak jacket, she instead elected to wear a sleeveless black shirt and black pants. Her arms, wrapped in light purple sleeves with shuriken plastered over it rested behind her back as her brown eyes looked at the man staring at the memorial. It seemed like she too had wanted to talk to someone whose name rested there, but she now wanted to say something to the other visitor instead.

"Kakashi, how long are you going to just stand there?" the woman asked, stepping up next to the man as she placed her left hand over the gravestone.

He shifted his head slightly to the right to notice the newcomer before turning his attention back to the original structure. "I had to tell Obito about the new Genin."

"You do this every year, and you always end up missing a lot. It shouldn't take over five hours to tell someone that, even if it is him." The woman kept her hand in that position, a look of thought now on her face as well.

"I know, Rin, but I just can't help it. Whenever I come here, I end up thinking about just how big of a selfish idiot I was back then," Kakashi replied. He let out a sigh before removing his hand from the stone.

Rin removed her hand the same moment Kakashi did and decided to sit down on the stone pathway encircling the moment. "You've grown a lot since then. All we can do now is keep his legacy alive by passing on his ninja way."

The man looked up to the sky and noticed that the sun was no longer in the sky, replaced by the moon and millions of stars decorating the dark sky. On a similar night to this years ago, he stood at in this same location with Rin and a teenage boy with spiky black hair and tacky looking orange goggles. The three looked at all the names inscribed into it and desired to be as great as these heroes, but without having to join them wherever they were now. Back then, they really were naive children that hadn't seen battle yet. The male with spiky black hair wasn't with them anymore, but he passed down a belief that would impact all those that heard about it. He had become what those three dreamed of at a hefty cost.

Kakashi let out a small laugh before sitting next to the woman. "You know, sometimes I wonder what I do that makes you still want to be my friend."

"Don't be silly, of course I'd be. Besides, someone's got to make sure you don't get into too much trouble since Obito and sensei are both gone."

This caused another chuckle to come out of his mouth.

"That reminds me. You're done with the Academy after tomorrow right? You aren't a teacher anymore, but now an instructor for a team of three Genin," the man remarked.

Rin pushed her hand through her brown hair before letting out a smile. "Yeah, and I still can't believe it. I didn't think that I would actually become a Jonin like you someday."

"If Guy could be one, anyone could," the white head joked, getting a chuckle out of both of them after they were reminded of the former failure ninja that ended up becoming an amazing taijutsu master that was now the leader of a three Genin squad that graduated last year.

The silver head had heard stories about Guy's team, a kunoichi that was an expert when it came to weapons, a genius from the famous Hyuga Clan, and a boy that knew neither ninjutsu or genjutsu but still stood tall during missions. Those three were all really exceptional shinobi, bred to be masters of close range by their dynamic teacher. What he heard about them convinced him that the buffoon that called himself Kakashi's rival was actually a really capable instructor and that being out there didn't limit someone's abilities to be good at him. Even if they were extremely nervous like Rin seemed to be.

"Say, Kakashi…" Rin began, taking a deep breath before looking at his face again. "Do you think it would be alright if I do the same test you and sensei did to see how well my students understand things?"

"Oh, that one? It shouldn't be a problem. I'm sure he would be happy to know that a simple test like that left such an impact on us."

Rin let out a small smile after hearing, like she heard the one answer that was willing to accept and was really happy about it. "So is that what you think now, Kakashi? I'm happy to know that the test you used to despise so much has become an important part of you now."

The silver haired ninja looked up to the sky and started reminiscing about an event that happened long ago. It occurred during a time that he was blinded by the Shinobi Laws and following rules with an iron fist, a period where he didn't consider teamwork to be one of the most important aspects of being a shinobi. He could now say that he was an idiot back then, but at that time he was an arrogant kid that didn't know how to admit he was wrong or refused to look outside of the norm in order to find the solution.


"The reason that all three of you are here," an adult with spiky blond hair began with a tone of disappointment, "is because none of you could recognize the one factor that was most important to the success of the mission."

With arms crossed in front of his chest, the man wearing the standard flak jacket of Konoha stared at the subjects of his lecture. The three that were gathered around two tree stumps all had varying reactions because of this failure, thinking it signaled the end of their quest to become ninja. The saddest of the trio, a girl with brown hair with purple marks on her cheeks, was looking down at the ground and hugging her knees while staring down at the dirt out of depression. The only thing she ended up doing during the entire exercise was hide because of the fear that she would kill everyone by accidentally hitting them with a kunai or shuriken that went to far to the left or right. She considered both of the boys to her left close friends, and didn't want to be the one that caused them to fail but had a bad feeling that she was the biggest contributor to this situation.

The boy to her far left was the one that appeared to keep his composure despite looking the face of adversity straight in the eye. The silver head was also staring at the dirt, but it was not because of the fact that he did nothing to even attempt to pass. On the contrary, he was the closest to actually passing the objective that they were given at the start of the day. The look in his eyes was of disappointment, but this look was caused by the idea that he just wasn't good enough to actually finish the mission, and it was eating him alive. If it weren't for his almost brainwashed admiration for law and respect, he would have charged this very instant at the adult and attempt to complete his goal once again. Despite this though, there was one that was even more enraged than him and the girl was very sad, both things that a ninja should never show on the battlefield. It was for that reason he was so confident that he wasn't the reason that they were being lectured at currently.

The third member of this trio of failure was definitely the most emotional of the three, yelling curses and swears at the adult without a care in the world. He was currently tied to a tree stump and was flailing around in hopes of breaking free from this demeaning showing. His distinguishable piece of attire were a pair of orange goggles currently over his eyes that refused to fall down his face despite all of his erratic movements. It was quite clear that he wasn't blaming himself for the situation he was currently in but rather the fact that the man used some tricks in order to outsmart him constantly. Unlike the other two, he didn't care who the target of his disappointment was, all he cared about was proving himself against him.

"Can any of you fathom what that factor is? It's really not that hard to guess what it is." The adult's blue eyes were staring right at the three. If looks could kill, they'd all be dead at that moment.

The three looked at each other for a brief moment before returning their attention to the man.

"Will Power?"

"Obedience?"

"Skill?"

The blonde shook his head and let out an audible groan, causing the children to let out a sound of shock. They clearly couldn't comprehend what he was trying to teach them with this was suppose to be an easy to notice thing and yet they all were so oblivious to it that it actually hurt him inside. It was such a fundamental for being a ninja that it was something they were told to value the first day of being at the Academy. Now impatient, he looked at them angrily and pointed his finger at them one by one. "It's TEAMWORK. If you came at me all together, while it was still unlikely you would have won, you would have had a better chance at getting what you were supposed to steal from me than what you all decided to do instead."

The trio stayed there in silence as they all tried to process what he was trying to instill in them.

"Rin, thinking she would have gotten in the way, decided to just stay in hiding when she was constantly near both of you and prayed that you could handle this own your own. Doing that was pretty much begging me to kill them if I wasn't a Leaf ninja like you."

"...Sorry," the girl muttered so low that no one but her could hear. She was on the verge of tears.

"Hey! Don't make her cry! I'm going to kick your ass when I get untied!" the one wearing goggles shouted from the top of his longs.

"You are? If only you showed that dedication for both of your teammates," the man stated while looking at the boy with silver hair. "You didn't though, Obito. What you did show me was incredible selfishness by yelling at your comrade to constantly get out of the way and tried to fight me in single combat even though you had absolutely no chance of beating me by yourself. Overconfidence like that gets you a one way ticket to death."

The goggle wearing kid did nothing but look at the ground while the adult's glare continued to look directly at the final child. "Damn it, he's right. I would have been killed if that was a ninja from another village."

"Finally, there's you, Kakashi. You decided that the other two would be of no help to you and tried to confront me by yourself. You didn't even care about the fact that Obito can't swim when I threw him into the lake. You don't have any of the values that your father cherished so much."

The mention of his father drove the silver head over the edge. He pulled out the short blade strapped to his back and tried to impale the adult, fully intending to kill him. His parent's failure to go with the Shinobi Code was the reason why he was so adamant about law and rules. The fact someone else brought out the stupid values that he tried to erase from his brain again made him want to end this man. "Teamwork doesn't matter, only the laws all shinobi are to follow!"

The man shook his head again before disappearing from sight. The other two looked for him while Kakashi did nothing but charge forward thinking that he only went farther ahead. What he didn't realize however was that feet were now on his back and pushing him down to the hard earth. Standing on top of him now was the same person he was just trying to kill, a special three pronged kunai knife in hand. He was absolutely defeated once again, and this time he couldn't help but punch the dirt in frustration. The only thing the spectators could do was open their mouths and watch in absolute shock.

"You've all known each other for years and yet you make it seem like this is the first time that you all met. Watching each other, supporting each other, fighting together, that's what makes a true shinobi. You're all suppose to be comrades, act like it!"


"Don't sulk here all day. You're suppose to be an inspirational instructor tomorrow." the man was snapped back to reality when he heard Rin address him. She slowly stood up and looked at Kakashi. "You should head home now; you'll catch a cold if you stay here for too long."

"I see. You finally realized your feelings for him and were trying to cheer me up so I would leave and you could be alone with Obito. Gotta say, nice strategy, Rin," the man remarked as he also rose from the ground, getting a shocked reaction from the woman. His expression was one of joy, making it obvious that he was smiling under his mask. "There's a festival going on right? Let's get going."

Rin couldn't help but get a smile on her face as she grabbed Kakashi's hand and started heading towards the center of the village. She came to calm her nerves about being a Jonin instructor and while she wasn't completely confident yet, she was extremely grateful for the short talk with her former comrade.


The heavens poured down upon a very barren looking city as a man with long red hair stared upon the sky, an orange spiral mask in hand. His black robe continued to absorb the water hitting it while he refused to move from his place. A lone black cloth with a metal forehead protector with four vertical lines crossed out by a horizontal one was lying on the ground while the man observed the clouds. It was quite difficult to tell because of the hard downpour, but tears were coming down his face for an unknown reason.

He hated everything that this world stood for. He was appalled by the fact that murderers were heralded as heroes in other villages and that killing the innocent had absolutely no consequences if it occurred by accident. He was robbed of everything that he could love because of the unfair laws of the universe and he wasn't offered anything at all in order to show that people actually had mercy or they were deeply sorry for the mistake they made. He realized long ago that the way this world was now was so rigid that there was only one possible way for everything to begin anew. A solution that was so obvious and yet required such delicate planning in order to fully realize, it was a solution that he needed someone else to guide him to that point.

This land that used to be so beautiful was now nothing but a sullen remnant of bitter memories of a war that obliterated everything. The few that remained here were scarred by the terrible side of humanity they laid witnessed to or were much too loyal to their struggling country to even think of abandoning it. These isolationists were much too focused on recreating their home in order to have the epiphany that the man watching them from the highest building received. It was for that reason that none of them were the messiah of the world and why the red head was the god that this world needed so desperately. While many had suffered by the hands of the wicked, none had come even close to the pain that he endured.

He opened his right eye, revealing purple pupils with no sign of white anywhere. The look he was giving would send shivers down anyone's spine if he made eye contact with anyone at the moment. The most intimidating feature of it however were the black rings that encircled it. It was the true sign that he could ascend to the level of a god. A sacred relic passed down the ages to those that would cause a revolution.

"This world…judgment shall be passed upon it."


A/N: And finally done with my first attempt at writing Naruto. Quite a number of different events took place from canon it seems. Rin is alive, Obito actually dying during the Third Shinobi War (Making that clear now. Yes, he is dead), and other surprises in what I hope becomes a story that many can enjoy reading. With the intros out of the way (for the most part, got to introduce others eventually) we can get into the real theme of the story now! Next time, the Genin teams are announced and we find out the Jonin instructors for each squad. We'll also see the bell test since I do love it so for some odd reason, but with a twist or two this time. See ya then!