Hey this is the first story I've written since I was 12. I'm a big Naruto fan, and I had this idea a few years ago, so if it doesn't work factually with what's been revealed in the story since then, well, that's because the original idea is 2 years old. I intend for this to be a mystery and adventure story. In this world, it is many years after the current events of the manga/anime. You'll be seeing a lot of character's offspring, and you might be surprised by the road that the Konoha 11 and various others have gone down. Furthermore, the world is slightly different. And I've killed Naruto (perhaps).
I don't own Naruto. Please enjoy.
PROLOGUE:
Kurama had never died before. Contrary to what most would think, he was very much afraid of death. Even if he was told he was immortal.
The other Tailed Beasts had all been killed. A couple times by an extraordinary force of ninja. A few times by each other. Kurama himself had sent Shukaku to meet his maker on occasion.
But Shukaku came back every time. He had told the Nine-Tails that their maker was in a place they could never reach. And Kurama would kill him again, hoping to all hell that Shukaku would be able to go to the place that HE was. He wanted it so desperately because if Shukaku could not find his way he very much doubted that he, the most evil of them all, could.
So he decided if he couldn't go home, he would never die. He would crush and kill every stinking human until the end of time, and even then Kurama wasn't sure he would be stopped.
And then the Jinchuuriki system was brought back. It hadn't been used since the Sage of Six Paths. Even then, Kurama could not find the salvation he wanted. He tested it, by killing a few hosts before their prisoners could break free. The Tailed Beasts he killed were seen wandering the planet, free from ninja and very much alive.
And then the ninja villages were formed. And Kurama shamefully found himself subjected by several ninja, all using techniques bastardized off of the Sage of Six Paths. None of them were kind, or pure like he was. Their chakra was evil, techniques half completed but still effective enough to capture and control him.
They were all pathetic humans. Humans that possessed the potential for hatred far surpassing that of all the Tailed Beasts combined. Humans that he vowed he would slaughter and hate until his last breath.
And then there was him. A boy who was different. A boy who was a Jinchuuriki his entire life, and so Kurama expected him to be his vehicle of hatred. A boy who defied all of those expectations, and never gave up on following his own path. A boy who redefined what it is to be a host.
Kurama liked this boy. And he grew to love him. Together they had been completely invincible.
And so Kurama found himself shocked and utterly unprepared as Uzumaki Naruto started fading from life, dragging him along. The death that the notorious Nine-Tails had once wished for was finally here. But now, he found himself thinking only one thing.
"I don't want to go...!"
He hated hearing the panic in his voice.
"I want to stay here, please, Father! Naruto and I...we still have so much to do!" Kurama pleaded to the nothingness that wasn't there. For Naruto could not hear him anymore.
How long would it take to resurrect? Was it worth it if Naruto wasn't there with him?
"Naruto, I-" He never finished.
He died.
But he didn't go. He felt the world around him vanish in an instant, and he could feel himself being pulled from the fabric of time and space but he was very aware of it all.
He was in the woods. Kurama felt a moment of discomfort seeing the treetops above him. He was in a smaller form. He hadn't been this small since...
Kurama whirled around and looked at the spot he knew would be there, the seal the Sage of Six Paths had made after splitting up the Ten-Tails and speaking to his children one last time. A man was standing in the center of the seal, just as the Sage had, his back to Kurama.
"Old Man...?"
The man turned around. No, it was not him. The Sage was a far more impressive sight than this sickly man. His eyes, half-lidded with weariness, held no sparkle. Nor did his voice, when he spoke.
"The Nine-Tails...that's weird."
"Have I...returned?" Kurama did not expect to revert to an older form, none of the other Tailed Beasts had when they revived.
"No, you haven't. I'm not sure what you're seeing but it only looks like the real world."
Kurama growled. After the Sage had perished, Kurama himself had desecrated these grounds beyond repair. It could not exist. "Am I in the past or something?"
"More like a waiting room." The man talked. "Configured to your subconsciousness. What are you seeing?"
"I have no time to wait. I want out, NOW!"
"Unfortunately for you, looks like it's my turn today." The man turned and started walking into the thick of the forest. The man, (if he could be called that), dropped fear from his shoulders with every step.
"Who are you, human?"
The man paused at a certain point in the brush and felt the air in front of him with his hands. As if he expected to be stopped by something that wasn't there. After a while, he spoke.
"My name is Shigarami. I'm not just a human, and I've been here a very very long time."
