Outer Maelstrom: Shinobi´s Grasp
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I don´t own Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto or the specific characters from the background provided by Cthulhu mythos by H. P. Lovecraft and the additions made by his collaborators. In this fic there are only a few elements from Mythos and it does have a strong "existential horror" and mystery vibe, and also it mostly deals in ninjas interacting with monsters and aliens. So if it isn´t your cup of tea i suggest you keep looking for others fics.
Finally after lurking so much, this is the prologue for my first fanfic here; here hoping you guys enjoy it!
- " Speaking aloud and normally"-
- " Incorporeal voice/ words heard while dreaming or hallucinating"- also a Jutsu or technique being intoned or used "-
- " Very deep and incorporeal voice "-
- ' Thoughts '-
First Arc: "Closed eyes"
Chapter 1: Dreaming and Remembering
(This book tells about the meaning of dreams. Mine was about a star falling into the darkness ˃
It was a rainy and stormy night in Konohagakure "the village hidden in the leaves", and one very bizarre for a blonde boy of 12 years old sleeping in his bedroom.
'This doesn´t feel like a normal dream'- he thought, starting to become scared.
'Dammit! I´m trapped in this freaking darkness'- He vaguely felt as if he was being constricted by something.
A voice with a deep baritone and full of sorrow was heard.
"You and I were two mirrors, one facing the other"
"Now I know, that this awakened the power in my eyes"
"Even then I couldn´t stop you, you took her away from me"
"My sun, my life, my love"
"Her light remains inside our two sons"
A pair of eyes with concentric rings surrounding the pupils and glowing with an ethereal purple light suddenly appeared.
'Holy ..!'- cursed the boy to himself.
"Your existence won´t reach them, nor them and no one else!"
"I´ll make sure of it"
The blue-eyed boy, dressed in gray pajamas and a goofy blue sleeping cap wakes up suddenly and franticly disentangles himself from his bed sheets, in which he had ended up enrolled, and then takes a look outside the window. It was raining lightly upon the streets.
"What was that?!"- the boy starts to breathe deeply to calm himself, just like one of his sensei at the Shinobi academy had told him in one occasion.
"That voice sounded too clearly, and those strange eyes …"- he mutters to himself.
'I don´t think i´m going to be able to sleep after that'- he gets up from bed and looks at his alarm clock on the bed table. It shows that it was 4:00 a.m. He yawns, still feeling tired.
"The classes start in four hours… I can already tell i´m going to be sleepy all day, and at every attempt for a little shut-eye Iruka-sensei is going to throw a piece of chalk to my head"- The boy usually put an effort to pay attention in the classes that interested him, but there were some (like history) in which he could be found taking a nap along with a few of his classmates.
"And Kiba and the others are going to laugh at me again ... sigh"- outside the rain had just stopped. He opens the window; but just then a succession of loud "thumps" could be heard from the roof.
"Oi !"- the blonde kid calls, eyeing outside there were two ninja of Chunnin rank, wearing the dark blue clothes and green vest standard uniform, who jumped to a next rooftop visible from his apartment.
"Oh, sorry Naruto-san, we are in a hurry towards the hospital"- said the one who Naruto recognized as Kotetsu, a shinobi often found doing guard duty the Hokage had introduced to him nearly two weeks ago, and since then Naruto greeted at the post near the entrance to the village from time to time.
Naruto couldn´t spot any wounds in the shinobi; even though there was laboriousness in the movements of the one leaning on Kotetsu for support, and was scowling with his eyes closed and teeth clenching from pain.
"What happened Kotetsu-san? Can I help somehow?"- Naruto asks, slightly worried for the other man.
"Well kiddo .. in brief, Itsumo and I found Retsumaru-san here lying beside the road near the entrance; and he told us that during his return to the village he activated some trap that blew up and injured him with metal fragments .. and meanwhile he was unconscious somebody stitched his wounds incorrectly, and they got infected"- Kotetsu shakes his head. "Odd eh ? the injuries aren´t serious, they are shallow; but even then it mustn´t worsen. See you later Naruto"- the duo hops to another rooftop and went out of sight.
'Weird'- the boy watched them leave. "Whatever, when I have a chance i´ll ask hokage-jiji about that and the dream … I´ll try to get a little more sleep"- he tells to himself before resting his head on the pillow and falling asleep again.
- Hokage´s Tower. Administrative Office -
At the same time; the man known as "the Professor" and Third Hokage of Konohagakure, Sarutobi Hiruzen reflects alone in his office, sitting on his desk full of various documents and reports still to go through; nevertheless the tired leader finds himself watching his village lightened by a full moon through the window.
'These last months truly had been trying and worrisome, only seconds to the weeks after the Kyuubi´s attack'- the third hokage sighs and then drink a sip of strong-flavored tea to help keep himself awake for the coming all-nighter.
'Farmers of neighboring settlements concerned because of unfamiliar diseases devastating their livestock, missing cattle, sightings of shinobi from the new Otogakure near ours borders with Kusagakure, abduction of civilians by a rising religious cult, forest fires seemingly without cause … and those reports of suspecting of breach of security in the Forest of Death: Forbidden area 36 because of the partially devoured tigers'- he puts three fingers between his eyes, trying and failing to prevent a headache.
Since that terrible day that the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked Konoha because of largely unknown reasons and was stopped heroically by the Fourth Hokage; a number of tragedies had begun to sprout periodically in villages and cities across the Elemental Nations, and after sending his more capable Shinobi to investigate, they only could report back that many of these incidents were related to groups of seemingly crazed people that acted unexpectedly and that came from settlements all over the continent; however, getting more info had proven to be a very difficult task, due to the delicate mental and physical condition of the captured prisoners brought for interrogation and the panic that the situation had provoked, especially in settlements located near the border.
The different daimyō ruling each country took notice of the severity of the circumstances, and in response had increased the security measures in the villages and cities: designating additional guards, hiring with greater frequency ninjas for patrol duties, increasing the budget for the police forces, among other steps.
The third Hokage looks at the reports on his desk
'Considering that this disaster begun that day … I have a feeling that that man is at least partly responsible .. but how all of this is connected?'- closing his eyes he tries to remember in detail the events that he witnessed that dark day.
- Twelve years ago. 10 of October: The Nine tail´s Dusk -
- Top of Konohagakure´s Defensive Wall -
A strong breeze blew upon the top of the high wall surrounding Konohagakure, where two of the strongest shinobi that had sworn to protect it stood under a sky darkened by the cloudy sunset that would mark an event that would change history forever.
"According to the watch post at the village of Rylek the Kyuubi no Kitsune will reach us in a matter of minutes"- announced the Fourth and current Hokage, a tall young man with blue eyes and spiky blond hair.
"Our spies there confirmed the sighting of an unknown masked ninja following closely the trail of the Kyuubi; someway he seems to be controlling the Bijuu .. whatever his plan is, it can´t succeed"- He said as an ANBU shinobi kneeled to the left of the Hokage adjusted his white bird mask.
"We have prepared ourselves as best as we could, the future of our home lies in the hands of all the warriors of the village; now i´m going to finish organizing the teams and squads, and after that to check and reinforce the Guardian Seal"- said the resolute previous Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen besides the ANBU.
"That the Will of Fire be with all of us"- the Fourth Hokage nodded to his mentor, who disappeared to the forest below. 'We are going to face someone who not only was able to bypass with ease the wards from the Third in order to almost kill my son and kidnap my wife, but also knew of the weakness of her seal and used it to allow himself to engage us directly with the strongest tailed beast … if I hadn´t been quick enough to save her at the last moment and take her to a medic ...'
The breeze had turned into almost hurricane winds, and the heavens to hues of red and orange with the sunlight filtered by the clouds; and after only 20 minutes it was possible to catch sight of the nine tails of the Kyuubi thrashing the earth and destroying the forest in the horizon, approaching the walls of Konoha with a frightening speed.
"You truly are my best weapon, nonetheless … you are only a fraction of demon´s chakra and will that can be twisted. I know that those double-faced traitors haven´t yet lost hope; after all I know they copied and stole knowledge of sorcery from that damned place"- said a masked and shady figure with a venomous voice, standing upon a distant hill to the south of Konoha. 'If I had summon it inside the village instead, and the spells had interfered with me .. my patience and caution shall be rewarded'.
"Two can reject the same symbol; however with the influence from the Queen of the Moon it shall turn upon the Earth. THERE´S NO STOPPING IT!"- continued with a slightly unhinged tone the man in whose only visible eye there was the crimson iris and three tomoe of the Sharingan. And so he quickly started a sequence of hand seals different form the well-known by the shinobi under the heaven and what lies beyond.
'The seal of the Snake with bleeding palms, exalts the servant of the Crawling Chaos'
'The seal of the Dragon calls forth the fiery void that comprehends the hatred of the Kyuubi'
'The seal of the Rat with two fingers broken, scurries beneath the eyes of the demon'
'The seal of the Snake closes the cycle'
Clapping once, the man with the orange and spiral mask looked to a red star barely noticeable in the sky and intoned "Forsaken art: Autā kyōmei-hō / Outer Resonance technique "
Suddenly, the Kyuubi no Kitsune snarled and came to a stop with a great crash; his nine tails shifting to the forefront and prepared to launch a bijuudama, the unstable chakra orb corrupted by an ancient god.
"The barrier with the Guardian Seal has risen up in the way of the attack of the Kyuubi; we only have one more contingency measure so we cannot allow the Kyuubi to reach the village for even a moment. Prepare the signal for the counter-attack, stall him for as long as you can"- at the top of the wall, the blonde Hokage ordered to the team of four ANBU in front of him. 'I can´t count on that medic doing the impossible and saving Kushina; my love …just hang on a little more'.
"Hai! Hokage-sama"-The ANBU responded and vanished from sight.
The dreadful black sphere was shot, obliterating and setting on fire everything on its path, until it clashed against a barrier made of earth and stone, with a massive symbol of a circle containing a five-pointed star with a flaming tongue at the center engraved in it and delineated with ink. A thunderous uproar was heard for kilometers around when the Seal glowed with a blue light, emitted a shockwave, and the Bijuudama was reflected back.
- Kyuubi´s Mindscape -
In the absolute darkness, there was only cold …and agony.
'NOOO! … almost free at last .. THOSE EYES, THOSE DAMNED EYES RUINED EVERYTHING! '- Murderous anger had begun to bubble up from within.
"GRRAAAAAAAAAW!"- the terrible roar traveled in the emptiness.
'What is this?! I can´t .. '- the Kyuubi barely was able to look down at himself. Ghostly and scarlet stakes and chains were restraining him, piercing between his collarbone, his stomach, legs and tails; anchoring him with his back against a black metallic sphere.
"I WON´T TAKE THIS!"- He shook fiercely trying to break free from the chains, but despite all of his efforts, they didn´t budge an inch.
His howling of pain and roars of rage and indignation were becoming increasingly more desperate; till his sight aligned with an extremely distant scarlet point, shining brightly and suspended high, far and above.
"You see, I see you screaming"- Rumbled loudly a voice from the nothingness.
"WHO ARE YOU?!"- Growled the livid nine tails.
"The One who descends from it whom dreams them. Their Horror is about to become real"- resonated the voice in a disturbing monotone.
The Kyuubi became disconcerted, what type of being would have this vast and seemingly almost mechanical presence?. A trick perhaps?
"Another human? - he dubiously asked.
"ALL BE TO THEIR CONVENIENCE!, THEIR MISERY!, THEY SHALL BURN INSIDE OF ME!"- Rumbled again the voice, this time full of spite.
"Other beings to them are nothing but food to their greed, selfishness and fear of that which is uncertain"- continued the far-off speaker.
The Bijuu could recognize the deep hatred that had come unbridled then; realizing that they essentially shared the same opinion about humankind.
"One of them has managed to enslave me, again"- The Kyuubi growled, cursing the crimson eyes once more.
"I am too far away to be able to melt your chains"- the voice answered the silent question. "They have too many different types of chains with which to bind you. Turn your gaze towards the core of your captors instead, they have already failed because of it in several dreams, worlds"- The voice was starting to become quieter.
The Kyuubi was definitely astonished, he wasn´t too sure of believing the sinister voice. It stated with certainty that in other *worlds* he had managed to be released, achieving the freedom he desired so much.
"Between the worlds there is a void where many and diverse beings had been exiled from their original dreams. I have just taken one *low hanging fruit from a tree*, and send him to where you are. Survive your own wrath and speak to him"- The voice no longer could be heard, and the scarlet star had begun to quickly increase in size until it resembled a black sun with a blazing scarlet crown.
The Kyuubi no Kitsune roared defiantly with all his might to it, till the Cimmerian star engulfed him, and the pain at last subsided.
- Small underground shelter near the west gate of Konohagakure -
'How i wish Tsunade-sama was here'- Shizune was a teenager with dark shoulder-length hair and gentle brown eyes; she had just come back to Konoha temporarily in order to run some errands and actualize her data and status as was required periodically from each Leaf-shinobi, interrupting her studies with the greatest medic in the continent.
"Please resist for a while longer Kushina-san!- she urged the red-headed woman with her in the stone-walled and dim-lit room they were in; meanwhile her hands were glowing with an ethereal green light over the body of her patient, which a little time ago had also given birth and lost the Bijuu sealed within her.
"Ah ..Ah ..Minato, my Naruto-kun"- said panting the by now fragile woman.
"Your son is safe, hang in there !"- Shizune watched her cough blood. "Hokage-sama and the village are counting with you, he needs you!"- she hurriedly continued.
'Minato .. even if I could stop the Kyuubi together with you, you are going to sacrifice yourself with the Dead Demon Seal'- Kushina closed her eyes.
'You can´t turn your back to neither your son nor his future home'- tears started to appear in her green eyes.
'We won´t be able to watch him grow up, or stay besides him'- she hiccupped. 'So many things to tell them .. please let me see my boys one last time'- she prayed from the futon she was lying in.
Suddenly, a monstrous rumble could be heard; reverberating and making the entire underground shelter quake violently, upturning tables and cracking the walls.
"AAH!"- Shizune covered Kushina with her body, trying to protect her as she waited for the earthquake to finish, which occurred after seemingly endless five minutes.
'What was that? The battle against the Kyuubi must be more than ten kilometers from here'- Shizune was extremely worried.
"Please … that everyone in the village remains ok"- she murmured to herself.
-Point Cero of the explosion. Forest outside Konohagakure, near the hills to the south -
'So this is the power of a Bijuu'- an ANBU with the mask of the Boar was crouched down inside of a trench that he had excavated with a jutsu to protect his team from the gargantuan shockwave unleashed by the explosion that had just illuminated everything with a white light, and that had also released a secondary minor explosion near them, as well as started numerous fires.
The ANBU captain turned around and saw amongst the trees the flashes that signaled the beginning of the counter-attack. His brow wrinkled behind his mask, he gestured to the rest of his team, that went to jump between the trees with him.
'This worries me, the presence (Killer Intent) of the Kyuubi is too strong and it gets progressively worse getting near him. Many teams had to abort and leave the battlefield because they could no longer resist it; some even killed themselves or lost their minds'- Thought the captain.
'We have managed to hold on so far, and we can also count on the Sandaime and Hokage-sama. We can´t fail'- he steeled his resolve.
'Finally'- His team could see some others, one of them with the Sandaime, the "Professor"; all of them speedily synchronizing their attacks.
"Water Release: Wōtā jetto / water jet"- some shinobi shot pressurized streams of water at the legs of the snarling beast.
"Earth Release: iwa no sentō / rock spire"- a multitude of rock spears rose from the ground and flew to the belly and chest of the monster.
"Fire release: Karyuu endan / Flame bullet"- the head of the Kyuubi was bombarded with focused explosions.
The Kyuubi thrashed about fiercely and with a colossal strength; although his movements were frantic and convulsive, like those of a wild animal that has been wounded and surrounded. 'Strange'- the Third started to have a bad feeling about this.
'Wait! … are those black leaks coming from the Kyuubi? '- the ex-hokage´s eyes widened in surprise.
'That was it! the Bijuu was affected by a spell and is dying! If the plan of the Yondaime doesn´t succeed, he will simply reform after some years and could well attack the village again'- the Third Hokage mused to himself.
Just in that moment he felt the need to evade, jumping and rolling forward to a burning clearing at the same time that a masked and cloaked man appeared behind him and almost managed to stab him with a blood stained kunai; prepared to press his assault the masked assailant begun a sequence of hand seals.
He was interrupted by the sudden appearance of *the Yellow Flash* wearing his white hokage coat, who attempted to trade blows with him until he managed to force him to seemingly teleport himself a few meters back to escape his grab and try to absorb him inside of a spiral distortion.
'He can make himself intangible, but he must become solid to attack; … I know what I must do'- The current Hokage and Yondaime of Konoha had then cold and calculative eyes.
At that instance, the crazed and berserk Kyuubi roared and some of his tails viciously crushed a number of ANBU teams, setting ablaze the area surrounding the sites of impact.
'This must end now'- Minato couldn´t let this prolong anymore. "Sandaime, there´s no more time, finish bringing her here!"- He ordered.
The Third watched him apprehensively through the veil of flames separating them, and nodded stiffly before gazing briefly at the masked man and vanishing inside the forest, where some plants had started to turn from green to black.
"This is the end for your village of hypocrites!"- the masked man dressed in black accelerated towards the Yondaime, who did the same towards his opponent.
The battle of speed was resolved in an instant.
"Rasengan!"- An orb of swirling blue chakra blew up upon the back of the man with the Sharingan; who then appeared wounded and haggard outside the crater made by the hokage´s technique; just as the Yondaime stabbed him suddenly and at the same time completed the seal he had prepared on his opponent simultaneously with his last attack.
"I see that you´re going to remove my control over the Kyuubi"- the masked man said contemplatively.
"It´s already done"- answered the Hokage.
"Many doors remain open to me, this world will succumb"- the cloaked man disappeared in a swirl in the air.
'I have a feeling that he wasn´t lying, and now .. '- Minato turned to look at the Kyuubi, who had already eliminated almost all of the remaining ANBU.
From the trees the Sandaime came accompanied by Kushina.
"It won´t be long before the presence of the Kyuubi overcome our defenses"- Minato looked at his wife. "Remember what happened to your first home .., so our son doesn´t live that .."- He told her suppressing his grief, because he knew they couldn´t accompany Naruto.
"I know Minato-kun … since we spoke about this you don´t stop repeating it"- she said calmly with a voice loaded with sadness.
"Then it´s time"- he said to her, and then she put her hands in the ground and gathered her chakra for her final technique.
Minato hurriedly summoned Gamabunta, leader of the Toads from a distant realm.
"Gamabunta!, I need you to distract the Kyuubi for only a few seconds"- He said immediately after the smoke dissipated.
The great toad in the blue Haori removed his webbed hands from his head. "I don´t know for how long I can endure this, i´m not a miracle worker"- every second had to count, with a mighty jump he clashed his sword against the titanic claws of the nine tails, that immediately started to pierce and liquefy through the giant sword.
"Minato now!"- shouted Gamabunta. The earth trembled briefly, and then countless ethereal blue chains were shot from the ground and restrained the Kyuubi, at the same time Gamabunta disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
With the Tailed Beast immobilized by the technique that originated from the back of her wife, Minato swiftly completed a sequence of hand seals and clapped once.
"Fuinjutsu: Shiki Fūjin/ Dead Demon Consuming Seal"
Chilling winds suddenly came forth; sending a shiver through every spine on the battlefield, while the already present and widespread conflagration threatened to burn skin and flesh of anyone who fell into the flames.
A ghostly and appalling apparition manifested behind the current leader of konoha and one of it´s clawed hands extended, going through his body and reaching the Kyuubi.
"GRRAAAAAAOOOW"- the nine tails howled, and the Sandaime barely managed to evade one of his tails only because of the shrinking of the Kyuubi.
The Yondaime took the chance and summoned the ceremonial table with his child on it.
Kushina coughed more blood, and at the same time her technique weakened. The deranged Kyuubi then raised his released claw, intent on shredding apart his previous host and the child besides her.
"Kushina! Minato !"- shouted the Third, trying to escape the forest fire in which he found himself into.
An awful wet and tearing sound resounded in that clearing. The claw of the beast having speared through the body of the father and the mother without getting to their son.
With the sealing technique still active, the Fourth intoned: "Trigram Seal"
'Only a little more of our chakra, I must accomplish it'- the Hokage gave it his all.
With a last roar, what remained of the legendary Kyuubi no Kitsune started to be sealed inside of the newborn, whom didn´t stop crying.
The bony and sinister apparition vanished without a sound, its deed completed.
The Shinobi known as the "Professor" could only watch how Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, together whispered with hope their last wishes for their son; and with a last breath, they left the world behind.
It was with heavy steps and the eyes clouded with sorrow that Sarutobi Hiruzen walked to the baby, and took him in his arms, while all around them the columns of smoke rose towards the heaven.
- Present time. 25 of October -
- Hokage´s tower. Main reception Office -
'Taking into account the occurrences that were reported by the survivors and what i saw with his own eyes, i can enumerate some anomalies which remain a mystery'- the old Hokage muses to himself. 'The apparent capabilities showed by the masked infiltrator, the abnormally strong presence of the Kyuubi and that explosion … mmh. How could that man go through my safeguards and precautions so easily?'- He reflected for a while.
His expression changes when his eyes turned upon a framed photograph on his desk. There was a mature and serious woman in the picture, whose long hair had started to turn grey.
"My Biwako-koi"- says the Sandaime to himself, remembering his wife whom had been killed when the horrible events of that day had begun.
'So many tragedies that day.. The survivors of the quake that affected the village still had to continue to face the demonic presence that fell upon us during the attack itself'- The leader had heavy eyes, and a feeling that worse calamities were approaching from the horizon.
"Kami .. whomever of you who can hear me, I beg of you to help us endure the times that will come"- He prays, he would be answered.
A/N: And there you got it. The events from twelve years into the past resemble those from Naruto canon; in the manga those would be in chapters 500-502, but with a different twist. Until the next time.