Chapter 1

Pilot

It started happened because of a jealous man who hated the World.

He became convinced that the Ninja World was unjust, and must be changed. So he sought the Amenonuhoko- a powerful jeweled spear that held the power to change the Ninja World and make the Shinobi a God.

However, his plan did not go unnoticed as the ninja of Konohagakure discovered his plot, and sought to thwart it. They raised an army with one of their most skilled ninja's, Uzumaki Naruto, in its vanguard.

The Leaf army scoured the Ninja World searching for the Shinobi that threatened their existence. But the Shinobi was skilled and managed to evade capture. It was by chance that the vanguard discovered the Shinobi. But by then the Shinobi had the Amenonuhoko in his hand. They tried to solicit his surrender, but alas the Shinobi stubbornly refused, convinced that he would win.

So with the Shinobi resolute in his plans, the vanguard attacked him.

Naruto crossed his fingers to activate Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. A clone of him appeared, and started to form a spiraling blue orb in his right hand. He charged the villain with his jutsu in hand.

But by then the Shinobi managed to activate the Amenonuhoko and began his plot to subvert the World.

His spear glowed and transformed from a rusted and pitiful exterior to a heavenly spear encrusted with jewels. The Shinobi quickly thrust the heavenly spear into the earth and touted his ascendance. With the spear activated and by the flick of his hand, he effortlessly hurled the charging Naruto miles away from him.

By that time the army of Leaf ninja arrived, and with the Shinobi in their sights they hurled kunai, shuriken, and their most powerful jutsus in an attempt to defeat the Shinobi before he could do any harm. But it proved useless, as their attacks were deflected and their army quickly dispatched by the power of the spear. The Shinobi laughed over his kills, and proclaimed it as proof of his domain over life.

But the Shinobi underestimated the power of the Amenonuhoko and was blown away himself- his vices sealing the fate of himself along with the World. And with the spear left abandoned, it started to reduce order into chaos.

An anomaly that looked like a whirlpool formed and started to pull in everything within its reach. As it devoured the earth and the heavens it became bigger. And within mere seconds it reached Naruto.

The orange ninja was powerless to do anything. He could not flee from it, as its gravity was too strong. And with horror, the ninja witnessed the beginnings of his change. His body twisted and pulled apart. The death was a quick one, and he did not suffer pain with his death. But even as a spirit, Naruto did not escape the whirlpool. It reached the netherworld and drew in his spirit along with the souls of the dead.

It would not even take a day for the whirlpool to destroy the Ninja World. When it pulled in everything in existence, it started reshaping the Ninja World- making a completely different reality with different truths.

From the Amenonuhoko's power, Uzumaki Naruto's life changed from one full of friendship, love, and teamwork to that of sorrow, loneliness, and insanity. He was always on the run. And never stayed in one place for too long. He traveled the Ninja World, becoming skilled in nearly all ninja arts. But he would be hated and despised in nearly every land he set foot on. His mark as a Shinobi was ruthlessness, cunning, and madness. And it was those qualities that attracted the attention of the criminal organization, Akatsuki.

The Leader of Akatsuki managed to convince Naruto to join his organization, albeit at a high price. When Naruto joined he was promptly assigned a mission along with Kisame Hoshigaki to capture the prized Jinchuuriki of Iwagakure.

The two stalked the Jinchuuriki of the Five Tails to the outskirts of Iwagakure. There, with no witnesses or support available for the Jinchuuriki, the two decided to attempt capturing the Jinchuuriki.

The Jinchuuriki was called Han, and was known for his steam-based ninjutsu. He looked formidable: wearing red, ironclad armor with a furnace attached to the back.

Kisame would've promptly attacked Han simply for the enjoyment of the fight. But he restrained himself in order to see his new teammate in action. Grinning with anticipation, the blue-skinned ninja asked, "Naruto-kun, can you take this one?"

"It isn't Naruto. It's the One-Man Blight," Naruto corrected Kisame.

"Don't underestimate me with that child of yours," Han shouted from afar, "I'm the Jinchuuriki of the Five Tailed Beast,"

"I can destroy you in ten seconds if I wanted to," Naruto informed Han, "And for your information I'm sixteen, not a kid,"

Kisame said, "But this one seems pretty tough, Naruto-kun, do you really think you can defeat him?"

Naruto corrected Kisame again, "It isn't Naruto. It's the Tamer of the Four Saintly Beasts,"

"Why are you using a different name?"

"It isn't different,"

"What? Yes it is. You're calling yourself two different names with two different connotations,"

"So? That doesn't mean that they can't mean the same thing,"

Kisame rebuked, "That isn't the point. One name sounds obviously like a death bringer while the other one sounds more heroic. Either way, you shouldn't use two names… it's too confusing,"

"And what if I'm both? I could've been a great hero who has a dark side that has caught up to him and now he is divided between whether to fight between what he believed was good or what he now perceives as not so bad,"

"...Oy, don't get caught up in a fantasy that isn't true,"

As the pair bickered, the Jinchuuriki saw an opportunity to attack his would-be abductors and took it. He blew steam from the furnace strapped to his armor and charges forward. He attempted to land a knockout punch to Naruto. But Naruto realized that he was about to be flattened, and dodged his opponent's attack. The blonde jumped high into the air and threw what seemed like a thousand kunai at the Jinchuuriki. To which the Jinchuuriki blocks and deflects. He released more steam from his armor and propels himself upward. When he was upon Naruto he nearly landed a blow, but just as his fist reached the whisker marks on the blonde's face, he disappeared in a flash.

Puzzled by Naruto's sudden disappearance, Han fell to the ground. He scanned the battlefield now littered with kunai but couldn't find the blonde. So, with the blonde seemingly out of the picture, Han decided to attack Kisame.

"Naruto!" Kisame yelled, "Where did you go?!"

And right behind a pillar of rock, Naruto corrected Kisame, "It isn't Naruto. It's the Scourge of the Ninja World,"

"You gaki! Why are you over there?!"

"I need to take a dump,"

"Why now?!"

"It's the food we had last night," Naruto moaned, "the beef must've been rotten. I told you to cook it more but you insisted it be bloody,"

Then he winced a little from food poisoning and remarked, "That's the last time I let you cook…"

"There was nothing wrong with the meat, if there was, I would be in pain too. But that doesn't matter, what matters is the fight. I've never heard of a ninja that leaves a battle because his stomach hurts. Now get back here and fight!"

"It isn't like I chose the ninja life," Naruto sighed, "the ninja life chose me. I mean, there was a time when I wanted to be Hokage, but I found out that title was meaningless. All I really wanted was a little recognition, but everyone always looked at me funny. I only became a ninja because society dictated that your skills as a ninja are what measured your worth in society,"

The ironclad Jinchuuriki ignored Naruto's rant and charges Kisame. Kisame curses and clasps his hands together yelling, Suiton: Bakusui Shoha.

But instead of spewing forth a sea's worth of water and gain the advantage with water-based ninjutsu, Kisame threw up.

The normally sadistic, playful demeanor of the blue-skinned ninja turned into one of mild pain and agony. He yelled, "Naruto! Get back here now!"

However, Naruto was never known to quickly come to an ally's aid. Playing with emotions and seeing their reactions was something he often enjoyed. As a little kid, it was only harmless pranks. But years of neglect and solitude caused him to develop a pleasure in truly screwing people over. Thus the blonde ninja only grinned, "Nah, I think you can handle it,"

Before Kisame could reply, Han was upon him. Luckily the sentient sword, Samehada, came to Kisame's aid instead of Naruto. The sword shielded Kisame from the Jinchuuriki's powerful punch and produced sharp scales, which forced Han to jump back lest have his armor shaved off.

Kisame propped himself up with Samehada, his food poisoning taking a serious toll on his ability to fight. Han entered into Version 2 of his Jinchuuriki Transformation. Black and Red colored chakra enveloped his body and his face took up a ghastly appearance. With Kisame weakened, Han figured that his speed would be enhanced to the point that Kisame couldn't evade him and thus he would successfully dispatch his foe.

At that moment, the normally proud shinobi felt helpless, an unexplained fear gripped him. He was stuck and didn't know where to go or what to do. As Han lunged forward, Kisame decided that the only thing to do was to stand proud and go down fighting. He could only laugh at his own misfortune, "I guess you're on your own, Naruto,"

"It isn't Naruto," the ninja corrected.

Then he suddenly appeared behind Han and swiftly weaved multiple hand signs together. With a jutsu activated, he slapped the Jinchuuriki's crimson chest with one hand and announced, "It's the Fourth Hokage's Blunder!"

After being slapped at the chest, Han howled and fell to the ground. Right where Naruto slapped the Jinchuuriki was the Kanji word 'Fuu', which means 'seal', surrounded in a black circle of writing. The seal was used to suppress Han's chakra and return Han to his human form-Han was defeated.

"How?" He managed to eke out, "How… did… you-"

"The kunai I hurled at you earlier," Naruto pointed to a kunai lodged in a rock pillar, "They all had special seals on them, seals that allow me to instantaneously teleport to its location. It's a technique used by the late Fourth Hokage. I think of it as a sort of hand-me-down, but it's not one of my preferred jutsus,"

"So… strong…" was Han's only response.

"I'm not done with you yet," Naruto told Han. And then he looked the ironclad Jinchuuriki dead in the eyes, and with one hand formed a hand sign to unleash a jutsu.

He calmly said Shihohirutama. And Han's perception of reality suddenly changed. He was teleported to a dark realm and stood in a shallow pool of water that was endless in all directions.

"This is genjutsu..." he muttered.

Suddenly, Naruto appeared behind him but much bigger. The black cloaked ninja was a giant compared to Han. He laid his hands out in front of him to form a small glittering orb. It was at this point that Han started to melt into the pool of water and when his whole body completely melted, the large form of Naruto kneeled down and gently placed the luminescent orb in the water.

At first, the orb did nothing, but then it slowly started to soak in Han like a sponge. As parts of him were sucked into the orb, the orb started to get bigger. To Han, it felt like his emotions and his energy was being sucked away.

"The orb must be sealing me into it," Han thought, "I need to release this genjutsu, maybe if I-"

"Too late," Naruto interjected, and quickly sealed Han within the orb.

Rendered immobile and powerless, the Jinchuuriki watched as the giant Naruto picked him up with both of his hands and hold the orb to his mouth. Naruto started to drink Han like sipping broth from a bowl of soup, to which the helpless Jinchuuriki looked on with horror. The last thing that Han saw before falling unconscious was his enemy's large gaping mouth, and the dark abyss inside.

The Jinchuuriki fell into a coma and the body that once struggled laid still.

Kisame grunted, "Took you long enough," and picked up the Jinchuuriki with Samehada and asked, "Naruto, why didn't you use that technique of yours in the first place?"

The blonde ninja replied, "It isn't Naruto. It's the Iron's Hitokiri Battosai,"

In exasperation, Kisame pressed his fingers against his forehead, "What's wrong with calling yourself Naruto?"

"Names are meant to mean something. That name has lost its meaning to me,"

"Oh? Why do you hate using your birth name, Naruto?"

The blonde ninja avoided the question however. There was much trauma and hatred behind his name. And such emotions Naruto believed were best left unspoken. So instead of expressing such things, he corrected Kisame, "It isn't Naruto. It's the Fifth Mizukage,"

With a mixture of disbelief and irritation, Kisame laughed, "Your names are so ridiculous. You don't need to say all these names to show you're talented, it's obvious that you have it!"

Naruto promptly informed his teammate, "I worked hard for such names, Kisame-san. Don't assume that 'talent' had anything to do with it. I remember a guy that always had talent, and he pissed me off. He was always lauded as a genius. His name was synonymous of brilliance. And every time I failed, I was compared to the talented kid who could do anything with the snap of his fingers. I hated being compared to that person, and for a moment I thought that I was damned to being a failure. But you know what? You can't be powerful only by virtue of being talented. It is hard work that gives you results. My mastery of a thousand jutsus, my legendary speed and strength, my ruthless conduct- all of it I gained through work. And that is what gave me my names. Not talent. And those name prove my accomplishments, Kisame. They are my mark as a shinobi. Not the name, Naruto,"

"Whatever," Kisame sighed in irritation, "we don't have time for this, let's just get to the rendezvous point,"

The two headed for the ruins of Kusagakure to deliver the Jinchuuriki and join the rest of Akatsuki.

During that time, Uchiha Sasuke sparred with his teammates at the outskirts of Konohagakure.

He stood on one end of the field with his Sharingan activated, while at the other end stood a smaller Hyuga clansmen with her Byakugan activated. Their sensei renowned as Copy Ninja Kakashi gave the signal to the two ninja. And the two did battle.

The battle was short, and went as expected—Sasuke lost.

The Uchiha would try to pick himself up off the ground, but instead collapsed and laid there in defeat.

The Hyuga maiden teased Sasuke, "Don't try to move, Sasuke-kun. I wouldn't want to use my Gentle Fist technique again and ruin that pretty face of yours,"

Haruno Sakura, one of Sasuke's teammates, only sighed from the sidelines, "Defeated again,"

Kakashi praised the Hyuga, "Good job, Hanabi, good form and excellent execution," and hollered to the fallen Uchiha, "Sasuke, you still need a little work,"

Sasuke only grumbled in response, much to Kakashi's disappointment. Ever since his humiliating defeat during the chunin exams by Gaara of the Sand, Sasuke's skills have deteriorated. And now, Sasuke has become nothing more than a second-rate ninja of Konoha.

After Kakashi dismissed Sakura and Hanabi, he crouched over Sasuke. He wanted to spark something inside of his student, "You don't seem to be practicing like I ask you to. Everyone in your generation are improving, yet you seem to be deteriorating,"

But Sasuke refused to accept such news and protested, "That isn't true! I mastered Chidori, and I have a two-tomoe Sharingan! That's got to count for something!"

Kakashi responded to his pupil with cold, hard facts, "True, those are powerful jutsus. But if you lack the ability to adapt to the situation at hand and apply such jutsus appropriately you will be easily overwhelmed. It's a skill in itself to understand when to do what. Hanabi knows that, Sakura knows that, and your brother Itachi knows that,"

Of course, Sasuke refused to believe any of it. It wasn't out of pride, but out of necessity that he refuse to acknowledge his failure. It was out of necessity so that he could maintain an inactive, easygoing life as opposed to a difficult one. He reasoned that if he acknowledged himself as a terrible ninja, than he would feel obligated to actually do something about it—which to him was bad.

The young Uchiha has become a disappointment to anyone close to him. It would've most likely been different if his father had lived. Ever since his father was dead, Sasuke developed an unenthusiastic attitude towards life. If someone was around to push Sasuke, then he could've been a jonin at a very young age. But no one was there to push him. His brother was too busy leading the Uchiha Clan and his mother can only push Sasuke so far without her husband. It thus followed that without any support when growing up, that Sasuke's inherent talent as a ninja was left undiscovered.

Kakashi only sighed at the sight of Sasuke's denial. Seeing as he couldn't reach his pupil, he assigned Sasuke to practice shape transformation and dismissed him.

As to be expected from Uchiha Sasuke, excuses were only uttered on the way home, "I'm strong the way I am now," Sasuke would say, "Kakashi shouldn't compare me to the likes of my brother and Hanabi… they're prodigies. They are at a whole different level. And if he is comparing me to other shinobi, he should compare me to all the other ninja in my class, not to Hanabi and Itachi. I'm at least above average with the rest of my class. I did become a chunin the second time I took the chunin exams..."

By the time Sasuke arrived at the gates of Konoha, Sasuke was armed with an array of excuses not to work and reasons to have fun. He thought of seeing Sakura, but quickly rejected the notion of sleeping with her. The only reason he thought of sleeping with her was because they had such a good time when they were a couple. But like every relationship Sasuke had, it was short-lived, and his relationship with Sakura ended after she gave up on trying to change him.

Eventually Sasuke would pick another of his classmates. He didn't spend much time with her, since they were assigned to different teams after graduation. But that was exactly why he chose her, because she doesn't know how much he has changed. And so, the second-rate ninja headed for Ino's house. Looking forward to having a night full of pleasure and no worries…

A/N: I hope you enjoyed it, if you like it a lot or think there is something wrong don't hesitate to review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto