Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Tales of Symphonia, though I do own a copy of the game
A/N First story ever. Not sure if this is going to be a one shot or a prologue.
Once upon a time, there existed a giant tree that was the source of mana. A war, however, caused this tree to wither away, and a hero's life was sacrificed in order to take its place. Grieving over the loss, the goddess disappeared unto the heavens. The goddess left the angels with this edict: "You must wake me, for if I should sleep, the world shall be destroyed." The angels bore the Chosen One, who headed towards the tower that reached up unto the heavens. And that marked the beginning of the regeneration of the world...
or so the stories of long ago say. However that is far from the end. After the Chosen Colette and her friend Lloyd Irving, as well as their 7 other companions reunited the world and quelled the unrest caused by the sudden clashing of two completely different societies, there was a great peace. One that lasted for 50 years before calamity struck again, this time far worse than a false religion or a rebel group. No, this calamity was a demon so powerful it broke through the barrier in the Ginnungagap, a barrier between worlds, destroying the half-elf, Richter, and weakening severely the summon spirit, Ratatosk, who were guarding it. Destruction reigned for a total of a year before the Group of World Regeneration, or more specifically Raine Sage did. She was a scholar of great renown at that point. She discovered a lost magic, one so powerful it was sealed a way for many millennia even before the reign of cruxis.
A spell that would split up the mana based body of the Juubi, as it was called at that point, into nine parts, and seal the soul into the moon. With only 8 of their number left, most of whom were human and aging at that point, they weren't sure what to do. Though still in great shape due to their past connections with the Exspheres and Cruxis Crystals, Kratos, their ninth, had left years ago to wander through the blackness of space on the comet Derris-Kharlan. They needed one more. Marta Lualdi, who had befriended them two years after the world regeneration volunteered, as she had lost her love, the human form of the Summon Spirit Ratatosk. Emil Castagnier had died due to his connection with the powerful spirit.
With the nine needed, the group endeavored to manipulate the Juubi in range to do the spell. They succeeded, and the Juubi's body was split and the soul sealed. What the group didn't realize though, was that the magic wasn't sealed due to it's power. No, not only was it never needed in all that time, but the complexity and side effects are what never made it not viable. It was simplified with nine people participating, however the side effects were still ghastly. The mana of the juubi was so powerful and dense it destroyed the nine's bodies and their souls were forced into the mana constructs, which had taken the shape of nine monstrous animals.
The battle was over, and knowing how humanity would react they secluded themselves in far off corners of the world. Civilization had been devastated, and it took more than a century to even regain a semblance of society. Even so, the knowledge of the past had been destroyed, so almost nothing was known about Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, the two kingdoms that existed before the calamity.
The ability to manipulate mana had weakened as the elves and half-elves of the world intermingled with the humans, and the bloodlines of both races and those caught in between thinned. Mana soon was called chakra, and the ability to use it became widespread. None had the power of mages of old, though they had more control and ingenuity.
About 150 years after the calamity, the group of World Regeneration was discovered, though they were not recognized as such anymore. All society saw was a source to gain more power. The group defended themselves, but people had discovered a skill call Fuuinjutsu, or the Sealing Artes, in the old tongue. Using this Fuuinjutsu, they were able to seal the Bijuu, as they called the group, into vessels. First into inanimate objects, then eventually they discovered seals powerful enough to use humans as vessels. Only the so-called Kyuubi escaped, due to her having the largest portion of power from the Juubi.
Eventually, the Bijuu came to resent humanity. Even Lloyd Irving and Colette Brunel, the staunchest supporters in the good of people, became jaded. Never treated as equals, they and the human vessels they were contained in, were treated as monsters. The treatment of their containers had contributed to their dislike of humanity as all of them were still human or elven at heart and still hated the prejudice of others. Some were beaten, others simply ignored, the many vessels had died off at most 30 years after each sealing. When released the Bijuu felt great rage and destroyed the clans who attempted to gain their power. This cycle of being sealed and released lasted for a further 100 years, each time a clan being destroyed. Bijuu soon became viewed as mindless calamities themselves. The Kyuubi, the only one to have escaped sealing up to now, was eventually controlled against her will by a person with a genetic mutation so powerful it broke the limits of space and time. Uchiha Madara, looking to get revenge on his former friend Senju Hashirama for being elected leader of the first Ninja village, discovered the Kyuubi, and hypnotized her with his so called Sharingan, and forced her to do battle for him. She resisted and Madara was unable to utilize her full strength. The consequence of this though, was that she too was finally sealed.
Years passed, and the original Jinchuuriki (or "power of human sacrifice" in the old tongue) of the Kyuubi died of old age. A rather rare feat to be sure, though this was accomplished because few knew of her new status. Eventually, a relative of hers was chosen to take her place. Uzumaki Kushina, too was accepted, though only because few knew of her status. She got married, and eventually got pregnant. On the eve of her son's birth a man claiming to be Uchiha Madara appeared, ripped the Kyuubi from Kushina's body, and gained control of it again. Her husband, the fourth leader of his village, sacrificed himself and Kushina to seal half of the Kyuubi's chakra, as well as her soul into their newborn son. Sealing a bit of their souls and chakra into the seal as a safety measure, they passed into the Shinigami's stomach, as payment for help to seal the kyuubi.
This is where the history truly starts for one Uzumaki Naruto. His life and times, trials and tribulations begin here.